Turns out that fear of falling starts to haunt us as we hit middle age. Either directly or out of concern for our aging parents, we start seeing more risk of hitting the ground and adjust our lives accordingly. Unfortunately “adjust” usually means shrink our world. We baby boomers (and our parents) stop doing things we once enjoyed as we fear injury. Have you discontinued an activity you once considered fun and now look at as risky?

Kymberly: In our family, we no longer snowboard after my husband’s fall led to shoulder surgery and my spill hurt my back.

Alexandra: I haven’t exactly fallen, but I did a major wipeout playing soccer back in 1998. After a number of knee surgeries, I no longer play soccer.

Fortunately we baby boomers can take action to prevent falls and bolster our balance so we age as actively and confidently as possible. Let’s arm (and leg) ourselves with a few insights.

Kymberly: Recently Alexandra and I attended and spoke at the IDEA Personal Training Institute West conference. One of my favorite presentations (besides our own, of course!) was “Improving Balance and Mobility Skills.” This 6-hour session was offered by Karen Schlieter, MBA, MS whose expertise is in gerokinesiology, a new and specialized area of study that focuses on physical activity and aging. Some of her key points included the following:

One: Did you know that one-third of older adults fall each year? Women tend to break their forearms and wrists; men tend to hit their heads and suffer traumatic brain injury. Hold it right there! That is not the future we baby boomers envision, is it?!

We need to work on our balance by controlling our center of mass, also known as our core. The stronger and more respondent our core is, the more we are able to shift our center of gravity safely, quickly, and comfortably.  Midlife and older is no time to ignore the core! So the first order of business is to strengthen our core.

Alexandra: Take advantage of the core exercises we present in our YouTube videos. We offer many, all under two minutes. You’ll find three links here so you can get to work right away!

Rotating Abs/ Core Move  Video

Kneeling Core and Abs Exercise Video

Obliques Exercise Safe for Lower Back  Video

Two: When something unexpected threatens to up-end us, we try to maintain balance using several strategies. In order of use, they are:
Ankle strategy: the first place to adjust in order to stay upright is at the ankle joint. Most people send their spine or shoulders into tilt and end up on the ground as a result. Start implementing a small amount of sway or bend at the ankle as a postural, or balance strategy. For example, if you are out walking your energetic dog, who then bangs into your legs at full run, bend at the ankle and knees, not the spine, to protect yourself from going down.

Hip strategy: the bigger muscles around our pelvis help keep our center of gravity actually centered. If an ankle bend is not enough to keep us from a fall, we depend on the larger muscles that surround our hips. Again, keep the spine long and strength train the hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, hip extensors, and abs so they can support with extra oomph when balance surprises come along.

Step out strategy: The final strategy to kick into fall-prevention gear is to step forward, backward, or laterally. If you’ve ever done the panic shuffle when tripped, you know exactly what we’re talking about. Taking a quick salvation step or many depends on our senses, overall strength, and ability to scale our movement to our environment.  While we can’t do much to train our eyesight or hearing, for instance, we can be proactive on the latter two functions.

Three: The last big insight we want to share from Karen’s session is that we lose power ahead of strength. For reducing falls, we have to have power. To get back up quickly after a fall we need power. Yes, resistance training is important (twice a week seems to be the sweet spot between reaping benefits and being time/ life/ schedule efficient). However, power training tends to go by the wayside once we say good-bye to our 40s.

A quick definition of the difference between power and strength is that power has a speed and often an explosive element to it. Strength training is generally slow and controlled applied force. Bottom line — add some kind of jump to your life. Jump rope, perform squat jumps, do switch lunges, work in a few box jump ups.

Alexandra: I’ll add a few final comments. Fear of falling can actually contribute to a fall. Even if you haven’t fallen in the past, if you have a fear of falling, you are at more risk. As well, if you find yourself shuffling, you’ll want to work on lengthening your stride and picking up your feet, as a shuffling gait can lead to instability and decreased mobility.

Whether it’s Summer, Winter, Spring or Fall, be in season with a healthy, functional body that does Fall, but doesn’t fall!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see short videos that will improve your fitness. Have you subscribed yet to our blog? Please also follow us on google++Alexandra and +Kymberly, on Twitter: AlexandraFunFit and KymberlyFunFit and Instagram: KymberlyFunFit and AlexandraFunFit. Or click now on the icons above.

Many exercisers want to know how to “trim the waist.” As fitness pros, we mentally translate that request into technical terms, which means we start thinking of exercises that target the obliques. One great way to do this is with the side-to-side oblique move using the stability ball.

The obliques come in two flavors: external and internal. We have a nifty graphic and a video demo of oblique crunches (no ball needed, and do NOT read that in a pervy way) in our previous post “Wrong and Right Way to do Oblique Ab Crunches.”

The external obliques run diagonally, forming a V in front. Imagine you’re putting your hands into a vest or front coat pocket. The internal obliques run at right angles to your external obliques and form an inverted V. Put your hands on your hips with your thumbs in front and fingers behind, pointing down as if putting your hands into back pockets.

Grab your mat or towel (or marginally clean area of your rug) and stability ball, and follow along with us in this video that demonstrates the right and wrong way to trim the waste from your waist!

Click here to view the embedded video.

What is your favorite exercise for the obliques? Trainers & instructors, feel free to add a link to your posts on this topic.

Side-to-Sidle on over to subscribe to our YouTube channel to see short videos that will improve your fitness. Have you subscribed yet to our blog? Please also follow us on google++Alexandra and +Kymberly, on Twitter: AlexandraFunFit and KymberlyFunFit and Instagram: KymberlyFunFit and AlexandraFunFit. Or click now on the icons above.

Photo credit:  Hey Paul Studios (blue & red corset)

After 3 decades’ teaching fitness on 4 continents in 4 languages, Alexandra and I have been asked a lot of interesting fitness questions. As you might suspect, people all over the world have similar concerns and workout goals. And many of the questions repeat. Over time, generations, and borders. Over and over.

Can you guess which questions are the most common? Is the fitness question that often flits across your mind on our list of FAQs? Did you know that baby boomers ask basically the same questions as college students?

To be totally honest, one of the following questions is made up. A plant. A bogus item inserted to pique your curiosity.  Can you figure out which one is not like the others? (Remember that game from childhood?)

Drum roll and envelope please for the Top Workout Questions asked of Kymberly and Alexandra and probably many other fitness professionals. For some answers, click on the accompanying links:

1. What’s the best way to lose weight? (Answer: Lose Weight or Maintain Weight Loss? )
2. How do I lose these last 10 pounds? This month? (Answer: Lose 10 Pounds in 4 Weeks)
3. How do I lose the pudge/muffin top around my middle? (Seeing a theme thus far?)
4. What workout shoes do you recommend? (Answer: The best shoe for you depends on many factors and several footwear posts)
5. What’s the best cardio activity? (Answer: Walk or Run to the Best Cardio Workout)
6. Is it better to walk or run? (Answer: Walk or Run to the Best Cardio Workout)
7. What music did you just play as I loved/ hated it. So please play it never/ again. (Answer: The Ultimate Playlist of Your Fit Life)
8. How do I get to be more like you? (Answer: Who are we really? Telling Twins Apart
9. Which should I do first: strength training or aerobics? (Answer: Weights or Cardio – Who’s On First?)
10. Am I doing (this exercise) correctly?
11. Why does it hurt when I do (this)?
12. What’s the best exercise to address (this area)?
13. What do you recommend for someone starting out with a fitness program? (Answer: I Want to Lose 100 Pounds)
14. If my knee hurts, what activities do you suggest I do/ avoid? (Answer: The Knights Who Say “Knee”)
15. Do you know the way to San Jose? (Is that tune now in your head? To quote Stephen Colbert, “you’re welcome”).
16. What do I have to do to get a 6-pack? (Answer: Want Washboard Abs? One 6 Pack to Go)

Admit it, did you get to question #8 and think you’d spotted the imposter? Until you got to #14 then doubt set in? True story – the former is a real and oft-asked question. Ok, so we were asked it a lot more when we were in our 20s and 30s. It still counts.

Was your pressing question in the list above? If not, stick it in the comments section below.

As you work your way down to enter your nagging active aging question, please enjoy a few photos from our trip to Thailand with our mom.  Unrelated (the pics to this post, not us to our mom) and gratuitous, these photos are just a few of our faves.

Reclining Buddha

Wat (temple) towers- Thailand

Thailand temple with Chinese influence

Temple roof and columns in Thailand

Buddhist Bells at Thailand Wat

Jewels and Detail from Royal Barge in Bangkok

The most common question on our minds: Why not subscribe to our YouTube channel to get video that will improve your fitness status? Have you subscribed yet to our blog? (Our second most common question).  Please also follow us on Twitter: AlexandraFunFit and KymberlyFunFit and Instagram: KymberlyFunFit and AlexandraFunFit. Or click now on the icons above. You’ll be especially happy to do so if you like seeing our Thailand pics as we share more of them there.

Wow, did you see how beautiful and confident all the women looked in their gowns during the Oscar ceremony? I hope I would be as confident in a tight dress as they all seemed to be. And what about those Michelle Obama arms? Were you so distracted by them that you didn’t notice her toned abs?

If you want look just as great even better in your awards gown (just don’t trip like Jennifer Lawrence did), you’ll want to tone your abs up properly. With that in mind, we have a video that shows 3 tips for doing crunches the right way on a stability ball, and the 3 most common mistakes.

If you have been doing your crunches wrong, that’s okay. You’re still a winner. But if you want to take home the award for “Best Performance by Your Abs in a Leading Role (and Tight Dress),” try the 3 tips shown above. And if you want to work on your waistline, read our post about Working Obliques.

What was your favorite Oscar moment?

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Don’t Go Back in Time to These Old School Exercises. Ouch!

Dear Fun and Fit: Can you give me some helpful tips to work out my core? I had surgery in 2001 and still to this day am scared to do certain things to cause my back to hurt or go out. I’m ready to get over this fear and work on strengthening my abs and lower back so I can work out better in the gym. Should (abs exercises you recommend) be done every day or every other? I look forward to your advice. Thank you. Cassie W. Fenton, MO

Alexandra: First, test your comfort and ability to engage your abs (not back) with this easy tip from our video, and post, Easy Way to Find Your Abs.

Kymberly: Next, view our one minute video that offers the following back-safe obliques exercise.  We suggest it because you have very little chance to arch or stress your lumbar region.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Side-to-Side Obliques Exercise

Lie on your back. Bend your knees and lift your legs in the air above your hips. The knees can be in towards your chest a bit; feet directly above the hips. Keeping both shoulders firmly anchored to the ground or mat and arms outstretched but below the plane of your shoulders, slowly bring your knees to the right then back to center then left. Go only as far as you can still keep your shoulders on the mat. Basically you are dropping the legs side to side in a hinge-like motion without using any momentum.

Reverse Curl Exercise

Next try reverse curls, which also target the core with little risk to the lower back For one, the hips are tucked (posterior tilt) throughout this move, so the lumbar spine has little chance to hyperextend or arch (anterior tilt).

Click on the link to our video showing the Right and Wrong Way to Do Reverse Curls. Or go for the whole kit and kaboodle and read our post on how to take full advantage of reverse curls.

As for frequency, with abdominal exercises you can do them every day if you want. The abs are endurance, not power muscles so don’t really need a day’s rest in between. Go by how your back feels.

Alexandra: After you’ve tried these, please check back in and let us know which exercises were most comfortable, which were most effective, and so on. We want to know how you progress.

The most pain-free exercise you can benefit from today and every day is to subscribe to our YouTube channel and blog. Please also follow us on Twitter: AlexandraFunFit and KymberlyFunFit and Instagram: KymberlyFunFit and AlexandraFunFit. Or click now on the icons above. Please share and subscribe!