Live Healthy Longer with Dr. Jim Polakof

The Silver Edge

• Dr. James Polakof • Season 1 • Episode 65

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Join Dr. Jim in a dynamic interview with Kevin English, founder of The Silver Edge.  He is a fitness "AGING" expert devoted to empowering individuals over 50 to build and maintain healthy, strong bodies. When entering the golden years, there should be more to life than just surviving - you want to Thrive!  Kevin is a beacon of vitality with great advice for women and men who want to step into the next phase of their lives - Healthy, Fit and Vital!

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Speaker 1:

Welcome again to our podcast Live Healthy Longer. If you happen to be 50 years of age or older, this episode is especially important for you. You'll have an opportunity to discover how to become stronger, healthier and the most complete version of yourself. So guiding us on this journey is our host and nutritionist, wellness expert and author, dr James Polakoff.

Speaker 2:

This is Dr Jim Polakoff, and I very much appreciate you joining me once again. Together, we're discovering new opportunities which support your ability to age as healthy as possible. And welcome to my new listeners as well. By the way, my program is now ranked among the top 5% of all podcasts, so greatly appreciated, and I thank you once again. Now we've covered many nutritional topics in the past episodes, so it's time to focus on fitness. Combining fitness with healthy eating is such an important component to your well-being. My guest is Kevin English, a healthy aging expert and the founder of the Silver Edge. He's a leading fitness expert devoted to empowering individuals over 50 to build and maintain lean, healthy bodies. Now, what I like about Kevin is that he is actually rewriting the story of aging, where every individual is not just surviving but thriving, turning their golden years into a time of renewal, strength and boundless possibilities. So let's get right to it. Here is the man who can provide us the tools to develop lean, healthy bodies. Welcome, kevin English.

Speaker 3:

Fantastic. Hey, thanks for having me on. I'm really excited to have a fun conversation with you today.

Speaker 2:

Well, we're looking forward to it. Now, Kevin, here is my first important question. Sure, bring it. Why is being fit and staying fit important to the process of healthy aging? Can you get into that?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I most certainly can. So that's the question, right. Why is being fit so important for healthy aging? And look, I suppose it probably helps to back up and just say what do we mean by being fit, because that's a pretty broad term and it's vague, right. When we say be fit, what does that mean? That I can go for a walk, that I can go for a run, can I lift weights, can I play a sport?

Speaker 3:

So there's a lot of different dimensions to fitness. There's mobility, there's all of these things in there. So if we think of fitness as this holistic sort of an endeavor that has this multi-dimension, there's a cardiovascular piece to that, there's a mobility piece to that, there's a functional strength piece to that. But why is that critical for those of us in our 50s, 60s, 70s to really want to be fit? And the answer is because being fit equals being healthy. Specifically, it equals being metabolically healthy. There's this whole new school of research that is showing that muscle is actually the organ of longevity. So muscle actually acts very much like an organ in our body, and it's kind of a new school of thought.

Speaker 2:

Well, that is. I haven't heard that one before. Yeah, Dr.

Speaker 3:

Gabriel Lyon is probably at the forefront of that, at least in terms of popularizing that.

Speaker 3:

So if your listeners aren't familiar with her, she's got a New York Times bestseller I think it's called Forever Strong.

Speaker 3:

But the premise of that book is she's very much a researcher in this space is that muscle is the organ of longevity. And when we say muscle, she's specifically talking about that type two, fast twitch sort of muscle that we get from strength training, from doing things that make us stronger, muscle that we get from strength training, from doing things that make us stronger. So, again, if we go back to when we think of fitness, there's a cardiovascular piece of fitness, there's a mobility piece of fitness, but there's a strength component to fitness which I feel like a lot of folks in our demographic, specifically our ladies right, those ladies 50s, 60s and 70s, historically they've been told hey, you belong with the Jane Fonda workout, you belong with these little tiny pink hand weights, you belong in an aerobics class and you guys, maybe you're fine over here with a barbell and a dumbbell, and I feel like that's been a big disservice to us as we age. So that's why it's important, because being strong equals being metabolically healthy.

Speaker 2:

Right. Are you equating strength in terms of male and female, or are you saying that it's equal?

Speaker 3:

I think it's of equal importance, 100%. And let me be clear it is equally as important for a woman, especially in our age demographic, to participate in strength training and work on getting strong, as it is for a man, and here's why. So your listeners are probably familiar with the term sarcopenia, which basically means age-related muscle loss, and osteopenia, which is age-related bone density weakening or bone weakening right. Both of those are overcome by strength training, by some sort of professionally designed, age-appropriate strength training programs. Every time we strengthen our bodies, our muscles, we also strengthen our bones. Now for your postmenopausal ladies. This is critical because we know that postmenopausal females are more prone to osteopenia, osteoporosis, and a lot of that can be mitigated, even reversed, with. A lot of that can be mitigated, even reversed, with a good strength training program.

Speaker 2:

I know that many of my listeners, especially those who are over 65 years of age, find it difficult to find a fitness routine that really works for them. So, in your opinion, let's say that someone really is on the wrong track, which many people are. How do we really begin the process of becoming fit? Sure?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So, again, my area of expertise is going to be in helping people be strong, fit, capable, vital as they age. And you brought up a great point when being winded and do I have still am I maintaining mobility as I age? Can I squat, can I hinge, can I get my arms up over my head, et cetera right. So can I put my own overhead, my own luggage, in the overhead compartment in a plane, for example, right.

Speaker 3:

But when we talk specifically about strength training, I feel like where we run into problems sometimes is that there's aimed at our age demographic. There seems to be two types of programs that are pretty popular. One treats us like we have one foot in the grave, like we're feeble, and you know it's, for goodness sakes, whatever you do, don't squat, don't deadlift, don't lift anything heavy. And the other side is kind of the you know that younger 20 year old bro or broette telling us, hey, no pain, no gain and no days off and let's get after it, let's, let's charge hard. And somewhere in between there is what is appropriate for most of us at this age demographic. Now, that being said, it's very critical that we meet ourselves where we are If you're very deconditioned, have never lifted a weight in your life, you'd probably have a different workout program that's appropriate for you than somebody who's maybe more active.

Speaker 2:

Well, one of the big, obviously one of the big challenges, and I've seen many seniors in particular back off of exercise because they jump into it with a lot of gusto or vitality and unfortunately become injured. So what is your suggestion? As far as starting, you know to build a fitness regime slowly. What would you recommend to our audience in terms of let's not get hurt.

Speaker 3:

Let's not get hurt. So that should be our look. We want to build muscle, we want to become fit. We want to become fit, we want to be healthy. But you've already said the magic word, and that's to go slowly, to progress very slowly.

Speaker 3:

So what I like to tell people who are either deconditioned or maybe new to strength training in particular is to become a student of movement first. So let's just take body weight movements or maybe you're using some light resistance bands or something like that let's get really good at doing body weight squats where we can slowly and with control, get a full depth of range of motion in a squat and stand back up powerfully. Let's learn to lunge with just body weight Lunge forward, lunge backwards, lunge to the side. These are very functional movements that we should not be surrendering lightly just because we're kind of feeling, well, I'm too old for that now. No, you're not too old for basic primal human movements. You should not surrender those lightly.

Speaker 3:

So I like people to start with very basic, compound, functional movements like squatting and hinging, pushing and pulling, some of these split stance type things. So lunging again is one that a lot of our clients when they initially come into our program. That's one of the ones they really struggle with, because if you think about a lunge, there's strength involved, there's balance, there's coordination, there's mobility. So there's all these different, multiple facets in a movement like that that make it seem a to progress to more. You know, maybe start to introduce some dumbbells or some barbells and start working on your strength that way.

Speaker 2:

Will. Someone in their 60s, for example, may really have a difficult difficulty, I should say, in terms of squatting. Would you recommend people like that, for example, to use the back of a chair when you're squatting to give yourself a little help in up and down?

Speaker 3:

Because some people are really out of shape. Yes.

Speaker 3:

So, yes, again, that goes back to meeting yourself where you are. It may be appropriate, for example, I'm 60. I'll load up a barbell and put it on my back and squat away. But a peer of mine who's the same age may have to start, like you're saying, with their hands maybe on the back of a chair and do a partial squat. Or we may take that person, if they belong to a gym, and we may use some of the machines. So a leg extension machine, for example, is a fantastic way for somebody to very safely and easily progress some of just some lower body strength. And as they build some strength there, then we'll continue to work on mobility. We'll get them to where they can do a body weight squat and then, when they're ready to graduate from that, maybe they grab some small dumbbells and start squatting now with some added load. But 100% it's a matter of meeting yourself where you are and starting from there and just progressing slowly. This is a patience game. This is a patience game. This is a lifelong game right?

Speaker 2:

Well, it makes a lot of sense. Now you have a number of clients that come to you for coaching and, of course, your organization is the Silver Edge a great name, by the way and you have a different approach to obtaining and maintaining a lean, healthy body. So, as a coach, can you describe your process?

Speaker 3:

Sure. So I'll start with this caveat Most of our clients come to us for weight loss, so that's the primary goal of most people. Now there are some exceptions, that people come because they want to build muscle, they want to be strong, fit, capable as they age. But the majority of our folks are coming with that initial goal at least of weight loss, and we have basically a three-step blueprint or framework for that, and we're very fond of the saying what you do before and after your diet is way more important than your actual diet. So as humans, we're not meant to just constantly be calorie deprived or in a calorie deficit. That's horrible for our metabolism.

Speaker 3:

So we take a very metabolic health approach to this. So, for example, our phase one for, say, you come into our program and your goal is hey, I'd like to lose 20 pounds, 10 pounds, 50, whatever, it doesn't matter, but I'd also like to build a little muscle. I kind of like your philosophy of being strong and fit and capable. So that person is going to come in and we're not going to diet. We're not going to diet for maybe two, three months, depending on where their metabolism is.

Speaker 3:

We want to restore and optimize their metabolism. In other words, we want to put them metabolically in a position where their body is much more likely and willing to give up those fat stores. Because, as you know, I'm sure your body loves to store fat. Because when you go on a diet, your body doesn't know that you're just on a diet to try and lose a few pesky pounds. It's perceiving this as food scarcity and it's then down-regulating the metabolism to adjust to that, to adapt to that, which doesn't mean it's a broken metabolism. It's just what your body's designed to do. So we try and do everything.

Speaker 2:

Right, as we know, our metabolism as we age really slows, and that's amazing. Year by year, slow by slow, and I mean obviously you take that into consideration, which is extremely important. We 100% did.

Speaker 3:

We also are strong proponents of look, there's 100% there. Especially as we get to 60 and older, it's undeniable Our metabolism does start to biologically slow due to age. Now, those of you in your 50s, if you have a really crappy slow metabolism, that's probably more lifestyle-driven than it is age-driven.

Speaker 3:

So we want to do everything we can within our control to affect what we can affect. So while we can't turn back the hands of time chronologically, we can metabolically just by. Of course, there's some nutritional strategies we have, but one of the big things we have is we want you to be strong, we want you to get strong. So everybody is going to do a again, depending on where they're starting from, but we're going to work on building strength and that starts to build the metabolism, starts to speed up the metabolism, optimize the metabolism, putting them at a position where a fat loss phase will be much, much easier, less painful than normal.

Speaker 2:

Well, I like to state the fact that we've become, I should say, a sitting nation. Does some of this have to do with becoming a couch potato sitting at our desk, looking at our computers, watching TV? Have we become so sedentary that that also affects our metabolism, even at a younger age than 65.

Speaker 3:

It absolutely does, you're absolutely right. So when we go back to sarcopenia, that age-related muscle loss, most of that until we're, say, in our 80s or maybe 90s, even most of that is attributable to lifestyle factors. And the number one lifestyle factor is going to be that sedentary lifestyle, sitting Right, sedentary lifestyle, sitting right most of us are not moving and active and you know, using our musculature throughout the day and most of us sit, for even those of us that work out. So if you think you, if you went to the gym for 45 minutes at a time and you did that three, four times a week, but the rest of the day you were in a seated position or or inactive, that's tough to overcome.

Speaker 2:

Well, and obviously you have most of your programs, at least as I understand it. I'm sure you may do some one-on-one, but basically your classes, your courses, are all online. So I'm interested in basically what you call your eight-week transformational journey, in other words, taking your body and transforming it, as you call it, into a fat-burning machine. Fat-burning machine yeah, can you tell us a little bit about that?

Speaker 3:

Sure, so yeah, that eight-week program is designed basically to jumpstart a metabolism. So this is to take a deconditioned person and help them practice healthy habits. So what are we? I'll tell you what we're not going to do in eight weeks, and that's diet. We're not going to restrict calories, so we're going to ask everybody to take at least a week and weigh, measure and track all of their food. There's a number of reasons why we do that, but we want a baseline right. For some of those people, they may be reverse diet, which is exactly what it sounds like, and we may ask them to eat a little bit more food.

Speaker 3:

Along this journey, we're going to work on, of course, getting strong. Strength. Training is a big piece of that. We're going to work on optimizing our sleep and minimizing stress, so some of these lifestyle factors as well. But again, what we're trying to do is in eight weeks, what can we accomplish from going from kind of a sluggish metabolism to a fat-burning metabolism, and by that I just mean can we speed that metabolism up?

Speaker 3:

So, if you think, if you add a little bit of muscle on your body, muscle is metabolically expensive. Again, I'm talking about the muscle that we get from strength training, not from cardio. Those are two different things metabolically speaking. And that type two muscle, or that muscle that we build from strength training, is metabolically expensive. It's calorically expensive, meaning it takes more calories to maintain that muscle, even at rest. So for you for those of you that are maybe out there getting a jog or you're on your Peloton bike and you're burning calories while you're doing that exercise but the second, you stop. The calorie burn stops when we do strength training. So you do 40 minutes of strength training, you get days worth of calorie burn for that If you integrate that into your life. We're just getting this Now. We're starting to just slowly and over time, just increase that calorie burn over time. So that's what we're trying to do is instill in these people in eight weeks. These are the habits that you should practice to get to speed up that metabolism.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's very interesting because I think your description, your comparison between a Peloton, for example, and the continuation of fat burning, which doesn't happen after you've stopped your exercise your program actually continues the fat burning, if they're, even after someone, let's say, just takes a break and relaxes and perhaps goes back to a sedentary position for a bit. What you're saying is that they're still burning fat with your program 100%.

Speaker 3:

Yes, yes, because of that increased calorie demand. So, for example, I was at the gym at six o'clock this morning. It's 11am where we are now and I'm still enjoying that additional fat burn, calorie burn, just because of that, that, that stimulus that I had this morning and in fact this evening, if I'm maybe on the couch with my wife, I'll still be enjoying that, whereas when I do something like play pickleball or go for a run, I'm getting cardio, which don't get me wrong. Cardio is absolutely critical. I like to say, think of cardio for heart health and think of strength training for quality of life. So you can almost say cardio kind of is more of a longevity, and do your strength training for that health span. For that I want to be functionally strong and able to do things.

Speaker 2:

Very interesting. Now you also offer a lean body blueprint workout. Now this, apparently, is geared for a 24-week regimen. If you're getting as much out of what you describe in eight weeks, the 24 weeks has to be at a superior level, I'm assuming, right?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so a couple of different things. The eight-week program is a group coaching program. So you're in there with one of my other coaches Coach Monica typically runs those. There's weekly meetings and there's each day you have a reading. So there's we're crash again. That's a crash course and just boosting that metabolism. Body blueprint workout that's a basically it's a six month workout program. It's over five phases, so it's all delivered through an app. This would be for somebody who wants an again, a professionally designed, age appropriate workout program, but maybe doesn't have the expertise or experience to do a program themselves, or maybe they've started a program in the past and found that it was ineffective, or maybe they got hurt working out. This would be something for those types of folks.

Speaker 2:

All right, so let's take a moment to switch to something that I think is a lot of fun. Apparently, you're a pickleball fan. In fact, you have a program called Pickle Fit. That's a good one, especially if you're in a pickle, but in any case, I won't get into puns. What's it all about? And since you're coaching online, I'm trying to understand how you really make this work for clients.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so we have one-on-one coaching, we have workout programs, we have group coaching, and 100% of it is delivered online. I no longer coach in person anymore. But yeah, the Pickle Fit program is a workout program designed specifically for people in our age demographic who want to get better playing pickleball. Now, what it's not is teaching you the skill and strategy of hitting shots and positioning things like that, but what it is is increasing your mobility, increasing your strength, increasing your explosivity, your speed to move laterally. And I created it with that the idea that somebody would use this type of a program to get better at pickleball. But really, in the back of my mind, I created it to help people become more injury proof, because the statistics for people starting in art, specifically 50, 60, 70-year-olds, senior citizens, playing pickleball, were getting hurt in droves.

Speaker 3:

And it's no mystery if you think about it. Pickleball the barrier to entry is really low and the fun factor is ridiculously high. So you might imagine somebody who's been very, very sedentary gets dragged to a court by their friend or, you know, these days it could be a grandkid. There's more kids now playing pickleball than our seniors, believe it or not. That's how I got into it. My daughter dragged me to pickleball, but what happens is now, for the first time ever, this 60, 70, 80 year old man or woman is on a court. They're having fun, and they're a couple of weeks in, and now they're moving explosively laterally. They're they're hinging in ways that they've not hinged in years.

Speaker 3:

It's not hard to see how that person's going to get hurt, right? So when I did that program, that's a three phase program. The idea there is hey, I want to make you more athletic, I want to make you a better pickleball player, but I also want to make you injury-proof, or to at least dramatically reduce your risk of injury. So that is a. It's a workout program. So all of the programs we talked about Lean Body, blueprint and Pickle Fit are they're three days a week, 40 to 60-minute workouts, usually full body.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so that's how that works. So how do you get people playing pickleball though I'm kind of curious online? In other words, you lay down the factors they need to know when they get on the court. Is that it?

Speaker 3:

No, I'm just helping them get in better shape to play the game at a higher level.

Speaker 2:

Ah, now I see, so it is a workout program right, so it is a workout program to help individuals become better, more injury-resistant players. So if somebody really, for whatever reason, doesn't want to get into pickleball or they're in a weather situation where they don't have an indoor facility, in addition to pickleball, what other fitness regimens do you recommend for women and men in the senior age group, for example, lifting weights? I think you mentioned that earlier.

Speaker 3:

All right. So I'm bullish on lifting weights and I think all of us should be lifting weights, 100% of us, and whatever that looks like for you. Like I said, that may be you starting with body weight only exercises, but some sort of resistance program I think that's table stakes personally, nothing crazy. Again, if you were starting out 30 minutes three times a week would be a perfect place to start. I feel like everybody should be walking a minimum of 7,000 steps a day. Now, if you only walk 2,000 steps a day and most of us have some sort of a tracker type thing then you probably should start with 3,000 steps a day and build. Most of us have some sort of a tracker type thing that you probably should start with 3000 steps a day and build on that, but work up to your average daily steps is 7000. That's not. It's not.

Speaker 2:

Would that be about four or five blocks or what would you in other words? So people understand, what does 7000 feet mean? I think that's going to be yeah, so we're talking, a couple of miles of walking.

Speaker 3:

But now, while that might sound intimidating, you could do that in your house through the course of the day, just by taking two minutes at a time to walk up and down your stairs, walk, you know, do laps around your house or in your house. So just anything you can do to increase general movement is going to help improve your overall health. General movement is going to help improve your overall health. So, yeah, I think that strength training and walking are the hallmarks, or the table stakes, if you will, for healthy aging. And then, on top of that, I love the idea of doing something you're passionate about, find something active, and that could be hiking, that could be maybe trail running or riding your bike. It could be a sport like pickleball or golf or, if you're more athletically minded, maybe tennis or recreational basketball. But finding something that you really enjoy, that has an element of community, ideally, I think, is an ideal ticket for healthy aging.

Speaker 2:

How do you feel about let's get into the water exercises, where there's obviously you don't have that impact that you do on hard surfaces. Do you like swimming? Do you like aqua jogging? You recommend any of that?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely, yeah, 100%. So, as you mentioned, for those of us with maybe joints that aren't going to take pounding and running, swimming or aqua jog fabulous way to get some good cardio in. A fabulous way to get some good cardio in, a lot of our clients who are really deconditioned would start maybe in some sort of an aqua jogging, aqua aerobics kind of class, just to get moving, get a little blood flow going, work on a little bit of that cardiovascular conditioning. I love it.

Speaker 2:

Good, good. So one of your core principles, I should say, involves passion. I love that word, passion, and you state I'm going to quote you without passion, there is no way to create a lasting, impactful change. So, as a person who's aging, how do you find the energy? I mean you've been sedentary how do you find the energy to create that passion?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, what a great question. So, again, we're going to go back to patience. So this is going to happen overnight. But when we start to practice self-care and remember self-care equals self-love, and by self-care I mean we're going to start choosing foods that honor our bodies we're going to get our steps in. We're going to have some sort of a walking practice, intentional walking practice. We're going to have some sort of strength training routine that we incorporate in our lives.

Speaker 3:

What, slowly, over time, starts to happen. All those things might be onerous to start with, you know that may be challenging, may be difficult. It's a different routine, but over time what happens is we start to upregulate all of our health markers. We start to feel better, maybe a couple months in family and friends that we haven't seen in a while start commenting on it and say, hey, if you lost weight, you look great. And we start to have more energy. Our sleep starts to improve and as we continue on this, there's sort of this, what I like to call a falling in love.

Speaker 3:

So I feel like one of the keys, going back to passion, one of the keys to living a healthy, strong, vital life is to learn somehow to fall in love with the process of healthy living. So I think what happens is a lot of time people they don't embrace healthy aging, doing the things that it takes to be healthy as we age, because they feel like it's giving up or they feel like it's a bunch of onerous tasks. Oh, I have to work out and eat healthy. That doesn't sound like much fun, but what you find is that over time, that becomes the preferred way of doing things. Time that becomes the preferred way of doing things. When I eat foods that honor my body, when I do movements and exercises that honor my body, that just feeds into this love and this passion. So that's what I mean by that. I think that the key to long-term success for healthy aging is finding some way of falling in love with that process. Does that make sense?

Speaker 2:

Well, that's a very romantic type of passion, but I think the two equate very well. I like your description of it, but in any case, I can't believe we've already been at this for about 30 minutes, but it's been a very insightful interview. I want our listeners to know that, in addition to individual online and as well as group coaching, you also host a popular podcast which people can listen to. You write some very informative blogs which I think can be inspiring as a matter of fact. So all of this can be found on your website, silveredgefitnesscom. But I believe my listeners would be very interested in your free book.

Speaker 2:

We all like things that are free and obviously you're a wealth of knowledge, so tell us about this book and how we get it free.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so I think what you're referring to. There is the Silver Edge Guide to Health and Vitality Folks. If they're interested in that they can go to SilverEdgeFitnesscom. There's across the top. One of the tabs says free resources and that guide is that e-book is pinned right there at the top. All you have to do is just click on it and you'll go to a page you have to put in your email and we'll email it to you. But on that page we have I don't know 20, 25 plus free guides. So we have all kinds of. We have all kinds of guides on nutrition, on strength training, on lifestyle, things like that.

Speaker 2:

Folks can go there and download anything they like. So it's free of charge and basically it's that simple. And when we read the book, are we going to actually learn things from this book?

Speaker 3:

I hope so. Yeah, I mean.

Speaker 2:

I mean, is it a good starter before they start with your program? Is that why you offer it initially?

Speaker 3:

It is because the idea of that particular e-book is that I'm trying to paint this very holistic picture of what healthy aging can and should look like and make it accessible for folks. So it's got a lot of tips on, of course, strength training and how to eat healthy and how to optimize your sleep, how to manage stress, how to get started. So I do think that it's a good holistic overview for folks that are interested in healthy aging.

Speaker 2:

Well, I definitely would like our listeners to, if nothing else, get a copy of the book. Of course I want them to our listeners to, if nothing else, get a copy of the book. Of course, I want them to look more into your programs because I think that you know, I know you're a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate that a great deal. So the good news for our listeners is, whether or not you're exercising or you're driving or you're cooking, while you're listening to this podcast, you don't need to stop what you're doing and write it down. You simply come to our website, jamespolikoffcom, which we're going to talk about a little bit later, and all of the information about Kevin English and the Silver Edge will be there, along with how to get his free book. In any case, I want to thank you, Kevin. When it comes to healthy aging as our silver years approach, you are certainly a wealth of knowledge and I think this has been very insightful. Thanks so much for joining us.

Speaker 3:

Thanks, dr Jim, it was my pleasure.

Speaker 2:

And I'll be right back after this message with the best foods to eat that help you stay fit.

Speaker 1:

Once again. More information about Kevin English and the Silver Edge can be found at our informative website, jamespolikoffcom. Also at our website, you'll find other excellent, lively podcasts, plus how you can discover the secrets of living to 100 and beyond in Dr Polikoff's new book Live Healthy Longer with Dr Jim. Dr Jim's highly acclaimed book provides you with insights to preventing heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's. You'll discover ways to lose weight for good, eliminate back pain and arthritis, as well as managing stress and, since there's now proof, with intimacy and sexual fulfillment you can live healthy longer. Dr Jim devoted three exciting, stimulating chapters on this subject. Live Healthy Longer with Dr Jim is now available at amazoncom For further information. For further information, visit our website, jamespolakoffcom. That's jamespolakoffcom. Now back to Dr Jim.

Speaker 2:

I once again wish to thank fitness guru Kevin English for joining us in this episode. So, as you consider his advice, the question arises what are some of the foods that can provide energy in supporting our exercise efforts to stay fit? If you don't have the right food for fuel to eat before exercising, it's possible you're not going to have enough in the tank to complete your fitness regimen. So here are some healthy tips. Grab a banana or an apple about five to 10 minutes before your workout. This will give you some quick, natural energy If you exercise later in the day. Another good choice, about an hour before you get started, might be a sports bar. Now be sure to choose a bar with low fiber content. Three grams or less is my suggestion, because too much fiber before exercising could actually lead to an upset stomach.

Speaker 2:

And as important hydrate, studies show that water is our best fluid. So begin drinking water about two hours before you begin exercise and then again 20 minutes in advance. Try to drink the equivalent of a glass of water every 15 minutes during the fitness routine and also rehydrate after your session. You should aim to drink at least 8 ounces of water within 30 minutes. And, by the way, what you ingest after a workout is also important. Fiber is great, so instead of a bottle of juice, eat whole fruits. For example, a bowl of blueberries is shown to reduce muscle soreness after strenuous exercise. Cherries are another good option, but any berry is berry great.

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By the way, it's suggested if you fall into that senior age group, try to build up to 30 minutes of exercise most days. 150 minutes per week would be ideal. So there you have it Now. Although a healthy diet might have an edge of importance for those in the senior age group, regular physical activity is essential, especially for maintaining muscle mass balance and overall well-being. You can certainly learn even more about healthy living through our informative podcasts and blogs, which are found on our website, jamespolikoffcom. I thank you for listening and be sure to join me once again for new episodes of Live Healthy Longer. This is Dr Jim Polakoff, wishing you good health and happiness. Thank you.

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James Polakof

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