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.

Doing a Lat PullDown with a Resistance Tube is a great way to strengthen your mid- and lower-back, improve your posture and give a lift to the chest.

First things first: A Lat Pulldown works the lats, aka latissimi dorsi (Latin for “broad back”). These are large muscles of the thoracic and lumbar areas of the back, and together are shaped like an upside-down triangle. Their job is to move the arm, draw the shoulders back and down, and help pull the body up when climbing. A resistance tube is a hollow, long “rubber band” with handles on each end.

Resistance is Futile, Except when it’s a Tube!

In our many years of teaching, we have found the Lat PullDown to be a great exercise, although it can be challenging to perform with good form. So, henceforth, forsooth, and forthwith, we hereby present a video that shows some of the right and wrongs ways to do this exercise. “Lat” the fun begin! You’re welcome for the pun.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The good news for those of us who are women already in toward the second half, is that it gives a lift to good ol’ Betty and Veronica, because as the back strengthens, posture improves and the chest lifts up. And if you don’t get the Betty and Veronica reference, you’re too young to care about this benefit anyway!

See how “perky” the redhead with the catwoman glasses is? Ya dig?!

We “dorsi” you should subscribe to our YouTube channel and blog. Follow us on Twitter: AlexandraFunFit and KymberlyFunFit. Please also follow us on Instagram: KymberlyFunFit and AlexandraFunFit. Or click on the icons in the right sidebar.

Do you want to wear the same cute compression socks that Alexandra is sporting in the video? Easy, just go to the Zensah website.

Photo credits: Lats – Wikipedia, Tube – Century MMA, Betty & Veronica -  Marxchivist

Want to look great for those home videos, YouTube clips, or onscreen moments? Today you get to enjoy a celebrity guest post from Tanya Memme, the original host for A&E’s Sell This House and now, Sell This House Extreme. She’s a star who shares tips to help make YOU a star!

Look Fit and Vibrant on Camera

Working in a construction zone on TV isn’t the easiest environment to look super cool and totally hot in. My heart says “stilettos!;” my producers say “work boots, Tanya!  Fortunately for me and you there are ways to look your fabulous best on camera. During the 12 years hosting “Sell This House” and “Sell This House Extreme” on A&E, I’ve had plenty of time to succeed and fail famously! I know what works and what’s embarrassing in front of a camera!  I hope you can gain some fun and good advice from my experience.

Of course the first and most obvious tip is to exercise and eat healthfully, but it goes so much further than that. (Well, that is unless you have the body of a Cirque Du Soleil contortionist who looks SUPER HOT turned upside down and backwards with a toe in the left nostril balancing on one hand all while wearing an anteater costume.)

With that being said, here are my tips!

1) Be truthful to yourself about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Don’t wear tight jeans if you have muffin top. After giving birth, I know what this feels like. My choice is to wear the very cool LuLuLemon elastic waistband, very hip cargo pants. Or lose the muffin top by kicking up the exercise into high gear!

2) Clip in hair extensions. This is my best kept, not so secret anymore. I have nice hair, but on days when my hair looks flat–especially on rainy days–I give my hair a little beauty boost! Extensions come in different lengths and can be matched exactly to any hair texture.

3) Floss and whiten your teeth. Crest Whitening strips are the cheapest and most effective way to get a bright smile. You can’t get away with anything less than clean, healthy, white teeth on TV especially with close up scenes.

Safety Glasses CAN Look Sexy on Camera

4) Apply your make-up correctly. Make-up changes the way you look in general so learn how to apply it. Go to a store with a cosmetics area and get a personal lesson. The biggest mistake you can make is choosing the wrong colors. Your foundation, for example, can make the difference between looking tired, or sexy and totally hot!

5) Lighting is key. You can look and feel like crap (possibly from a hangover from the night before) and great lighting will make you look spectacular! It can take 10 years and 10 pounds off! On my show, I’d say I’m lazier on some days than others when it comes to make-up but with great lighting I can go from Dracula to Diva in the flick of a switch!

6) Even in you’re in a miserable mood, you have to look incredibly happy. Sounds easy, right? In 12 years on the show I’ve been on a roller coaster ride of deaths, disappointments, and a lot of behind-the-scenes drama. Then there were the times I had to run to the toilet from either food poisoning, pregnancy, or post-party debauchery! But no matter what, or how hard it might be, when that red recording light goes on…….SO DO I.

7) Always have great posture or EVERYTHING sags! On TV, everything you do and wear is magnified, so if you’re sagging even just a bit, on screen it looks like you’re sagging a lot! And NEVER sit all the way back on a soft comfy couch when that camera is on…….unless you want to look like a toad. Sit right at the end of any chair or couch, boobs out, back straight, shoulders back, head up and legs crossed at the ankle! Do this and you’ll look like a queen on TV!

8 Confidence is a must! Nobody looks or sounds good on camera without confidence. If you truly have no confidence, you’ll have to fake it. The camera is brutal and feeds on insecurity.

9) Clothing and color are critical. The camera hates white and fine or busy patterns. I always wear bold solid colors such as red, blue or purple to my auditions because they’re flattering, aren’t distracting and they pop on camera. Royal colors are perfect! If you want to be a Queen on camera dress to look like one. A queen never wears dull, boring, or drab colors.

10) Never shoot you from an angle lower than your shoulders. This is the difference between looking 15 pounds overweight or 15 pounds slimmer. Always have the camera shoot you from a high angle! The same holds true for the digital camera you use every day. YOU’LL LOVE ME FOR TELLING YOU THIS!

P.S. If you’re lucky enough to have a crew to work with, bring snacks and drinks to the set. This thoughtful gesture puts everyone in a good mood! A happy crew does their best to make you look HOT! Remember – the crew has the power to be naughty or nice, so be good to them and they’ll be good to you. By the time I find out how crappy I looked that day, the show has already aired with millions of people watching. And you know how some people love to let loose on the internet with their opinions about your looks!

Tanya has been entertaining audiences with her quick wit, connection with homeowners and vast knowledge of lifestyle tips for years. She currently resides in the Los Angeles area with her husband, and daughter Ava.

Photo credits: Used by permission from Tanya Memme

Find out whether we took Tanya’s advice by subscribing to our YouTube channel and our blog. Follow us on Twitter: KymberlyFunFit and AlexandraFunFit. Please also follow us on Instagram: KymberlyFunFit and AlexandraFunFit. Or click on the icons in the right sidebar. Lights, Camera, Action!

Alexandra gets Lost in Translation

Do you hop on the stairclimber or treadmill to get a wrist, neck, or spine workout in? Do  you have a goal to put all the load into your joints as you lean either too far forward or too far back? Didn’t think so!

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Yet that is what we see from a lot of stairstepper and treadmilling exercisers. Ouch and WTH?! (“What the Heck” – we don’t cuss ‘round these parts much).

At any given moment we can go into the cardio equipment area of a gym and see people working super hard. Yet their form denies them cardio benefits while stressing joints. Don’t let this be you!

Three major no-nos we see involve:

1. heavy wrist bend
2. elbow lock that leads to neck tension
3. and posture that is either hunched forward or inclined back.

Take a look at our priceless video demo.

Then check your form next time you hit the climber or treadmill. Go for natural arm swing, not death grip on the machine. If you can let go of the side or front bars and stay vertical you are probably doing it right! If your hair looks good when you are done, you are probably doing it light! Ahh ahha. For the record, we shot this footage before Kymberly’s new haircut. You’ll have to return to see the new do. Did  “the do” do or didn’t it?

Dear Climber-Stepper buddies: Are you a wrist leaner? Horse reins grabber? Do you even know what Alexandra is talking about relative to “Lost in Translation?”

To find out whether your spinal alignment has (mal)adapted to a desire to get ahead, take the quick chin check we show in our video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sure, you might not like the momentary double-chin look. Goodness knows I, Kymberly am not so keen on that video side view of my triple chin (what I will for you lovely readers!). But you will like the benefits of that bowling ball known as your head being balanced over its support system instead of awkwardly perched in front of it.

Centering your head over your spine will increase comfort, decrease neck tension, keep you nicely extended, and save the planet. Or at least your posture.

Readers and Viewers: How much space did you have between your finger and chin? “Fess up.