Fitness & Exercise

Why Exercise is Important For Older Adults. Plus Articles, Workouts, Tips

Why is exercise after age 50 important? Because as you age, muscle mass is slowly lost, and after the age of 50 that loss is accelerated. This is undoubtedly why your body doesn’t respond to exercise as it did earlier in your life.

So let’s assume you’ve somehow lost that desire to maintain good physical health over the years. You’ve let yourself go, things are starting to sag, getting a bit wider – you know how it goes.

And why do we let this happen?
Well speaking for myself and a few others, I think it’s because we’ve given up on ever believing we’re going to look the way we did back in the days, or better yet – look like her, that other women with the perfect body.

But hear me out.  Being out of shape due to lack of exercise, doesn’t affect anyone else but you. It affects your mind, your soul, your health, and your well being. These are things we can do something about, things we can change for ourselves. So quit dwelling on the past and forget about that other person with the gorgeous perfect bod.

So where do we start? How do we begin?  Well check it …

Go for a walk.  Feel how 15-30 minutes of walking helps clear your mind of stress and distraction, and gives you the much deserved “me time” that is needed for mind clarification.  Walking also gives you time for reflection especially if you’re a spiritual person.  It does wonders for your soul as you connect with our higher being.

Good health begins with a healthy heart.  Exercise helps your heart muscle become more efficient and better able to pump blood throughout your body.  Meaning, the heart pushes out more blood with each beat, allowing it to beat slower and keep your blood pressure under control, which is always a good thing

Start with an exercise program. See how your body reacts and changes as you target certain areas with just a few movements. You’ll begin to see results (some quicker than others), which will do wonders for your psyche and your overall well being.

So now lets get into specifics !!

How do you lose the “relaxed muscle” that seems to have accumulated around your midsection, the back fat, the love handles, the thunder thighs? By keeping active !!

 

Keeping active is the number 1 way to aging successfully – because a regular workout routine, whether it be daily or every other day, not only supports the function of your brain and your body, but also burns fat to help tone up your relaxed muscles.

Here’s an incentive – women over the age of 50 can look and feel years younger by adhering to an exercise routine that:

  1. burns calories
  2. tones muscles
  3. strengthens bones

The question then becomes – which program should I try if I’m just a beginner? Or haven’t exercised in years? Or I’m overweight? Or I’m over age 50?

Well for starters … DO NOT attempt any exercise programs that are geared for people in their 20’s or 30’s – ones that are having you do 20+ reps of hard core moves. They are simply too hard on your bones and your muscles especially when you’ve been inactive, and YOU WILL GET DISCOURAGED AND QUIT (this comes from a person – ME – whose been there/done that).

So the obvious answer is … START OUT SLOW with just 10 – 15 minutes of exercise a day, nothing too strenuous yet still effective. Try to get in some walking time, as mentioned in the previous post. I do my walking after dinner around 7:00pm, to help burn off some of the meal that I just ate.  Slow and steady will get you the best results. Remember … Rome wasn’t built in a day and your body won’t get back into shape after 30 days.

As I mentioned yesterday, the two workout plans that I will be introducing are for beginners, and they are:

1) the 4 WEEK BEGINNERS WORKOUT PLAN – which I’ll post in the next couple days, and

2) the 30 DAY PLANK CHALLENGE – which I’ll also post in the next couple days.

So bottom line – walk first, especially if your age 50 plus or overweight. Do this for starters, then check back here and we’ll start the 4 Week Beginners Workout Plan together.  I’m stoked, how about you?

Until then … Ciao 🙂



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