Want to increase your chances of living to be 100? Working out—even in small increments—is one of the keys to living a healthy and long life. As longevity becomes more and more talked about, we’re all looking for ways to live longer and better. As one experts puts it, “Your workouts should depend on your individual fitness goals and levels, and really not your age”. This is especially true if you’ve been diligent about your fitness routine throughout your life, since you won’t be starting from scratch. The guidance is to maintain 30 to 40 minutes of movement, whether it’s biking, walking, swimming, strength training, or stretching at least three days per week; five days per week is even better.That said, certain activities can get harder with age. Realize that you can’t do everything at the same capacity that you used to, and the longer you don’t use muscles, the more they shut down. Because of this, trainers say that certain elements are especially beneficial when you’re in your 60s and beyond for ultimate mobility and strength. Keep reading to learn about expert-approved tips for a senior healthy fitness program.
5 rules to follow for a healthy senior exercise routine
1. Prioritize spinal health: The spine endures a lot use and in some cases abuse over the course of our lives, so keep it top of mind when choosing to work out. Aeniors should avoid core workouts that contract the back. Instead of doing sit-ups and crunches, do core- and back-strengthening exercises instead to help the spine stand as supported and as tall as possible. Crunches and sit-ups can lead to back pain. Do extension-based core exercises instead.
2. Do regular yoga or Pilates: While you can do anything aerobic activities like cycling and running, experts highly recommend incorporating regular yoga or Pilates into your routine. As a matter of fact, many of them recommend yoga and Pilates as the number one workout to do in your 60s and 70s. Not only are they both low impact and lower intensity, and your body will still feel the great effects of exercise, both Pilates and yoga strengthen your muscles and help with your body alignment and flexibility.
3. Strengthen your hands: In case you have not noticed, grip strength tends to lessen as you age. One good exercise to tourn to to increase your grip strength is the plank. Teaching people how to put weight on their hands through a plank movement develops strength and will also strengthen your core.
4. Do hip mobility work: Having mobile hips is key all throughout your life, but especially when you’re over 60. Your body gets used to sitting if you worked mainly at desk jobs and if you’re not using your joints to their capacity or their full range of motion. Over time, this makes them tighter and less mobile). To open up your hips, do deep squats. This is defined as having your hamstrings resting on the calves—you’re going all the way down. This works the flexibility and mobility of the hips, and it develops your postural muscles, since you’re working to keep your spine upright. Try to do five minutes a day along with doing hip stretches regularly to stay mobile.
5. Make your fitness adaptive: According to experts, your body wants stimulus… which isn’t exactly what you get if you only walk on a treadmill or cycle in place. By making your fitness adaptive – in other words by making sure that you’re not just repeating the same motion over and over again into oblivion – you can up your fitness game. Include activities like hiking and dancing as two examples of this. With hiking, you’re stepping over rocks, going uphill, going downhill… you’re acclimating to different terrain. When you’re dancing, you’re twisting, and trying to develop rhythmically. Try switching things up to get your muscles dealing with unpredictability: walk in a park uphill, downhill, or sign up for a salsa dancing class—whatever suits your fancy.
Most experts agree to keep the ravages of aging at bay to keep moving. Doing anything is better than doing nothing.
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