Category: Older Adult Exercise Napa

Weight Loss and Optimal Eating Decisions

We’re entering the fourth month of the year, and New Year’s resolutions are in full effect.  Learning new skills, progressing toward new professional goals, and refining one’s overall sense of psychological and emotional well-being are among the areas people most often seek to improve in New Year’s resolutions.  Let’s not forget one of the top …

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Exercise Tip of the Month: Lateral Split Squat

Commonly seen Lower-body exercises at the gym might include squats, lunges, and leg presses. However, one overlooked movement that is critical not only for refining lower-body strength but also for reinforcing the structural integrity of the stabilizing muscles of the hips, knees, and ankles is side-to-side movement. The lateral split squat targets lower-extremity muscles involved …

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Posture Awareness During Squatting Exercises

“Make sure you look forward,” I cued Tina, one of our personal training clients, as she was performing a set of “zombie squats” during one of her training sessions.  Her eyes darted toward me momentarily to receive the instruction and then returned to looking straight ahead.  She immediately rotated her head upward, with her chin …

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The Mediterranean Diet

In the fitness world, diets like Keto, Paleo, and “low-carb” aim to promise fast results. But what if there were an approach that improves performance, recovery, and long-term health without extreme restrictions? Enter the Mediterranean diet. Inspired by traditional eating patterns in Greece and southern Italy, this approach emphasizes food quality, balance, and consistency rather …

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Sciatica Solutions and Strong Hips

Sciatica is a term used to describe pain, tingling, or numbness that travels from the lower back down through the hip and into the leg due to irritation of the sciatic nerve.  It forms from several nerve roots in the lumbar and sacral spine and travels through the pelvis, deep in the hip, down the …

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Exercise Tip of the Month: Incline Eccentric Push-Ups

Push-ups are one of the foundational bodyweight exercises we incorporate in nearly every training program in our personal training clients’ exercise prescriptions. One variation we would like to highlight this week is the incline eccentric push-up. To execute this movement properly, place your hands on an inclined surface and “screw” your hands into the surface …

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Exercise is Medicine for Knee Arthritis

Arthritis is a degenerative joint condition in which the smooth cartilage that normally cushions the ends of the joints gradually wears down. Healthy cartilage allows joints to glide smoothly and distribute forces during everyday movements.  Previous joint injuries, the repercussions of a life of manual labor in one’s career and lifestyle, or advancing age contribute …

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Deep Intrinsic Core and Hip Muscles

“Engage your core” is a term we often hear to avoid back injury during strenuous activity.  It should go without saying that bracing one’s core is beneficial when lifting a wine box off the ground, carrying it thirty meters, rotating it to place it on a shelf, and lifting it to a shelf of varying …

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Finger, Wrist, and Elbow Strength

After finishing a set of dynamic stretches, Nestor, one of our personal training clients, mentioned, “The inner part of my elbow is flared up.  I think I have a case of tennis elbow from going crazy on the drums last night.  I’d like to take it easy on a few of the more rigorous strength …

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Investing in Fitness and Daily Actions

Consistency can be defined as “the way in which a substance holds together” or “conformity in the application of something, typically that which is necessary for the sake of logic, accuracy, or fairness.”  Adhering to specific actions that reinforce health and well-being supports goals for a fulfilling and enjoyable livelihood.  Daily actions such as setting …

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