Yes, that’s a picture of me, finishing a Triathlon.

It is real work staying in shape.

We all have times of more or less fitness.

Here’s a great article on how and why it’s important,
and some recommended tips for a weekly schedule:

The Ultimate Fitness Formula | Active.com

By Caroline Bollinger
Prevention

There really is a fountain of youth:

It’s called exercise. How? Let us count the ways. In study after study, regular workouts have been proven to insulate you from heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, stroke, and diabetes. Exercise lowers blood pressure, reduces body fat, raises “good” cholesterol, lowers “bad” cholesterol, improves blood flow, keeps intestines and the colon healthy, and regulates key hormones.

To ensure you reap all these benefits, we asked leading experts on aging and exercise to devise the ultimate anti-aging workout. All agreed that it should include the four cornerstones of age prevention: consistent cardio, intense intervals, yoga, and weight training. Start now and you can turn back the clock… for life.

1. DO: Consistent Cardio
The verdict is in: People who exercise almost daily really do keep ticking longer. When scientists pored over data from the famous Framingham Heart Study of more than 5,000 women and men, they discovered that active folks lived nearly four years longer than their inactive peers, largely because they sidestep heart disease–the nation’s leading killer. Aerobic exercise such as walking, biking, jogging, and swimming protects your heart by lowering blood pressure, reducing “bad” cholesterol, and keeping arteries flexible to improve blood flow.

Your Rx: 30 minutes, five days a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Work at a pace that allows you to talk freely; if you can sing, you’re not exercising hard enough. To get started, choose an activity you enjoy and do 10 minutes, five days a week. Then increase by five minutes each week until you’re doing 30 minutes at a time. Dividing your exercise into three 10-minute bouts throughout the day works, too.

2. DO: Intense Intervals
Exercise keeps your mind fit by bringing more blood and oxygen to the noggin, rejuvenating your brain in the process. “The hippocampus, the main area of the brain where memory resides, is particularly susceptible to damage from low blood flow or lack of oxygen – both of which become more likely as we age,” says brain researcher Eric B. Larson, MD, of the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle. Doing bursts of higher intensity activity will increase blood flow and oxygen even more.

Your Rx: 45 minutes, twice a week (moderate-paced cardio exercise interspersed with 1-minute speed bursts every two minutes). Based on a 1-to-10 scale, you should feel like you’re working at an intensity of 7 or 8 (brisk enough that you can talk, but you’d rather not) during the speed bursts and an intensity of 5 or 6 (moderate enough that you can talk freely) the rest of the time. If you’re just starting out, do 15-second intervals, slowly building up to one minute as your endurance increases. Because this is cardio exercise, you don’t have to do these workouts on top of the steady-paced cardio session (though you can if you have the time, and you’ll shape up even faster). Just extend two of those workouts and make them intervals.

3. DO: Weight Training
A healthy heart is key, but unless you have strong bones and muscles, getting up off the couch, climbing the stairs, and walking out the door to enjoy life won’t be so easy. Lifting weights is one of the best ways to keep these body systems in tip-top shape, says Wendy Kohrt, PhD, a professor in the division of geriatric medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. And it can help you stand tall–a quick way to look younger.

Your Rx: 20 minutes, twice a week. Pick up two sets of dumbbells (3 and 5 pounds for beginners; 5 and 10, or 10 and 20 if you need an even bigger challenge), available at most department stores or sporting goods stores. Then follow the strength-building workouts at prevention.com/firmbody.

4. DO: Yoga
The less tense you are, the fewer lines and wrinkles you’ll develop. One of the best workouts to fight stress? Yoga. In a German study, three hours of practice a week lowered the anxiety levels of 16 women ages 26 to 51 by a whopping 30 percent. “As your mouth, jaw, and brows relax, you can literally see the creases soften,” says Larry Payne, Ph.D., director of the Yoga Therapy Rx program at Loyola Marymount University. It may also protect against free radicals, compounds that break down skin’s elasticity. Your Rx: 30 minutes, four times a week. To get started, go to prevention.com/youthfulyoga.

Your Ultimate 7-Day Plan

This routine combines everything into one easy-to-follow schedule:

Day One
30 min cardio
30 min yoga

Day Two
45 min intervals/cardio

Day Three
20 min weight training
30 min yoga

Day Four
30 min cardio
30 min yoga

Day Five
45 min intervals/cardio
20 min weight training

Day Six
30 min cardio
30 min yoga

Day Seven
REST

More Ways Exercise Keeps You Young
It boosts your mood: Cardio workouts up levels of the brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin and norepinephrine.

It helps you sleep: The rhythmic breathing and relaxation of yoga and tai chi help you fall asleep and snooze longer.

It keeps you slim: Beyond burning calories, exercise may also help regulate the production of leptin, the “fat hormone” that controls appetite.

It firms you up: Lifting weights builds muscle–the magic tissue needed to counteract gravity and prevent sagging.

It charges up your sex life: Hormonal changes as you age can lower libido, but just 20 minutes of exercise gets you in the mood by increasing blood flow to the genitals.

Dr. Colyer’s comment:
My schedule is very similiar to this, but instead of yoga,
I practice Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan.

Thank you for being here.
Dr. Andrew Colyer

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Fitness, Cardio, Weight Training, Yoga, Qi Gong, Tai Chi Chuan, Triathlon, Dr. Andrew Colyer, DrAndrewColyer.com

I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!

What young athlete hasn’t dreamed about being in the Olympics?

Here’s some info for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing,
coming up next month:

Fun Facts About the Beijing Olympics | Active.com

The Opening Ceremonies

August 8, 2008 at 8: The number 8 is associated with prosperity in Chinese culture.

The Olympic Slogan

One World, One Dream It is the ideal of the Chinese people to share the joy of the Olympics with the global community.

Olympic Mascots

The Five Friendlies: Beibei the Fish, Jingjing the Panda, Huanhuan the Olympic Flame, Yingying the Tibetan Antelope, and Nini the Swallow. The first characters of their names spell out “Beijing Huanying Ni” or “Beijing Welcomes you.” The colors represent the five Olympic rings and their headpieces represent the five elements of nature.

Inside the Numbers

Countries expected to participate: 202
Athletes expected to participate: 10,500
Officials expected to participate: 20,000
Volunteers expected to participate: 70,000

Media expected to participate: 22,000

• 5,600 journalists
• 4,400 host broadcasters
• 12,000 rights holders

Number of tourists expected to visit Beijing in 2008: 4.8 million
Number of sports to be contested: 28
Number of disciplines to be contested: 38

Events to be contested: 302

• 165 men’s
• 127 women’s
• 10 mixed

New events in the Games this year: 5

• Men’s and women’s 10K Open Water Swimming
• Women’s Steeplechase (Athletics)
• Men’s and Women’s BMX (Cycling)
• Women’s Team Saber and Foil Competitions (Fencing)
• Table Tennis Team Event (replaces doubles)

Number of competition Venues: 37

• 31 in Beijing
• 5 in other mainland cities and 1 in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)
• 11 new competition venues in Beijing and three outside Beijing

Thank you.

Dr. Andrew Colyer

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Olympics, Summer Olympics, 2008 Beijing Olympics, Dr. Andrew Colyer, DrAndrewColyer.com