Tips to Change Your Workouts After Age 50

We don’t want to believe our body is never going to change. But the fact is the older we get the more changes that seem to sneak up on us.

Maybe it starts with looser skin. Or maybe extra wrinkles on your face. Maybe just age spots on your hands. Perhaps it’s a little harder to get in and out of the chair. No matter what signs you’re seeing that your body is changing, there are some things that you need to know in order to fight back, especially after age 50.

I didn’t want to believe it because I was always very muscular and active. The changes sort of snuck up on me too. Muscle mass is the first thing you lose as you age, which means your metabolism slows down too. But there are some things we can do to ensure that we get the work out we need to build that muscle back.

Tips to Change Your Workouts After Age 50

* One of the first things you need to do is to protect your joints and muscles by warming up properly. This does not mean stretching, which can hurt your muscles and joints. But things like walking in place, jumping jacks, arm circles, and other movements you can do to get your blood flowing, which will reduce the chance of injury.

* Work on cardio every single day. Increasing your heart rate helps to keep blood pressure under control, your blood moving, strengthens muscles and joints, ligaments etc. Plus it even helps reduce risk of heart attack and other health issues. So important for those of us over 50.

* Add in workouts like yoga or Pilates which help with balance and strengthening your flexibility. The fear of falling and the loss of mobility can be a frightful thing as the more we sit, the faster our mobility goes away.

* Never work out to such intense levels that will cause pain. Listen to your body and choose more low impact workout such as swimming or aqua aerobics, walking, sprinting etc. Start slow since you don’t want your recovery to inhibit working out the next day or longer as you will lose the desire to continue with your workout plan.

* Definitely include weightlifting of some sort several days a week in your plan to help build those muscles and maintain them for as long as possible. This is especially important for us in our 50’s. If you are feeling the effects of weak arms and shoulders, you need to be adding some light weights to your work out to build back that muscle mass you’re losing. Even hand weights while walking will help.

It’s Never too Late to Get Moving

It’s never too late to start. I was 54 when I started working out again. While I still have a lot of weight to lose, physically I am very strong. I have a lot more stamina and endurance like when I was in my 30’s and physically I feel fabulous.

I hope this inspires you to get moving. Let me know what workouts you enjoy the most.