It began with the tears watching the 11pm news. I just didn’t have the stomach for all the violence anymore. Also, I couldn’t stay awake for the 11pm news either. I tried the 10pm news but that wasn’t much better. Then I switched to CSI, the show about serial killers and Gray’s Anatomy. I never was much for the TV shows with canned laughter. I was more the Dr. Kildare, Rifleman, Bonanza, Leave It To Beaver and Ed Sullivan type. Just recently I began to have trouble with the Dr.’s shows and serial killer shows. Torture, violence and gut wrenching medical issues have become too real and I now turn them off. Recently, I went to a terribly sad but well acted foreign film that had been nominated for an Academy Award. Two hours and 25 minutes was more than I could handle. I was giving myself an exercise workout in the movies while watching this movie. I was haunted for three days after seeing it. The problem as I see this is: I can hardly stay up past 9pm and the violence on most TV shows is now more than I can handle. Even EXTRA and Entertainment tonight are unappealing because everyone is so young, I don’t know who they are and I really don’t care. That leaves Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and Vanna White. Oh my, I have finally become my mother. Tonight I will try my Enya CD, Meditate with my Liquid Mind CD and see where this journey takes me.

HOW WELL DO YOU COPE?

A friend of mine made an interesting comment a few months ago. She said “I have been dealing with morons both on the phone and in person recently and seeing true incompetence in their business dealing to the point I am now so angry that I have to take a weekend vacation to calm down. I need to get away from my life and deal with absolutely nothing for a while. I just cannot cope as well as I used to.” Last week the lack of coping hit me also. I have been dealing with a large company that heads up the business that I do. I have been waiting for half a year for something from them that should take maybe 6-8 weeks at most. Then they lost my paperwork, payment and everything I gave them last year. My hands are tied. So, I yell at my computer, yell at my iPhone and yell at myself on the tennis court. Ugly situation. Where did my patience go, my calmness go, my coping skills go? Since everything is done by email now and there is no voice or face to face contact, I think the lack of human involvement adds to this coldness and lack of control situation. Younger people are used to this, not us Boomers. I need someone to talk to, someone to “bitch” to. Guess I’ll just have to go back to the Apple Store where there always are smiling faces waiting to help you.

YOUTUBE VIDEO: Thin is in but Not for your Bones
http://retrofitpilates.com/training/specialty-workshops/osteoporosis.html

I just downloaded 9 minutes of my American Bone Health osteoporosis powerpoint presentation and lecture. If you would like me to present at any function looking for a speaker, please contact me.
310 913-3333
BWintroub@retrofitpilates.com

ORDER BARBARA’S NEW BOOK ‘FIGHTING GRAVITY’ AS A GIFT FOR SOMEONE YOU LOVE.

HELP THEM EASE INTO FITNESS THE HUMOROUS WAY!

BUY ‘FIGHTING GRAVITY’ ON AMAZON OR AT
http://retrofitpilates.com/shop.html

BOOMER-ILATES AND BEYOND HOME STUDY LAUNCHED TO MY WEB SITE MARCH 10th.

This is a Home Study course to prepare Physical Therapists, Pilates and Personal Fitness Trainers to be able to teach Pilates or Fitness to an older population with tissue issues.
http://retrofitpilates.com/shop.html

As a member of the BABY BOOMER GENERATION, Barbara is considered an “Active Aging Expert”. She is nationally ranked in Tennis and Pickleball. Barbara was one of the first 40 women to successfully complete a marathon on all seven continents, placing her in the 7 Continents Club. She has finished 60 marathons, two Ironman triathlons, two ultra marathons and hundreds of short course races. Today her passion is playing and teaching Pickleball and Pilates.

They say you know you are getting old(er) when you go to sleep at night feeling great and awaken in the morning and your ankle (back, knee, shoulder, etc) doesn’t work. What happened? Did I have an “out of body experience” during my sleep? How could something go wrong in bed sleeping? What a mystery to me and everyone else.

For many years, I worked for a pain management doctor teaching Pilates to chronically injured patients. Most of them suffered from “sleep injuries”. The doctor was correctly named the “pillow queen” because she would design a sleep position that would create a safe environment for the patient. Then, she would align pillows all around their body and between their knees to keep them in this position. Here’s the good news, it worked. Here’s the bad news, it worked….but the sleep position was drastically different than the original way they slept.

Some of the patients even traveled with an extra suitcase filled with pillows (before suitcase charges.) If you have back pain don’t sleep on your stomach, if you have shoulder pain don’t sleep on your shoulder. I now have feet pain. Because I am playing so much tennis and Pickleball my feet are killing me. I have a metal toe joint that hurts but the other toe joint hurts more. My right ankle kills me from nerve pain if I keep my foot under the covers. The covers make my foot throb. I just refuse to take meds unless the pain is too great to sleep.

My body is telling me I need to stretch my feet and legs (especially the muscles in my lower leg). It’s just to easy to be on meds all the time that will eventually kill my liver. So all of this brings me to stretching all your parts every chance you get. Recently, I spoke to many of my tennis friends who are injured. I asked about stretching, and watched their eyes glaze over. NEVER! was their reply.

Over-use syndrome is rampant among senior athletes. Doing the same movements over and over again break you down, they do not make you stronger. Learning to stretch correctly is key for all of us. Doing the stretches often but when you are warmed up is also very important.

Make you all a deal….try for two weeks to stretch carefully every day. See if you feel better. If you don’t, then buy lots of pillows, some pain meds and watch those “out of body journeys”.
About Retrofit Pilates & Barbara Wintroub

ORDER BARBARA’S NEW BOOK ‘FIGHTING GRAVITY’ AS A GIFT FOR SOMEONE YOU LOVE. HELP THEM EASE INTO FITNESS THE HUMOROUS WAY!

BUY ‘FIGHTING GRAVITY’ ON AMAZON OR here.

BOOMER-ILATES AND BEYOND HOME STUDY LAUNCHED TO MY WEB SITE MARCH 10th. This is a Home Study course to prepare Physical Therapists, Pilates and Personal Fitness Trainers to be able to teach Pilates or Fitness to an older population with tissue issues. Buy BOOMER-ILATES AND BEYOND here.

Leg Press

1. Leg press: Seated on the bench (sitting tall of course), place your hands on either side of your legs. Press your legs outward while trying to push your legs together with your hands. Press for a count of 10, do 5-10 times; breathe out while pressing.

Clam Shell

2. Clam Shell — Side: Lie on the bench with legs stacked and bent. Glue your heels together; open top knee 20 times (or more) till you have a burning sensation in hip muscles. Do each leg 3-5 times.

3. Clam Shell: Tie legs together above knees with band and repeat above exercises.  (Not for the faint of heart)

4. Rubber band around lower legs, do sidestepping keeping legs apart throughout exercise. Sidestep around the court one direction then change directions. Work toward a burning sensation in the hips (not sharp pains).

5. Balance on right leg while trying to lift the left leg backward. Touch the bun muscles to see if they are working. Do 10 times then change legs.  Repeat exercise 3-5 times.

Sidestepping

Balancing

Stronger hips make for stronger pickleball.

Fighting Gravity

Order Barbara’s new book Fighting Gravity as a gift for someone you love. Help them to ease into fitness the humorous way!

BUY ‘FIGHTING GRAVITY’ ON AMAZON OR AT WWW.RETROFITPILATES.COM

BOOMER-ILATES AND BEYOND HOME STUDY
Coming to this website March 10th.

This is a Home Study course to prepare Physical Therapists, Pilates and Personal Fitness Trainers to be able to teach Pilates or Fitness to an older population with tissue issues.  Watch for it on the web site www.retrofitpilates.com

The following pictures begin with the easiest plank then evolve to more difficult plank positions. The reason the plank is so important is that more abdominal core muscle fibers are used than in any other position.

Hold all positions for a count of 10 to 20, rest and repeat 5 times.

Picture #1- is a plank against a wall
Picture #2 – is quadruped (on hands and knees) with right arm and left leg extended. Change arm and leg, do 5 on each side.
Picture #3 – is bent knee pushup position
Picture #4 – is bent knee side pushup position
Picture #5 – is full pushup position
Picture #6 – is full side balance

You can do one, two or all of the exercises. Feel how your deep abs turn on to support each movement. Pull in on your navel as you exhale and hold plank. Do the exercises every day if possible and watch to see how strong you become. Your pickleball hitting will be stronger, your endurance better and you will play back-pain free.

ANOTHER YEAR QUICKLY DISAPPEARS–Where do they go?

About Retrofit Pilates & Barbara Wintroub  

ORDER BARBARA’S NEW BOOK ‘FIGHTING GRAVITY’ AS A HOLIDAY GIFT FOR SOMEONE YOU LOVE.  HELP THEM EASE INTO FITNESS THE HUMOROUS WAY!

BUY ‘FIGHTING GRAVITY’ ON AMAZON OR AT WWW.RETROFITPILATES.COM

BOOMER-ILATES AND BEYOND Home Study coming soon. This is a Home Study course to prepare Physical Therapists, Pilates and Personal Fitness Trainers to be able to teach Pilates to an older population with issues.  Watch for it here on the web site.

Written by RetroFit™ Pilates RX

AS WE GET OLDER, LIFE GETS EASIER!  (Yeah Right)

Have you noticed lately it is harder to get everything done, like you used to?  What has changed recently?  Here’s my opinion.  I have lists and lists of things to do daily and weekly but cannot find a way to do all of it.  The world still spins at the same rate, days go by at the same speed, but, I don’t.  I am slowing down.  I rise later and go to sleep earlier.  Therefore, my days are shorter, my energy somewhat less and I just plain have too much to do.  Ok, now what?  Time for me to shorten my list, down size my activities and try to find spare time to read or rest.  Doesn’t everyone floss or massage their gums while driving in their car and work on the computer, watch TV and stretch your hamstrings at the same time?  Multitasking has been my life.  No wonder I cannot remember where my glasses or keys are.

I have a new MAC Computer and new iPhone (smartphone).  If my phone is so smart, how come it can’t find my glasses or keys?  Anyway, I seem to live at the Apple store.  I’ve decided that I will probably meet the love of my life there not with online dating.  Sometimes, if I run low on energy, I just hang out there, pet the dogs, smile at the patrons and renew my body battery.  WHEN not IF things go wrong with my computer or iPhone, it seems like it takes forever to repair the damage.  I have been known to be with tech support for 1-2 hours.  No wonder I cannot get my list of things finished.  I’m either on the phone with Tech support or at the Genius Bar at the Apple store (of course, while looking out for Mr. Wonderful).  Just about everyone in my store is a gray hair so we all carry a notebook and pen to write down everything we need to remember to do when we get home.  I wonder if there are Apple Anonymous meetings for those of us addicted to being there.

Now, I suffer from “Phone Rage”.  There are no live beings at the other end of my phone, ever.  Press 1 for something, 2 for something else etc.  No longer is there press 0 for a representative, it’s press 27 for a rep. after they have exhausted the other 26 possibilities.  Then they place you on hold, tell you how busy they are, tell you it’s a 15 min. wait, blare music in your ear and after 10 minutes disconnect you.  Then they request a review of your experience.  So here I wait for things to get easier as I age.

Grief! I’m going to the gym to exercise and relieve my stress.

About Retrofit Pilates & Barbara Wintroub

ORDER BARBARA’S NEW BOOK ‘FIGHTING GRAVITY’ AS A HOLIDAY GIFT FOR SOMEONE YOU LOVE.  HELP THEM EASE INTO FITNESS THE HUMOROUS WAY!

BUY ‘FIGHTING GRAVITY’ ON AMAZON OR AT WWW.RETROFITPILATES.COM

BOOMER-ILATES AND BEYOND Home Study coming soon. This is a Home Study course to prepare Physical Therapists, Pilates and Personal Fitness Trainers to be able to teach Pilates to an older population with issues.  Watch for it on the web site www.retrofitpilates.com

As a member of the BABY BOOMER GENERATION, Barbara is considered an “Active Aging Expert”. She is nationally ranked in Tennis, Pickleball and Paddle Tennis. Barbara was one of the first 40 women to successfully complete a marathon on all seven continents, placing her in the 7 Continents Club. She has finished 60 marathons, two Ironman triathlons, two ultra marathons and hundreds of short course races.  Today her passion is playing and teaching Pickleball and Pilates.
Levels 1

Level 1 & 2 DVDs

Do you want to grow your Pilates business?
Do you want to attract more men to Pilates?
Do you want Pilates to be more aerobic?

Add Retrofit Aerobic Pilates RX to your program

Our Price: $ 35.00

Receive PMA and ACE CEC’s in your own home.  Purchase as a Home Study the HORIZONTAL REBOUNDING TECHNOLOGY COURSE which includes these DVD’s. 

Home Study Certificate Program

“Float like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee” – Muhammad Ali

Great words of advice for all us pickleballers.

Do you sometimes feel that your feet are stuck in one spot on the court floor and you’re unable – or unwilling – to move?  So many players find a position on the court and never move from there. I see their feet ‘locked in cement’, so to speak, so they reach for the ball instead of moving their feet to the ball.

If you watched the US Open tennis matches on TV, you may have noticed that the commentators all talked about how quickly some players got to the ball and some did not.   Their comments were to take your feet to the ball.

Balance is another key issue.  Not only should your feet move, Feet under bodybut your body should stay over your feet most of the time for good balance.  If you reach over with your foot and stretch for a shot, you cannot get back into position in time for the next shot.  (See photo at left showing INCORRECT position.

Photo at right shows CORRECT position.)  Are you on your heels when you’re at net or on the balls of your feet?  Here’s a law of physics that applies:  “A body in motion tends to stay in motion and a body at rest tends to stay at rest.”  If you are on  the balls of your feet, you are in motion and can keep moving.  If you are on your heels, you are at rest and will have to restart your momentum to get to the next shot.

Let’s figure out what all this means to playing pickleball.  If you keep your feet moving, you may be pooped before the first game is over, if your endurance isn’t great enough.  If you reach for the ball, you will probably hit up on the ball allowing the opponent to blast you with the return.  If your feet are not under your body, your chance of falling will increase.

We need some work to fix these potential issues.

Let’s address foot movement and endurance first.  Pretend you are jumping rope one foot to the other like Mohammad Ali did in “Rope a Dope”.  Start jumping for maybe 20 seconds, then 30, then 45 etc.  Your goal is to make it through the first game with energy to spare.Sidestepping

Second, do some shadow drills like side stepping on the base line and pretend hitting a forehand, then side stepping down the baseline in the opposite direction and pretend hitting a backhand.  This will help you get more energy to do this when you play a real game and you will be building leg strength and balance and taking your feet to the ball on each shot.

Third, have someone hit to you at the kitchen line, but remember to be leaning forward with weight on the balls of your feet at all times.  This position helps you “float and sting” when hitting your net shots.Stand on one leg

Fourth, see how long you can stand on one leg.  Then try the other leg.  Is one weaker?  Stand on that one several more times to strengthen it.  How’s your balance?  Try closing your eyes while you stand on one leg, then the other.  You can both strengthen each leg and improve your balance with this exercise.

Being in shape is of utmost importance when playing pickleball.  Presently, I am at the San Diego Senior Games playing and especially watching the players.   I watched some wonderful matches.   The thing that I noticed was that some players seemed to move better.  The ones who won the matches were usually active the entire match, weight moving forward all the time, following the movement of the ball with their body.

Try some of these suggestions and see if they help. If they do, let me know. I would love to hear from you.

As we charge into our later years, no holds barred, we concurrently insist on maintaining both our health and fitness. This reality brings me to the question:   Are we really good to our bodies with what we do to them?

I received a wonderful article about balancing exercise and rest for our muscles written by Gunnar Mossberg (gunnar@mossbergpt.com) on July 19th at http://www.signonsandiego.com. In his article, Gunnar quotes world-renowned exercise physiologist Per-Olof Astrand (Google him for more information).  According to Per-Olof Astrand, our body holds a reserve of 70% of its total energy, leaving 30% for work, ADLʼs (activities of daily living) and other workouts (which would include pickleball).  Rest periods are used for tissue recovery and repair.

What if we continually use more than our 30%, what really happens? We experience tissue breakdown and overuse injuries. Hmmmm, sound like anyone we know?  Looked at from first the positive, then the negative perspective, the formula might be said to be:  ‘Training + rest = health’ , or ‘Too much training + little rest = tissue breakdown, fitness breakdown and performance breakdown’.   Joint osteoarthritis, spinal disc degeneration and tendon issues are just a few of the problems.

If you are older and/or have a reduced fitness level due to illness or surgery, your 30% energy could be reduced significantly. Doing the same workout we did when we were younger or even last year could be detrimental to our health.  Therefore, you need to take a long look at your fitness program.

Do you train correctly?  By correctly I mean managing your training over time to build fitness.  One such approach is called ‘pyramid training’.   Pyramid training begins slowly at the bottom of the pyramid, then time and intensity move up a level as your fitness level improves, until you reach the top of the pyramid and you peak for your event.  Take an Ironman Triathlete or marathon runner who trains for a major event. As the athlete’s fitness level improves, it gets easier to do the same amount of exercise so s/he can push a bit more each time.  Eventually that person is able to do a 4-5 hour marathon or a 13-15 hour Ironman Triathlon.

You might have only 30% of total body energy available, but the exercise becomes easier as your fitness level rises, so you can exercise more for the same 30%.  That is what is called being fit.   But here is the catch. Many times the athlete gets sick or injured the week before the event because they pushed too hard at the end of their training period without proper rest periods.  Bottom line:  rest is key to improved performance.

Here are a few things to do on your way to increasing your fitness:

1.  Don’t red line your heart by working out to exhaustion
2.  Use lower intensity, endurance-type exercise such as bicycling, swimming and jogging slowly as cross training.  Cross training is what makes you stronger and more fit.   More pickleball just gives you overuse syndrome.
3.  Drill on the pickleball court part of the time and play part of the time.
4.  Sit down and rest when you get tired.
5.   Nap if possible.
6.  Eat healthy foods like green leafy vegetables, fresh veggies, fresh fruit not juice.  Leave out carbs with white sugar.  A banana, low fat yogurt and a bagel for breakfast is not a balanced healthy way to hit the pickleball court.  Why not? Any low fat product has more sugar in it (not more calories, but more sugar).  A banana converts to sugar and a bagel is starch (which converts to sugar).   Put a little almond butter and banana on the bagel or tuna on the bagel for some added protein.
7.   Stretch after you exercise.  Stretch all the time.   Stretching even a little goes a long way for your health.

There are many pickleball tournaments coming up this season.  You need to be healthy and ready to compete.  Being an athlete is tough on your body, so plan your exercise and rest wisely.

Norm Davis, the USAPA Director of Training, received the following question from a gentleman in the USAPA’s Training Room:   “I am an older player, and am looking for exercises that will strengthen my arms and shoulders so that I can put more on the ball.”   These exercises are in response to that request.

Upper body strength is not only for picklers, but also those who want to pick up grand kids, work in the garden, push yourself away from the dinner table and many other activities.  All of the following exercises can be executed with weights or elastic bands.  I took an elastic band and wrapped it around the umbrella pole at the pickleball court.

*NOTE: when using weights do not use heavy ones and do not make large range of motion movements.   Do two sets of 10 exercises.

Picture #1 is for the forehand.  Position yourself as if you were hitting your forehand while holding the band.  Try using your arm, legs and abdominal muscles to pull on the elastic band.  Hit the ball with your body and your arm.

Picture #2 is for the backhand.   Position yourself as if you were hitting your backhand while holding the band.  Follow instructions above.

Picture #3 is cross punching like a boxer.   Do the punches across your body, make sure you turn at the waist when punching.

Picture #4 Bicep curls.  Keep elbows in front of the body, bring hands to shoulders.

Picture #5  Chest Press.  Palms facing down, lower body toward the floor like a sumo wrestler then push both hands out in front of your body.

Picture #6  fitness position 6Deltoid strengthening (top of the shoulder).   Bend arms at a 90 degree angle at your sides. Lift the arms from the shoulder and lower arms from the shoulder.

Picture #7  Triceps Press. Position yourself as if you were hitting an overhead.   Stand on the elastic band with one end in your hand.   Slowly straighten the arm and slowly bend the arm.

Happy pickling and see you in September when the snowbird season begins.