In your 50s, 60s, or even 70s, it’s not too late to put yourself first and make your health a priority.
How do you start a health and fitness journey in old age? Instead of focusing on goals that feel unachievable or unsustainable, it’s better to focus on lifestyle activities that keep you active and explore – and fun.
Connie Smith, the Healthy Living Director of Florida’s First Coast YMCA, says you should just try something new.
“Try something new every month that you’ve never done before and it will get you ahead,” says Smith.
Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Heart Association recommend that adults of all ages exercise 150 minutes each week (1, 2).
But don’t let the large numbers overwhelm you before you start. If you start small and figure out what you like, you will find that there is an exercise for you that doesn’t even feel like exercise.
Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Don’t be intimidated into throwing some weight around. Strength training, weight training, or resistance training – whatever you want to call it – are vital to optimal health.
Older adults in particular benefit from a lower risk of injury and falls, greater ease with everyday tasks, and improved mood, mobility, and mental function – all through strength training (3).
“It helps in life,” says Jermaine Solomon, a personal trainer and owner of Maximum Effort Fitness & Performance Training.
He trains clients in both a senior community and his own gym, and often incorporates weights into their fitness programs. “If you just sit down and stand up and hold weights, it goes a long way,” said Solomon.
You can also just work with your own body weight. Smith said, “If all you want to do is lose a little weight, body weight is really good for your joints.” Using a variety of weights in varied exercises allows you to make this part of your fitness journey and keep it unique.
A dip in the pool for a game of water sports is another way to get your fitness routine going. Swimming is not only a cardiovascular workout, but also strength training due to the resistance of the water (4).
If you’d rather have a little more fun in the pool than just swimming laps, try aqua aerobics. It gives you the benefits of swimming and group fitness at the same time.
Smith said, “Aqua aerobics is just fabulous for this age group.” The resistance of the water plus the pillow it provides for less stress on the joints allows you to gain strength in a way that minimizes pain.
Zumba is a great activity for anyone who loves to dance. By combining dance moves with an aerobic workout, Zumba is a way to start your workout without feeling like you are exercising.
“You don’t think about exercising,” said Solomon. “Some people fear the word exercise, and that feeling definitely makes it a lot better.”
When it comes to strengthening your body and clearing your mind, there is no better activity than yoga. It can be done alone or in a group, indoors or outdoors, with puppies, babies, or even goats.
Yoga checks the box when it comes to resistance training as you are moving and maintaining your body weight through the asanas. It also helps with balance and mobility as we get older (5, 6).
Smith said she recommends yoga for people between 50 and 60 who are working to reshape their lives.
“You can start chair yoga if you don’t want to get on the floor,” she said. Whichever way you feel most comfortable at the beginning, give it a try. Smith added, “Yoga gives you the mental balance that comes with some of the things that happen in life … Yoga has a lot to do with giving back to yourself.”
Running is one of those exercises that you either love or hate. However, for those who love it, there is no reason to stop as they age. While running has no small impact and can put strain on your knees and other joints, you may want to switch to a treadmill to reduce the impact.
However, if you love the mental clarity that you gain from exercise in nature and exercise in the fresh air, then hiking may be better for you.
You burn more calories than walking alone, and the benefits of being outdoors include improved mood, self-esteem and emotional response, and less fatigue during exercise (7, 8).
Cycling can be done both indoors and outdoors. Smith notes, “Taking a spinning class at any age is fabulous not only from a cardio standpoint, but also from a mental health point of view … You are in this dark room and can make life easy for 45 minutes to an hour let go. ”
If a traditional bike or spin course isn’t for you, try a recumbent bike. Many now have a screen plugged in so they can watch Netflix or stream other content. Solomon says take care not to focus so much on the television that you forget you should be exercising.
Horseback riding makes you sweat, stresses your joints, muscles and core and allows you to be outdoors and communicate with animals and nature. Again, you might even forget that you are exercising when you are on the back of a horse and feel the breeze as you ride.
For people looking to prepare for horseback riding, Smith recommends seeing a personal trainer first. “When you do things like horseback riding, you have to figure out how to get on the horse. So we do things like hip openers and strengthen you so that you can get on the horse. ”
If participating in trendy fitness exercises of the moment isn’t your thing, you might prefer to work towards a goal on your bucket list. Smith said she trained people in their 50s and 60s to climb the Great Wall of China, dive the Great Barrier Reef, or even climb Kilimanjaro in Africa.
For these out-of-the-box fitness activities, you have a definite goal that you want to achieve. Smith says that finding exercises that are tailored to help you achieve this goal will help you stay motivated to achieve performance.
When training for a mountain tour, for example, she recommends fitness courses with a focus on breathing and getting used to climbing with the Jacob’s ladder device.
“Jacob’s ladder is actually a movable ladder, so you hold on with your feet and hands and climb, so to speak. This is a way of simulating rock climbing. ”
Whether you are exercising to maintain your health or crossing some achievements off your bucket list, it is never too late to make your health and fitness a priority.
Solomon says we should remember that the reason we exercise is so much more than the physical benefit – it’s about keeping your heart healthy. “When you stop [moving] Every day your heart could slow down, and it is much harder to start again than to keep it going and keep it going. ”
Finding a way to move that makes you feel good will get you a long way. No matter what, Smith said at that age that you have to apply the Nike phrase to your fitness: “Just do it.”
Nikesha Elise Williams is a two-time Emmy Award-winning news producer and award-winning writer. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, she attended Florida State University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication: Mass Media Studies and Honors English Creative Writing. Nikesha’s debut novel “Four Women” won the 2018 Florida Authors and Publishers Association’s Presidential Prize in the Adult Contemporary / Literary Fiction category. “Four Women” was also recognized as an outstanding literary work by the National Association of Black Journalists. Nikesha is a full-time writer and writing coach and has worked as a freelance for several publications including VOX, Very Smart Brothas, and Shadow and Act. Nikesha lives in Jacksonville, Florida, but you can always find her online at contact@newwrites.com, Facebook.com/NikeshaElise, or @Nikesha_Elise on Twitter and Instagram.
