Book Review
Fitness After 40
By
Dec 15, 2008 - 4:24:18 PM

The real enemy is not Aging....It’s inactivity - New book shows how to Stay Fit, Strong, and Sexy at any Age

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Healthy, vital, active, joyful, sexy… These adjectives describe an ideal state of life that virtually everyone wants to live, regardless of age. The secret isn’t a cosmetic quick-fix. As numerous studies affirm, the best way to stay physically strong, trim, gorgeous, and full of optimism with each passing year is a daily investment in exercise that works with a body’s biological changes.

“Research has shown that sedentary people decline twice as fast as their active counterparts,” notes Dr. Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon and a competitive runner. In her work with amateur athletes ranging in age from 30- to 70-something, as well as in her own training, Dr. Wright places a top priority on learning how to maximize the whole body’s performance while minimizing excessive strain, aches and pain, and the risk of injuries. She shares her formula for keeping the heart, lungs, arteries, bones, cartilage, muscles, tendons, and neuromuscular system all functioning highly effectively and remarkably youthfully in FITNESS AFTER 40: How to Stay Strong at Any Age (AMACOM; January 6, 2009; $17.95 Paperback).

“You are not merely a bad sequel of your 20-year-old self,” Dr. Wright assures everyone willing to make an ongoing commitment to active, healthy, full-body anti-aging. In FITNESS AFTER 40, she presents her proven approach to well-rounded exercise, which she sums up as the most rewarding way to F.A.C.E. your future. Comprised of four equally critical components, her program promises to keep virtually any body in enviable shape—energetic, powerful, fast, lean, and sexy. Here’s a breakdown of the must-do basics:

Flexibility: Stretching all the major muscles, from the neck to the calves, for 15 minutes a day to stave off stooping and protect against tendonitis.

Aerobics: Pumping up the heart and lungs, moderately but to the point of breaking a sweat, for 30 minutes 3 to 5 times per week.

Carrying a load: Resistance training—pushing and pulling enough weight around to build strong bones and muscles—3 times a week, alternating upper and lower muscle groups.

Equilibrium: Getting the hang of a few simple moves, and repeating them every single day, to maintain balance, which begins to get shaky after age 25, and avoid falls.

To help people of all fitness and activity levels start moving, Dr. Wright provides step-by-step instructions and photographs, as well as complete workout routines for the home, the gym, and on the go. She also shares her prescriptions for avoiding and easing acute muscle strains and chronic tendonitis, along with strategies for overcoming the two most common obstacles to regular physical activity: obesity and arthritis.

Packed with helpful charts, checklists, and homework assignments, FITNESS AFTER 40 walks readers through an easy six-week plan to retain a youthful vitality and a fresh lease on life. To further support active changes, Dr. Wright offers expert advice and practical pointers on fueling up with optimal nutrition and fluid, creating a mental edge, sizing up athletic shoes, and choosing a gym and personal trainer, plus a handy glossary and an extensive list of recommended organizations, publications, and web sites.

“No arbitrary stage of life destines us to be on the sidelines,” Dr. Wright attests. With FITNESS AFTER 40 as their guide and personal coach, people of all ages can take full advantage of the most effective, all-natural formula for looking and feeling younger—and look forward to enjoying an active, fulfilling future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vonda Wright, M.D., is an orthopedic surgeon, an award-winning researcher, and an avid runner. Currently practicing at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, she specializes in sports medicine and serves as the director of P.R.I.M.A.: the Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes. A nationally recognized authority on healthy aging, she has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, and numerous magazines and has appeared on ABC Health News and NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ruth Winter, M.S., is an award-winning science writer and prolific author based in Livingston, New Jersey.


Title: FITNESS AFTER 40: How to Stay Strong at Any Age

Author: Vonda Wright, M.D., with Ruth Winter, M.S.

Foreword by Nolan Ryan

Pub. Date: January 6, 2009

Price: $17.95 Paperback

Pages: 304, with b&w photos throughout

ISBN: 978-0-8144-0994-7

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