Exercise rules change over the age of 50
A funny thing happens on the way to 50 and beyond: Your body doesn’t respond to exercise as it did earlier in your life. Fatigue, muscle and joint aches and increased injuries seem to happen with greater frequency.
Unfortunately, it’s not your imagination. It happens to the best of us as a natural consequence of aging. In fact, some of the “standard” fitness rules no longer apply, at least not in the same way as they did in your 30s and even 40s. Here’s the rules to make changes after 50 and how to stay injury-free as you age.
1.. Always include a thorough warm up before your workout. Warming up before a workout increases circulation, raises heart rate and body temperature, prepares muscles for exercise and increases joint range of motion.
2. STRETCH after every workout and then some. It’s best to warm up with a combination of light cardio and light stretching, warming up on the elliptical would be a great choice for upper and lower body.
3. Resistance training replaces focus on cardio. Bone density and muscle mass drops rapidly after 50, making resistance training a crucial part of a complete exercise program. In addition to the link between muscle mass and metabolism — muscle burns more calories at rest than fat — increasing muscle and bone strength also prevents falls and fractures. That is not to say cardio is not important to have in your program, but, resistance training is a must.
4. Interval training burns the fat; mix it up!
5. It was the rule to take a day of rest in between weight training, now, it may take more than one day of rest. Give yourself some additional recovery time and listen to your body.
Most importantly HAVE FUN!
