5 Ways to Stay Fit After 50

Exercising and staying active is important for all age-ranges, especially over the age of 50. As we age, our body can go through natural declines in bone health, cardiovascular health, strength, flexibility, etc. It is common for older adults to stop exercising as frequently, overall slowing down their daily life. This is extremely detrimental to our overall health. Our body needs to move. The more static we are, the more we decline mentally, emotionally and physically. These five tips to stay fit after 50 will help you maintain your active lifestyle and overall independence!

1. Resistance training – bone density is something that can naturally decrease with age but you can fight this by adding resistance training into your exercise routine. Bone density is essentially the strength and health of our bones; as we age, we are more prone to bone injuries. Resistance training should be done 2-3x/week, using body weight, free weights, resistance bands, etc. Don’t be afraid to grow those muscles & improve your bone health!

2. Flexibility training – our muscles can lose their elasticity and become shorter as we grow older. These shortened muscles can cause joint pain, poor posture, increase the risk of injury, etc. Stretches should be performed 1-2x/day with a 30-60 second hold for each. Adding in DAILY stretches will help you fight those “age-related pains” and live a more flexible (pun intended) life!

3. Aerobic exercise – another age-related decline is our heart health. As we age, our heart can begin to slow down impacting our overall cardiovascular health. It is important to combat this with exercise that will get your heart pumping and the oxygen flowing. Some low-impact examples would be swimming, walking, and biking.

4. Community exercise – not only is this essential for your physical health, but mental health as well. Regular, community exercise can mean any of the above mentioned and more! Exercising on your own is great, but don’t be afraid to join a gym with group fitness classes, be part of a team sport, participate in yoga classes, etc. Participating in regular exercise with others who have the same aspirations will help you stay active.

5. Set goals – you need to set short-term and long-term goals for yourself. This will help you stay active, as it gives you something to work towards. These goals need to be realistic and achievable, but don’t hesitate to challenge yourself! Make the goals meaningful and personal. These goals should help motivate yourself to live an active, healthy life everyday after 50!

As always, we hope this helps! If you have any questions or if you would like to read about certain topics, feel free to send us an email at TeamSP@SportsPerformancePT.com.

-Dr. Melanie