You hear about it here and there.

A triathlete riding his bike suddenly suffers life-threatening distress. A golfer has a heart attack while golfing. A young athlete, perfectly healthy, collapses on the court. Famously, trainer Bob Harper of The Greatest Loser fame, had a massive heart attack while lifting weights and is only alive today because a doctor happened to be there to perform CPR.

These stories appear periodically in the news, or someone you know tells you about something they heard along these lines. Most often, the cause is heart-related, and generally any pre-existing heart issues were previously unknown. (Bob Harper was unaware of his genetic history of a cholesterol abnormality.)

In the last year or so, I’ve been thinking a lot more about my own potential sudden demise while working out. I mean, it could happen, right? This is a first for me. Obviously, suffering a heart-related incident is a risk of exercise of which I am well aware — in my line of work you have to assume it could happen at any time to any of your clients. I was CPR-certified for many years and kept an AED in the training facility because it is that much of a risk. There has never been an issue in all these years, for which I am so grateful!

But, until now, I’ve never worried about it for myself. It only dawned on me a few months ago that I’m now at an age where this is something that might behoove me to consider. (As an emphatic reminder, regardless of your age, if you have never worked out or done any kind of intense activity, you should always consider your heart and lung health prior to starting a workout program!)

Why is this coming up now? I think as a normal process of aging we begin to think and feel differently about our own capabilities. Yes, I’m older, and perhaps no longer can I take for granted how much more our younger bodies can handle. Also, I’m ramping up intensity in cardio after some downtime. (Peloton is a wonderful workout but it asks a lot of your cardiovascular system!) And, in this last year I have witnessed so many who have lost loved ones to illness/incidents or have been diagnosed with random serious health issues that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Anything can happen at any time, and it does.

And then there is my own significant family history of heart issues that I remined blissfully unaware of until, five years ago, when my mother found herself in the ER in India after two days of “indigestion,” which was diagnosed as myocardial infarction — one artery fully blocked. Turns out both of her brothers and her father have had heart issues; I was subsequently informed by my cousin!

Between that and my vegetarian, teetotaling, mostly organic, non-GMO-food-eating father dying of stage four colon cancer less than two months post-diagnosis, I now think a lot differently about my own mortality! It’s not that I don’t take good care of myself, I do. But so did my parents . . . .

These experiences can make you think more about what you and your body, which we all tend to take for granted, can truly handle. Perhaps this same awareness makes you take a little better care of this precious body in which you reside, the only one you’ve got.

Let’s review how you can best care for yourself while still allowing yourself a good and challenging workout.

1. Be not afraid. Exercise will always improve your overall health, wellness, quality of life and yes, longevity. There are risks of injury and death inherent in exercising, yes. But getting in your car every day also carries risk, and we still drive regularly. Work out smarter, not harder.

2. Exercise is inherently stressful, depending on your choice of programs. Biking will be harder on your body than gardening but will provide greater overall benefits. Lifting heavier weights provides greater muscle development and strength gains than lifting lighter weights. Any movement is good movement, regardless.

3. Get checked out by a medical professional prior to starting or restarting and exercise program, especially if you are sedentary or older (older means if you have any doubts at all about how you might react to challenging your body with exercise). It’s true they cannot completely rule out something happening at some point. But it provides a good foundation and some peace of mind.

4. Start with minimal intensity. Shorter duration of activity, less resistance, slower movement. Your body needs to understand you will be asking it to do more, but not so much that it puts you over the edge where it can’t keep up. There are so many benefits to exercise at any level of intensity, so err on the side of caution.

5. Know and listen to yourself. If you don’t feel right, or you feel sick, or you are having trouble catching your breath, you must listen to your body. Don’t push through, or say to yourself, “I’ll just finish this workout” or ignore the signals. When in doubt, back off.

6. Take a step back if necessary. If you’ve taken a week off, or aren’t feeling 100%, or are distracted, it’s okay to do less or lift lighter or choose a different kind of activity for that occasion. Our bodies don’t function optimally all the time, and our workouts don’t need to be the most challenging or intense every time. Your physical and mental health will thank you!

7. Find an experienced coach. This works both ways — a good coach will push you but also offer objectivity in how much you should and shouldn’t challenge yourself. We can all use perspective, guidance and support.

As a natural consequence of aging, your body simply cannot function as optimally as it used to. Even if you’re in the greatest shape, you must make concessions to being older that you didn’t have to do when you were younger. Nor can you ever go wrong at any age being aware of the inherent risks of exercise and taking action to mitigate those risks.

Few of us, including me, probably need to worry about dropping dead during a workout. But if doing so makes us care for our own health and well-being more conscientiously and carefully, then a little awareness of our own mortality can be a positive force!

— By Pritam Potts

Coach Pritam Potts is a writer and strength coach. After many years of training athletes and clients of all ages as co-owner of Edmonds-based Advanced Athlete LLC, she now lives in Dallas, Texas. She writes about health & fitness, grief & loss, love & life at www.mrsathlete.net and www.advancedathlete.com.

The benefits of physical activity are well recognised, but it’s not always easy to find time to work out during business hours.

Some workers in China are doing their utmost to break the sedentary lifestyle that comes with office life by improvising mini-workout sessions between meetings.

This practice has been gaining ground in China since a photo was posted in early July (2024) on the popular Xiaohongshu platform, according to the South China Morning Post.

The picture shows a woman flexing her biceps, with the help of a heavy tote bag and a plastic bag containing a takeaway meal, while she waits for the elevator.

“Office workers have their own gym,” the caption reads.

China’s social networks are brimming with testimonials from employees who are improvising little exercise sessions during their working day.

Some run to their company premises, while others use their office chairs to do Pilates exercises.

Everyone has their own solution to help them get moving more, and above all, maintaining their health.

While the benefits of exercise are well documented, many workers in China complain that they don’t have the time for regular physical activity.

This is due to the “996” system, which involves working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week.

In other words, they work 72-hour weeks, even though Chinese law stipulates that the working week must not exceed 40 hours.

This unbearable pace encourages a lack of physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle.

Short workout sessions in the workplace are a good way to reverse this trend.

After all, it’s a proven fact that all physical activity contributes to staying in better shape for longer, even if a certain amount of more vigorous exercise – in terms of duration and intensity – is needed to compensate for the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

But that’s not the only advantage of exercise: it also helps reduce stress and increase productivity.

Research from 2015, carried out by the Paris-based Goodwill management consultancy at the request of the Movement of the Enterprises of France (Medef, the largest employer federation in France) and the National Olympic Committee of France, maintains that a sedentary employee who takes up a physical and sporting activity improves their productivity by 6% to 9%.

In this context, companies would do well to allow their employees to get some exercise in the workplace.

But only a handful of companies have actually implemented such measures.

In the meantime, health-conscious employees can make small changes to adopt a more active lifestyle without too much effort, exercising whenever they have five minutes to spare at the coffee machine or elsewhere. – AFP Relaxnews

Editor’s note: Dana Santas, known as the “Mobility Maker,” is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and mind-body coach in professional sports, and is the author of the book “Practical Solutions for Back Pain Relief.”

CNN
 — 

Whether you’re a former athlete looking to get back into summer sports or someone just wanting to participate in the family kickball game, you don’t want to deal with an aching back for weeks afterward. Never mind the shame of not being able to hold your own in front of friends and family.

To help everyone get back into seasonal recreational activities safely and effectively, I enlisted four good friends and coaching colleagues from professional sports for expert insights and practical tips to stay active, perform better and enjoy summer activities injury-free.

Read on to learn how you can unlock your summer sports potential and get back in the game.

Jason Glass, a top performance coach who trains elite athletes on the PGA Tour, emphasizes the importance of daily habits. “Whether you’re a professional athlete or a weekend warrior, you can’t prepare for game day on game day,” he said. “Proper preparation comes from your daily habits.”

Glass recommends creating a daily lifestyle checklist he calls his “Foundational Five”:

Sleep like it’s your job: Quality sleep is essential for recovery and performance. Aim for consistent, restful sleep.

Stay hydrated: Drink half your body weight in fluid ounces per day. For a 200-pound (91-kilogram) athlete, that’s 100 ounces daily.

Eat clean: Know what’s in your food and how it affects your body. This awareness helps you make better choices on game day.

Move beautifully: Engage in an activity every day that makes you feel great, whether it’s yoga or weight lifting. Listen to your body.

Live with intention: Train with specific outcomes in mind. Even napping can be beneficial if done with the intention of resting up before a big game.

Glass advises that you score yourself on each of these five foundations at the end of each day, using a scale of 0 to 5. Aim for 20 or more total points at the end of each day. “Master these five foundations before adding any other performance-enhancing modalities,” he suggested.

Bill Burgos, the former head of strength and conditioning for three NBA teams, offers advice for those returning to sports after a hiatus. “For someone who has not participated in any sporting activity for quite some time, it’s crucial to start safely and effectively,” he noted, not waiting until game day to get going again.

These are Burgos’ three tips:

Prepare your body for movement: Use foam rolling and dynamic stretching exercises such as walking lunges with elbow-to-instep and walking knee hugs to enhance flexibility and mobility.

Gradually elevate your heart rate: Begin with low-intensity activities such as a slow jog and progressively increase to a moderate intensity that mimics your sport.

Listen to your body: Pay attention to how your body feels and adjust the intensity of your workout accordingly.

Maintain strength and speed

Paul Fournier, a strength and conditioning coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers who has worked in Major League Baseball for over 30 years, highlights the importance of strength and speed for longevity and injury prevention. “Maintaining strength and speed of movement is key to preventing chronic pain and injuries,” he asserted.

Fournier recommends incorporating calisthenics, weight training, sprint work and plyometrics into your routine. He suggests starting with twice-weekly sessions that include:

Low-level plyometrics: Jump rope, step-ups and light medicine ball work will build neurological and muscular endurance.

Core strengthening: Perform exercises such as planks, dead bugs and rollouts to enhance torso stability and protect your back.

Strength training: Focus on compound movements for the lower body with exercises such as lunges and squats while incorporating more isolating upper-body exercises like chest presses, rows and curls.

Matt Nichol, a coach with three decades of experience training professional and Olympic athletes, emphasizes the critical role of a proper warm-up. “The warm-up is as important as the workout,” he said.

Nichol offers these practical warm-up tips:

Arrive early: Just like professional athletes who arrive at least three hours early on game days, give yourself extra time before your recreational activity or competition to warm up.

Walk more: Park farther away to incorporate some light movement as you walk to your activity.

Get warm: Avoid stretching cold muscles. Instead, perform sport-specific movements (i.e., running, dribbling, swinging a bat or racquet, etc.) at a lower intensity and gradually increase speed until you’re at game speed.

Listen to your body’s cues: Pay attention to any aches and pains during your warm-up. These can be early warnings of injury potential. It’s better to dial back your intensity for one game than to push too hard and miss the entire season.

As a mobility coach in professional sports for more than 20 years, it has been my job to ensure that athletes can move at their fullest range of motion in the positions of their sport. To that end, I encourage athletes to follow these three strategies:

Have clear goals and a plan to achieve them: Your objectives should align with the needs of your sport and provide direction for your mobility program. For instance, if you want to get back into playing golf, tennis or any other rotational sport, focus on mobility exercises that will improve rotation.

Build strong, powerful movements: Enhanced movement that improves sports performance requires strength and power behind the movement. As Fournier mentioned, core strengthening is essential for stabilizing the low back and preventing injury. Building core strength and stability also provides a foundation for expressing power through spine and limb movements.

Train for controlled movement: Avoid solely relying on stretching to create passive ranges of motion that could lead to injury during activity.

Instead, focus on targeted strength and mobility exercises that promote control in end ranges of motion.

As an example, rather than doing seated toe touches as a passive hamstring stretch, practice single-leg Romanian dead lifts that lengthen and strengthen hamstrings while also promoting stabile and mobile pelvic movement.

Before you jump into the next neighborhood pickup basketball game or sign up for the town softball league, take these practical insights to heart to enhance your performance and reduce your risk of injury.

Sign up for CNN’s Fitness, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide will help you ease into a healthy routine, backed by experts.