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Last year I had a shock. Having run my classes for over 50 years with many of my members loyally attending for over 45 years and maintaining their healthy weight for 20 or so years, it was a surprise when suddenly some of them found themselves losing weight without trying - and they had become concerned. I was puzzled and so were they, and it set me thinking…
The ladies I am talking about are, like myself, in their late 70s with some in their 80s. As you know, last year I was out of action for quite a while due to a significant operation on my foot. As I couldn’t weight bear for four months this meant I was unable to teach our usual weekly standing aerobic workouts, so instead we did chair exercises until I could stand again. Whilst the seated strength exercises helped to keep their upper body strong, their legs had missed out on the weight-bearing workout they had been doing with me every Monday evening for the previous decades.
Unfortunately, during this time some of my members started suffering the odd fall, whilst others a painful hip, pulled leg muscle or problem knee. This was so unlike my group. It had always astounded me how consistently fit they were over the years and if they did have a mishap, they would always bounce back to fitness in no time.
Of course, we were all getting older but it was more than that and that’s when I realised that those consistent 30 minutes of aerobic exercises that we did every week over 40+ years had been enough to keep their muscles strong enough and their body sufficiently fit to maintain an active day-to-day lifestyle. Because I had been out of action for so long, and they had not been getting their weekly workout, their muscle strength had deteriorated and their muscle ‘mass’ had shrunk resulting in muscle weakness. And, as muscles are heavy, this was the reason some of them had lost weight!
As you can imagine, I feel really guilty that I had let them down at this critical stage of their lives so, now that my foot is fully fit again, it is time for action and I am determined to rebuild those muscles - and they are really up for it! I am extending the exercise period to 45 minutes and we will do 30 minutes of aerobics and 15 minutes of strength work. No excuses!
It was in Mary’s piece a few weeks ago in Newletter Issue 191 when she explained the scientific evidence that had come to light that as we grow older we need to eat more protein. Most of us know that ‘we need protein for growth and repair’ but what I hadn’t realised until Mary wrote about it was that our muscle mass starts naturally declining from age 40! Consequently, we need to eat more protein to help prevent muscle decline as we age! This is why I love being educated by Mary’s thirst for the discoveries of academic studies which can help us stay fitter for longer, resulting in our hopefully living longer!
So, in this new year and at the start of a brand-new quarter-of-a-century, we are both enthusiastically committed to share with you over the following few weeks our newly found knowledge. We are going to explain why we need more protein and how we can incorporate it into our daily eating habits without it being too much hassle or inconvenience.
So, this week, let’s refresh our memory as to which foods are rich in protein:
- Meat, fish, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese.
- Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans.
- Nuts and seeds.
- Soy products like tofu and tempeh.
- Grains such as quinoa, oats, wheat.
And next week we will discover which foods contain the most protein and what eating more of it will do to help our muscles.
The Amazing Inch Loss Plan
Back in 2011, I wrote The Amazing Inch Loss Plan book which was a day-by-day diet and fitness plan. At the time, we had our own TV studio and so Mary and I decided that it would be brilliant if we could bring the workouts in the book to life and record them in real time! Mary choreographed the programme and I presented the 28 day-by-day individual workouts.
The great news is that the whole programme of 28 daily workouts is now live on our website and so you can start today or tomorrow with Day 1 and then continue throughout the next four weeks. Each workout is only about 10 minutes long and includes a short warm up, toning exercises and a short stretch at the end. There are also rest days and recommended aerobic activities suggested for you to increase your fat burning and stamina. Some of the workouts are on the floor. If you find getting down onto the floor too challenging, you can do these exercises on a bed or sofa or watch our video Getting Safely on and off the Floor.
Mary designed this workout to be progressive so that over the four weeks you will be able to greatly improve your all-important strength (and therefore your muscle mass), your aerobic fitness (fat burning) and your flexibility. Every day there is a stretch section and you will learn in Mary’s piece below the vital importance of stretching to keep ourselves young.
Please be aware that when The Amazing Inch Loss Plan was written and recorded we had our national network of Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness Clubs, an online TV channel, Rosemaryconley.tv and sold products such as the Solo Slim ready meals range. As the Clubs were disbanded in 2014 and the Solo Slim products were discontinued please disregard any references to these.
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PORK & LEEK CASSEROLE
Serves 2
Per serving 252 cal/2% fat (excl. accompaniments)
Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes
1 leek, trimmed and chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
200g diced pork
100g baby mushrooms, quartered
1 tbsp Madeira wine
294g tin condensed low-fat mushroom soup
100ml rice milk
- Heat a large non-stick pan and spray with Fry-light rape-seed oil. Dry-fry the leek and garlic until soft. Add the pork and continue cooking until the meat is sealed. Stir in the Madeira wine, mushrooms then the soup and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
- Just before serving stir in the rice milk. Serve with 1 yellow Portion Pot® (100g) mashed sweet potato per person and unlimited green vegetables.
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Don't forget, you can download and print a copy of all our recipes if you click on the image to go to the recipe's page on the website.
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Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.
Ever since Angela Rippon appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, clearly demonstrating her amazing flexibility, I was inspired to adopt a short stretch routine every morning myself with the intention of becoming a bit more like Angela! Apparently, she is reported as doing a 10-minute daily morning stretch, but mine is more like an average of 5 minutes as life gets in the way.
The great news is that I am pleased to report that there is now a wealth of convincing research that supports us all doing this, particularly as we get older. Word now has it that stretching could help us live longer!
Of course, our genes play an important part in determining how flexible we are. We only have to look around the room in any exercise class and we will see some can reach far beyond their toes and others can hardly get past their knees! But no one should rely on natural flexibility, because as we age we stiffen up considerably, and if we want to maintain our mobile muscles and joints we need to stretch regularly.
What age we are, as well as any injuries we may have suffered, combined with our natural wear and tear, all play a part in our stiffening up. Unless we specifically take time to stretch properly, it will affect all aspects of our daily life.
Women are, on average, naturally more flexible than men, thanks to differences in our hormones and connective tissue. I remember when I owned a gym I observed that most men neglected to stretch as part of their regular exercise routine and were reluctant to do it, despite being shown how. Thankfully I think this is changing with many of the top sports men being taught to stretch as part of their training, as it massively improves their performance in their sport. We will also see more men doing yoga and Pilates too, although there is a way to go before a session includes half men and half women.
What the Research says
We now know that flexibility is a bit like a biological clock. It is now possible to estimate a person’s biological age (our age related to how fit we are – not our actual age) and how long we are likely to live by assessing how flexible we are at various stages of life. In the first investigation of its kind researchers have tracked more than 3000 middle-aged men and women over 10 years. Participants in the study were asked to complete a Flexitest (a scientifically evaluated assessment of 20 stretches to test overall flexibility) and then they were followed for a decade. Retaining a level of suppleness was found to increase how long they were likely to live. That is the kind of information I like to know!
This research confirmed how important flexibility is for our health affecting not only our posture but also our ability to protect ourselves from falling as we age - a big concern which we cover regularly in this Newsletter. The good news is that improvements come quickly and our website provides you with a simple Stretch routine, from which you can select a good mix of stretches that will cover the whole body plus our Post Walk Stretches which are designed for us to do every day after our walk.
Just 5 minutes of stretching a day can transform our health and help us live longer!
The Importance of Stretching our Calf
I have always particularly stressed the importance of doing a calf stretch following a walk to my walking groups as the calf works hard when we are walking and can shorten and tighten unless we regularly lengthen it back again after a walk. This ensures our ability to strike 'heel-toe' as we walk, using the calf fully through its range. We have all seen older people who begin to 'shuffle' their feet as they walk as they have lost this flexibility in their feet and ankles.
But now there is compelling evidence that stretching the calf will improve our heart health too. A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology showed that flexibility of the calf helps the blood vessels to function more effectively, decreasing the stiffness in our arteries and keeping them more 'elastic'.
Let's Dance!
As I am a keen 'mover to music' I was delighted to discover how much dancing helps us to maintain our flexibility. Two recent studies showed that dancing enhances mobility and flexibility in adults of all ages. It comes as no surprise, as moving all those muscles and joints in different directions has to play a big part in keeping us mobile. As Tess and Claudia keep saying 'Keep dancing!'
Mix it Up!
Through this Newsletter I have always emphasised strength work as being the main driver in preventing us from becoming frail. But the more I explore the whole ageing process the more I am convinced it is vital that we do a bit of everything, and that we must do it regularly. That’s why our newly published videos of the Amazing Inch Loss Exercise Plan are so brilliant because each strength workout is followed by appropriate stretches.
So, all we need to do is...
- If we take our daily walks with hopefully a bit of huff and puff by walking as fast as we can, or climbing up a bit of an incline, we will greatly improve our fitness.
- We can also increase our strength by working each and every muscle to be as strong as possible by working out with weights, a toning band or our own body weight, 3 - 4 times a week.
- And now we know that that if we s-t-r-e-t-c-h out those muscles for as little as 5 minutes a day this will greatly increase our flexibility. This stretching adds the final piece to the jigsaw that means we will achieve the best of health, no matter what our age.
And following the Amazing Inch Loss Exercise Plan is the perfect way to achieve all of this.
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Mary demonstrates the stretches to be used when returning from the recommended daily walk. |
Mary demonstrates a comprehensive relaxing stretch programme for the whole body. |
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This Week's Fitness Challenge
- Try doing the Seated Reach/Back Hand Reach which is Test 4 in the DIY fitness Test. This tests your lower and upper body flexibility. Record your results and re-test at the end of the week.
- Do the Whole Body Stretch Programme on the website to learn a good mix of different stretches covering the whole body. Then time a 5-minute routine that you can repeat every day this week.
- When you go for your 30+ minute daily walk ensure you get into the habit of doing the Post Walk Stretches, particularly the calf stretch every time. You now know how important it is!
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Did you know... 
Angela Rippon recently turned 80 and is well known to still be an incredibly flexible dancer which made us think - who is the oldest person still able to do the splits?
Well, it might surprise you to find that there are numerous reports of those older than Angela who can still manage it. In fact the oldest person we found was 95!
In theory, anyone can learn to do the splits with patience, time, and dedication. Some say that with consistent stretching, it's possible to master the front splits in a month. Others may need 3 to 12 months or longer, and for some it may prove to be an impossible dream.
The ability to do the splits is limited by a number of factors, including:
- Flexibility
People are born with different levels of flexibility in their muscles.
- Tight muscles
Tight hamstrings and hip flexors are the most common reasons why people can't do the splits. Sitting all the time can make these areas of the body especially tight.
- Pelvis structure
The structure of a person's pelvis can also make it difficult to do the splits.
So if you want to give it a go, there's plenty of videos on YouTube showing various techniques to learn but just remember - while we recommend everyone should work towards becoming more supple, we are not suggesting that we should all try to do the splits!
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And finally...
I think we are all agreed that we are determined to stay as fit and active as we can for as long as possible. The longer we are able to stay strong, the longer we can live independently and enjoy life to the full.
There is no better time than right now, at the beginning of the new year, for us to make a big effort to stay strong, fit and flexible for the rest of our days. Let’s do it!
With love and best wishes,
Rosemary Conley CBE DL
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LIVE LONGER | LIVE HEALTHIER | LIVE HAPPIER
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