Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews

Tips to Keep Going

by Suzanne Andrews

I Start Working Out, but keep Stopping and Re-Starting – Any Tips to Keep Going? 

Staying or getting in shape isn’t always easy.  Whether you’re beginning or beginning again, here’s an inspiring behind the scenes story filming my last DVD, to help you keep going when the going gets tough!

Scary turbulent plane ride, brutal weather, computer crashes, my series producer, Glenn Poyer, recounts the harrowing behind the scenes events filming Arthritis Relief Walking Workout… 

When Suzanne Andrews read Amazon’s Vine Voice five star review (by Deborah Broadhurst) of Arthritis Walking Workout, tears of joy streamed down her face, as it was the realization of a dream 10 years in the making – “one that had been diverted many times,” says Suzanne, who consulted with several doctors during the six month writing and research process that goes into each and every Suzanne Andrews Functional Fitness DVDs. “There were two, maybe three times that this walking program never got made.”

As happy and motivating Suzanne Andrews seems in Arthritis Walking Workout, you’d never suspect the founder of Functional Fitness on Public Television just completed one of the most harrowing projects of her career.  Sure, Arthritis Walking Workout, based on medically proven movements to ease arthritis pain, was shot at the most beautiful gardens in North America, the Butchart Gardens, with an exquisite plethora of flowers in the background, giving the viewer the image of serenity. But getting there was just the beginning of harrowing moves you don’t see on the DVD.

Before we were about to leave, Suzanne had a major accident while preventing a patient from literally getting crushed to death. The patient was OK but the 400 pound impact tore Suzanne’s rotator cuffs, leaving her with 0 function.  She couldn’t even lift her arms, dress, or wash her hair so how was she going to film a fitness video? After emergency surgery, she did three hours of therapy a day in excruciating pain.  It took one year to go from not being able to lift her arm at all to regaining 99% function.

During recovery, Suzanne interviewed many doctors for the project.  Because all the doctors mentioned reducing stress retards arthritis symptoms, Suzanne travelled 4000 air turbulent miles to add a stress releasing atmosphere to the workouts. A trip that should have lasted seven hours turned into twenty five harrowing hours!

Arriving just hours before the hair and make-up call time of 4 AM, the crew awoke sleep deprived to an atypical bitter cold rainy day for summer weather. Graham Bell, Public Relations director at the gardens, came to the rescue by providing umbrellas to protect the specialized light weight professional cameras that took three years of savings.   Suzanne Andrews, who is susceptible to the cold due to a thryoid disorder, kept moving - even in between takes - to stay warm. After continuous takes of three (8) hour days to film the two workouts (imagine exercising for 8 hours straight!) and six months of editing,  the finished editions went to our presenting Public Television Station to receive frame by frame scrutiny from the program director and the station engineer. Suzanne anxiously awaited their constructive critique. After one particularly long day of treating rehab patients, Suzanne opened up her email and began shaking.  The episodes were rejected. People were in the background and the station would not accept the film that way. After the initial shock, a serious problem solving session ensued and after another 4 weeks of specialized editing, the people in the background vanished.

The workouts were finally ready to be sent for DVD mastering and the unthinkable happened – the external hard drive with the entire edited workouts crashed.  All that hard work - gone! What to do? Were the raw clips on another hard drive? A huge sigh of relief.  All the raw clips were on another hard drive. The editing process began once again. The end result? A high production broadcast quality DVD featuring two walk workouts in the most beautiful garden in North America.

To say we are thrilled to introduce Arthritis Relief Walking Workout is an understatement. Getting a 5 star review makes us want to do the happy dance!

Have you gone through a tough time in your life?  How did you get through it?  Leave a comment and together, we can help each other get in the best shape ever!

Suzanne Andrews is a licensed Occupational Therapy Clinician with 30 years exercise expertise. Airing to over 49 million on Public Television, Suzanne Andrews, a licensed Occupational Therapy Clinician, (they specialize in function) creates evidenced based fitness programs for specific health conditions. Originally created in 2008 with it’s first run on WDSC TV, Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews broadcasts on 113 Public Television stations.

I Want To Work Out BUT My Joints Hurt Too Much

by Suzanne Andrews

3 Things You Must Avoid with Arthritis

If you feel you just have to live with arthritis pain or you feel your only alternative to alleviating painful joint stiffness is expensive arthritis medicine, watch the video to hear Dr. Margaret Chang, explain three things you must never do if you have arthritis and a medically proven natural treatment option that is right under your feet! 

Purchase your copy of Suzanne Andrews' Arthritis Water Therapy here

Suzanne Andrews is a licensed Occupational Therapy Clinician with 30 years exercise expertise. Airing to over 49 million on Public Television, Suzanne Andrews, a licensed Occupational Therapy Clinician, (they specialize in function) creates evidenced based fitness programs for specific health conditions. Originally created in 2008 with it’s first run on WDSC TV, Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews broadcasts on 113 Public Television stations.

Help! I Want to Wear Short Sleeves ‘BUT’ I’m too Embarrassed

by Suzanne Andrews

Banish Bat Wings with These Top

Bat Wing Banishers!

If you find the underside of your arms getting flabby, here’s your younger arm muscles in 30 days plan.

As seen in Suzanne Andrews Younger in 30 Days DVD

1. Lean forward, hinging at the hips, making sure to keep your back flat, not rounded. Place your hand on a bench or a chair.  Can’t lean forward because you have osteoporosis or back problems? Do the modified version by leaning forward just a bit. Slowly lift the weight up and down 12x.

  Stabilize your elbow at your waist and slowly raise the weight back and down.  Do 12 times. Another great reason to keep your triceps strong…

Functionally speaking, your tricep muscles are the primary upper extremity (arm) muscles you use when pushing up from a chair and getting in and out of a car.  By getting them strong and staying functional, you make these daily tasks easier!

Because Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews® also focuses on injury prevention, this blog wouldn’t be complete without telling you another very important tip. If you focus solely on your triceps and don’t counter-balance by strengthening your bicep muscles, you have a greater risk of injury because the stronger muscles are forced to do all the work and that causes a strain. Here’s your functional fitness move to counter balance the triceps.

Elbow Flexion/Extension

Keep your elbows at your waist. Raise and lower your weight 12X.  (TIP: You’ll know you’re lifting the right amount of weight when the last repetition is a struggle). Studies suggest that you don’t need to do countless repetitions to get results.  Just lift the heaviest weight you can tolerate.

We asked Suzanne Andrews What’s Unique about Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews ® DVDs?

As a rehabilitation clinician, I am required to teach evidenced based (medically proven) exercises that get the fastest results in the shortest time for specific health conditions. Simply put, insurance pays only when a client makes progress with their rehab and it’s up to me, the therapist, to be aware of any contraindications (unsafe) for that specific condition and exactly what exercises to prescribe for a variety of health conditions.  It’s like to going to your general practitioner and she/he knows what pills to prescribe for a variety of conditions. You don’t have to be in rehab to benefit from the safe, medically proven exercises that cost $400.00 a month in co-pays or for those that are not insured, $280.00 an hour.

All the exercises in Suzanne Andrews Functional Fitness DVDs demonstrate evidenced based editions for specific health conditions including arthritis, osteoporosis, copd, and since I was once very overweight, all the workouts are compatible for people 50 lbs or more overweight:  giving you the opportunity to take charge of your health in the comfort of your own home.

I Want to Feel Younger, BUT I Look So Old Every Time I Look in the Mirror.

by Suzanne Andrews

30 Ways to be Ten Years Younger in 30 Days Plan

Ever see a woman who is the exact same age as you and wonder how does she look so much younger? Look and feel younger by making small but significant changes during the next thirty days. You could even eat, drink, exercise, and relax a decade away!

Day 1- Drink six to eight glasses of water each day. Hydrate skin, nourish it, and prevent wrinkles.

Day 2- Stretch and strengthen your legs. Doing calf raises and tiptoe walking every other day improves circulation and prevents spider veins.

Day 3- Incorporate upper-body exercises. Lift mini dumbbells, and stretch back muscles for better posture.

Day 4- Work your abs five days a week. Sit-ups enhance blood flow to vital organs, repairing tissue damage.

Day 5- High impact aerobics hurts your joints. Add low impact aerobic exercise to keep your heart and lungs youthful and fit.

Day 6- Choose activities that enhance brain power.  Taking a new class sharpens memory and increases attention span.

Day 7- Use diaphragmatic breathing. Inhale through your nose so debris and pollutants are filtered from the air. Make your belly rise, and then fall slowly, exhaling through pursed lips. Relaxed breathing decreases levels of stress hormones that accelerate aging.

Day 8- Eat baked, broiled, or grilled salmon two times per week. Its omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins combat disease-causing free radicals.

Day 9- Try colorful vegetables. Dr. Roy Vartabedian, author of “Nutripoints,” and the nutrition doctor for my PBS show, Functional Fitness, recommends spinach, broccoli and romaine lettuce daily with lunch and dinner. Dark green vegetables have cancer-fighting properties and vitamin C to boost your immune system. Tomatoes are also on this “fighter veggies” list.

Day 10- Have fruit with each meal. Dr Vartabedian suggests cantaloupe, guava, and papaya. These also combat the cell damage that causes premature aging.

Day 11- Add whole grains to breakfast. Wheat bran and wheat germ also contain youth-preserving antioxidants. Their carbohydrates and fiber boost energy.

Day 12- Serve legumes. Rich with those age-resisting antioxidants, peas, lentils, and many beans also deliver steady energy.

Day 13- Which milk? Trade whole for low fat to eliminate 20 calories and 3g of fat per serving Drink skim and cut out 35 calories while eliminating 7.5 fat grams. Keep your figure young!

Day 14- Undress chicken. Bake or roast it, and remove the skin. Less fat on the plate means less plaque in your youthful arteries.

Day 15- Which tuna? Choose water-packed. Get all the antioxidants without the fat.

Day 16- Which bread? Reduced-calorie whole wheat beats plain white. Get antioxidants, an energy burst from fiber, and fewer calories.

Day 17- Vary your exercise. Don’t let your body get too comfortable with a routine. Change it every few months to benefit most.

Day 18- Smile! It takes years off of your face. And it extends life by reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, and improving mood.

Day 19- Meditate. Breathe gently and concentrate. Quiet your mind and rejuvenate your body.

Day 20- Go on a date. Laugh. Enjoying good company fortifies your youthful outlook.

Day 21- Watch a funny movie. Laughing massages abdominal muscles, gives lungs a mini-workout, and triggers the release pain-relieving endorphins.

Day 22- Treat yourself. Antioxidants called flavonoids in a three-ounce portion of dark chocolate preserve memory, lower blood pressure, reduce LDL cholesterol, and enhance mood.

Day 23- Drink five ounces of red wine or grape juice daily. Red grapes contain an especially potent antioxidant called Activin, which could combat many age-related diseases.

Day 24- Take a hot bath. Light candles. Play relaxing music. Revitalize your skin and replenish your energy.

Day 25- Choose a hobby. Focus your mind, and enjoy yourself. A steady supply of fun keeps you feeling young.

Day 26- Get fit! Obesity can age you as much as 20 years.

Day 27- Stimulate your brain. Hone your thinking skills doing puzzles, learning a new language, or taking a class.

Day 28- See an anti-aging doctor. Have your hormones checked. Boost libido and renew your intimate relationship by correcting imbalances.

Day 29- Choose the best time for daily exercise. Re-evaluate as needed, and follow your plan.

Day 30- Keep up the responsibilities of your youthful lifestyle. You ARE your best “health care plan.”

Take the Younger in 30 Days Challenge with Suzanne Andrews Younger in 30 Days DVD that includes 3 workouts for younger, limber joints, stronger muscles and youthful energy.  Start today for a younger you in 30 Days!

I Want to Work Out "BUT" I Have Osteoporosis

The Importance Of Breathing Exercises

by Suzanne Andrews

Q: I love your show and watch it regularly on my PBS channel, But Why Do You Include Breathing Exercises in all of Your Functional Fitness Workouts? 

Jenny P. Orlando, Florida

A: As seen in Suzanne Andrews Functional Fitness Arthritis Relief Walking Workout

If you're like many people, you've probably never given much thought to breathing.

It's just one of the body's natural functions, right? How could paying attention to your breathing possibly help you look younger, lose weight and ease joint pain?

The most powerful muscle for breathing, your diaphragm, is responsible for 75% of the volume of each breath you take.  In just one red blood cell, there are one billion oxygen molecules being transported throughout your entire body.

Diaphragmatic breathing increases your body's supply of oxygen, eliminating the brain's stress response... and by curbing stress, it sets the stage for effective weight loss, retards arthritis, and helps reduce wrinkles.

During an interview for Functional Fitness, Margaret Chang, MD revealed, “Stress causes cellular aging, stress prematurely ages the body, and ages the DNA in the cells of the body, so stress can retard the process of aging. Since osteoarthritis is a disease of aging, by retarding stress relief, you retard osteoarthritis as well.”

Now, lest you think that you have to spend your whole day in a sort of meditative trance, diaphragmatic breathing can be practiced anytime, anywhere.

1. Inhale through your nose for 2 counts like you’re smelling flowers.

2. Exhale through your mouth for 4 counts like you’re blowing out  your birthday candles. 

Repeat three times whenever you feel stressed. Do you want to know how to look and feel younger – ask!

Healthiest Blessings,

Suzanne Andrews

I Want to Lose Weight, BUT my Significant Other Sabotages My Weight Loss!

by Suzanne Andrews

Break the Relationship, Break the Weight!

Pictures may say 1,000 words, but numbers speak volumes. Every sixty seconds a person dies from an obesity related cause. Studies show prolonged stress can actually cause you to gain weight and age much faster. I will never forget a life changing moment listening to my anatomy and physiology professor reveal the harmful effects of stress. In that instant, I knew my (now ex) husband was killing me. I lost 170 pounds in one day - by leaving him!

You probably didn't know how much a stressful relationship can cause you to gain and retain weight. However, the science shows this is exactly what happens when you are under stress from a toxic relationship. For example, did you know that a stressful situation can raise your sugar levels as much as eating a candy bar? This means your blood sugar can rise massively each time you hear a belittling comment from your significant other.

The stress in a toxic relationship also makes you crave comfort foods. This is a double blow to your weight loss goals. You will need to fight food cravings every time you have a negative experience with your partner. Additionally, a stressful home life with a partner often leads to insomnia. This lack of sleep will make food cravings difficult to avoid. It will also inhibit your body's ability to burn calories effectively.

All of these factors cause additional problems over time. Most alarmingly, the stress from an unhealthy relationship can lead to heart disease. It can also contribute to breast, colon, and prostate cancer. Yikes!

The answer is clear. You can lose weight by making a single choice in a single day. Break up with the heavy stress in your life today for a lighter life tomorrow.

Have you had a stressful relationship that sabotaged your weight loss?  Leave your questions and comments. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Healthiest blessings,

Suzanne Andrews

The Best Weight Loss Food to Stop Hunger

by Suzanne Andrews

Does your stomach call out to you with hunger pangs late at night making yesterday’s leftovers look like a five star meal for two eagerly awaiting to be devoured - alone? Does the whisper from your pantry turn into a loud-mouthed echo in your head repeatedly crying out for you to “just go take a little peak and see what’s in there” because you’re just so darned hungry? Stop a second before you have seconds and eat this to quiet the ‘but’ that can’t be ignored: ‘But’ I’m so hungry, I just have to eat!

Since the television adds ten pounds, I always look for ways to get rid of those ‘extra’ pounds before we begin taping my PBS TV series, Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews ®. Since being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease, (a thyroid disorder that slows the metabolism) getting the weight off has become quite a challenge. The hardest part is at night when I’ve eaten all of the allotted daily calories and I’m still hungry. Therefore, I always make sure to keep plenty of this filling, delicious and nutritious fruit in my fridge to stop hunger pangs.

Watermelon: Weight Loss Superfood!

1. One Cup = 46 Calories

2. Excellent source of Vitamin C and Potassium

3. Helps boost your immune system

4. Helps protects your body from harmful free radicals

5. Helps protect from heart disease

How to Lose Your Big Bad But!

Sometimes we become our own worst enemies when it comes to changing our lifestyles, eating healthy and losing weight. Consequently we accelerate our body’s internal clock aging us before our time. We start down an earnest path to achieve our fitness goals, and succumb to our big - bad – BUT! As time goes by our waistline and our ‘BUT’ gets bigger and bigger: I want to exercise ‘But’… I want to lose weight ‘But.’ I want to lose these love handles ‘But.’

Suzanne Andrews, PBS star of Functional Fitness, shares motivational tips in this sometimes funny and always factual blog with a no more excuses guide on cutting edge, non-surgical techniques to put passion back into your mind, youth back into your body, and vitality back into your spirit by reversing the effects of aging with medically proven techniques for middle age to seniors. Feel free to ask questions and comment!

Occupational Therapy Practitioner/L and creator of PBS TV’s popular Functional Fitness series, Suzanne Andrews specializes in increasing mid-life to senior’s quality of life through evidenced based functional fitness techniques with two to three fitness levels. Whether you need to decrease stiffness and pain caused from arthritis, improve your balance, increase bone density due to osteoporosis, Suzanne Andrews vast therapeutic exercise knowledge supercharges your health with a special consideration on safety and injury prevention in all of her DVDs offered right here at Collage Video!

New Exclusive: Functional Fitness Blog with Suzanne Andrews

Suzanne Andrews is the President at  Healthwise Exercise, LLC. Licensed Occupational Therapy Clinician, Suzanne Andrews is the founder of Functional Fitness airing to over 49 million on Public Television. Originally created in 2008 with it's first run on WDSC TV, the series has aired on over 113 Public Television stations. After sustaining back and neck injuries from a major car accident and bilateral shoulder injuries from a work accident, Suzanne regained full function through an integrative health plan that included functional fitness and sound nutrition. Now a rehab professional herself, Suzanne Andrews is constantly updating her medical knowledge to insure each exercise program demonstrates carefully researched and medically proven techniques. She has also contributed to numerous books, major magazines and written over 200 health and wellness articles for midlife to older adults.