Sex It Up! Training Makes it Better in Bed!

Yup. I'm pitching that working out and training hard makes for a better sex life. Own it! Don't shy away! The benefits of exercise are well-known and it shouldn't be surprising that those benefits extend into the bedroom. It's been said that our most powerful sex organ is our brain and if you're feeling better about yourself, a big benefit of exercise, you'll feel better in bed. This is not about being at 7% body fat or having rippling muscles, it's about what exercise can do for our metabolism and self-esteem.

The benefits of exercise are proven:

Improved Cholesterol Levels
Prevention of Type II Diabetes
Improved Mobility and Endurance
Stress Reduction
More Restful Sleep
Improved Self Esteem

In men, testosterone plays a big role: weight, age, and fitness level are factors. While there's still much research to be accomplished it's clear that exercise improves testosterone levels. All exercise helps to improve testosterone levels but lifting weights and other types of strength training have more pronounced effects! This doesn't mean just working your chest and biceps, it means getting many muscles groups involved by doing full-body workouts. Push yourself to use heavier weights and do lower reps with brief periods of rest in between sets.

Be honest with yourself and clear about your goals and enlist the help of a personal trainer for new workout strategies. A trainer can help with new routines, how to lift safely, and discuss healthy eating. Have fun and you'll leave the gym feeling great with lots of energy for other activities!

Walk Two Miles and Call Me in the Morning

Walking is man's best medicine. Hippocrates

One. One. One. Two. One. One. Three. Four. One. One. One. One... That's the number of people in the cars that zoom past me on my daily walks. Most are big, high occupancy vehicles wheeling down the street with driver only behind the wheel. But lets be honest: Cars aren't going to disappear anytime soon. As much havoc as they wreak on the environment, think of the economic disaster that would ensue if they were to vanish tomorrow.

I consider myself lucky to not own a car. I'm fortunate to live in a place where work is a short jaunt and there are plenty of services nearby with others accessible by a bus or trolley ride. Where I live, it would be more of a hassle to drive to the grocery store rather than walking there and carrying the stuff back home. After all, people do pay serious bucks to schlep all kinds of things across parking lots during boot camp. Why not put it to use?

We spend the day driving from one box to the next. We leave the house (box) in the morning, get in the car (box), and drive to work (box). Then after work we drive (car box again) to the gym (box), and back home (box) again. We put the miles on our cars, but our legs don't get much action.



Walking is an integrating activity for our body: top to bottom, front to back, left to right. Without giving it much thought (if any) we put one foot in front of the other and away we go! It's a great way to burn calories, about 250 per hour. When you're on foot take long, thoughtful strides along with deep breaths. With age, those steps become shorter and shorter and soon we're not walking but shuffling down the street side-to-side. Lead with your pelvis, your center of gravity, rather than leaning forward with your chest. And as much as possible, keep your chin up glancing downward with your eyes rather than your entire head.

A teacher once said that walking was like dancing: sometimes you're in step, sometimes you're not. But practice and the beauty of it becomes apparent.