5 Effective Exercises to Target Your Lower Abs

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5 Effective Exercises to Target Your Lower Abs

I’ve written before about the menopausal middle and how belly fat (aka visceral fat) can lead to various health issues. I’ve also covered the importance of core strength for overall mobility and wellbeing – including avoiding injury and falls.

So, this week, I asked our resident PJW Pilates Expert Jenavieve Adams to share a few movements with us to target our lower abdominal muscles.

These five exercises only take a few minutes to do, and they can make a huge difference in our core strength!

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The Benefits of Walking Uphill and Downhill

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The Benefits of Walking Uphill and Downhill

Today marks the start of the Pure Joy Wellness Fall Walking Challenge!! We’ll be walking 30 minutes every day for the next 30 days and I hope you'll join us!

Walking is one of my favorite activities because it’s low-impact and safe, making it accessible for everyone. You can walk almost anywhere, without needing to be especially athletic or coordinated, and there’s no special equipment required – just some supportive walking shoes.

As I’ve talked about on the blog before, walking briskly for 30 to 60 minutes, 3 to 5 days a week, offers a multitude of health benefits.

And if you’re already a seasoned walker, you can incorporate uphill and downhill walking into your routine to challenge your body in new ways.

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5 Movements For Strengthening Your Feet with Jenavieve Adams

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5 Movements For Strengthening Your Feet with Jenavieve Adams

I am SO excited to share this week’s blog post with you – featuring our resident Pilates expert and movement extraordinaire, Jenavieve Adams! I have been taking Pilates with Jenavieve for a long time and I can tell you there is no one better out there. She is a thoughtful and engaging teacher who has become a trusted and caring friend – and this week she’s giving us a tutorial on five of the best movements for strengthening your feet! 

But first, why does foot strength matter? 

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Why I Started The Walking Challenge

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Why I Started The Walking Challenge

The Pure Joy Wellness Walking Challenge officially starts next Sunday, April 28! 

Ooo I am so ready for this one! Myself and the rest of the Pure Joy Wellness community will be walking for 30 minutes a day, for 30 days straight. 

If you haven’t joined our free Facebook Group yet, now is your chance! Tap the link here to join so you’re ready to go on April 28!

In honor of the occasion, I wanted to share a bit about why I started the Walking Challenge. Read on for a brief history, plus a few words of encouragement to kick us off! 

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The Guide To Strength Training For Women Over 50

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The Guide To Strength Training For Women Over 50

Age is often seen as a barrier to fitness, but for the most part, that’s a made-up and arbitrary aging belief. Hitting a certain age doesn’t mean you have to slow down or give up on physical activity—on the contrary, we need movement even more as we age, especially strength training! 

If there’s one piece of advice I can give you to totally transform your health and the way you feel, it’s this: start strength training. Not only will it help you maintain your vitality and independence as you age, but it will boost your self-esteem and confidence, which we could all use. 

Here’s where I would recommend starting, if you’re a strength training beginner. 

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The Best 5 Minute Workout for Stronger Arms

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The Best 5 Minute Workout for Stronger Arms

The Fourth of July is this coming Tuesday, and if you’re in charge of the cooking or grilling, your arm strength is about to be put to the test!

Plus, summer is the season of bare arms—short sleeves, tank tops, you know the deal. If you want to feel strong and toned this summer, but you don’t have a ton of time on your hands, I’ve got the ideal routine for you!

This five minute arm workout is efficient, effective, and it targets the major muscles in the arm. 

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The Power Of Power Walking

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The Power Of Power Walking

Calling all Pure Joy Wellness Walking Warriors!!! The Walking Challenge starts THIS SATURDAY, April 29! 

For those of you who have done the Challenge before, you know the drill. We’ll be walking 30 minutes, for 30 days straight—no excuses!

For those of you who are new to PJW, the Walking Challenge is the highlight of my year (so much so that I host it twice a year!). It’s a time when the whole PJW community of women comes together to support each other and prioritize our own mental and physical well-being.

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The Five-Minute Workout Even Busy Women Can Fit Into Their Busy Days

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The Five-Minute Workout Even Busy Women Can Fit Into Their Busy Days

In this day and age, we’re all super busy. We have so much going on in every sphere of our lives—we have obligations to our family, friends, and work, and we have a multitude of responsibilities that come with every role we play. So when it comes to fitting exercise into your already hectic schedule, you probably assume you don’t have time for it, and you immediately think “yea right, that’s not happening.”

But research has shown that you don’t have to trudge along on the treadmill for hours at a time or lift 100 pound weights to reap the benefits of exercise.

Studies have shown that brief periods of physical activity do add up, and together, they have a positive effect on our weight and overall health. How brief are we talking? Just five minutes! As busy as we are, we ALL have five minutes to spare

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Hip Mobility 101 with Joanna Castro

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Hip Mobility 101 with Joanna Castro

Raise your hand if you have tight hips…is yours up? Both of mine are!

Whether you exercise everyday or not, you may experience an uncomfortable tightness in your hips that makes it harder for you to move. This is because as we age, our joints can become stiffer and less flexible, and overtime we can lose more and more of our mobility.

To help us learn more about mobility—and to give our hips a good stretching out—I’ve enlisted the help of Joanna Castro, a fitness coach and mobility expert.

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Pure Joy Wellness Approved - Jetti Poles

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Pure Joy Wellness Approved - Jetti Poles

This month’s #PureJoyWellnessApproved product is an ode to all my current and future Pure Joy Wellness Walking Warriors! I recently became acquainted with Joyce Shulman, a fellow walking lover and founder of 99 Walks, and was introduced to her creation, Jetti Poles. After trying them, I can say without a doubt I’m hooked.

If you’re looking to take your walks to the next level and/or make them much more enjoyable, keep reading!

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5 Ways To Stay Fit While On Vacation

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5 Ways To Stay Fit While On Vacation

Memorial Day Weekend is considered the beginning of the summer vacation season… so welcome to summer everyone! I’m sure many of you have plans you’re looking forward to, whether it’s a beach day, family vacation, or solo time. I encourage you all to take some time off if you can—it’s been a tough year already, and a tough few years before that.

Something else I encourage you all to do is, if you do go on vacation, try to stick to your healthy habits. You may be thinking: “But isn’t the point of a vacation to take a break from real life?” And trust me, I get that. But living a healthy lifestyle isn’t a part-time gig, and if you stray too far from the path, you may not be happy with where you end up.

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Why I Don't Believe In New Year's Resolutions

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Why I Don't Believe In New Year's Resolutions

Every January, without fail, numerous people jump on the New Year’s resolutions train. They make resolutions to lose weight, get more sleep, improve their nutrition, and much more. And while making those New Year’s resolutions may be well-intentioned, data has proven time and time again that this is an ineffective approach to goal-setting.

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