As people age, it’s important to adjust your workout routines to accommodate changes in your bodies. While it’s not necessarily about doing less volume overall, it often means modifying the type, intensity, and frequency of exercises. Here are a few considerations for individuals over 50.
- Prioritize strength training: Strength training becomes increasingly important as we age because it helps maintain muscle mass, bone density, and overall functional capacity. Focus on compound exercises that target multiple muscle groups and incorporate resistance training into your routine to build MORE muscle.
- Focus on quality over quantity: Instead of doing high volume workouts, especially doing high volume on specific muscle groups like a bodybuilder would, emphasize proper form and technique. This reduces the risk of injury and ensures that each movement is effective.
- Incorporate more recovery time: Aging bodies may require more time to recover between workouts. This could mean incorporating rest days into your routine or alternating between different muscle groups to allow for adequate recovery.
- Listen to your body: Pay attention to how your body responds to exercise. If you’re experiencing excessive fatigue, soreness, or joint pain, it may be a sign that you need to reduce the volume or intensity of your workouts.
- Include flexibility and mobility work: Aging can lead to decreased flexibility and mobility, so it’s important to include exercises that improve range of motion and joint health. This could include yoga, Pilates, functional core exercises or dynamic stretching routines.
So why is it so important to workout when we age?
- Preservation of muscle mass: As we age, we naturally lose around 3-5% of muscle mass per decade and lose strength too due to weaker muscles, bones and ligaments. Regular strength training can help preserve muscle mass, bone health, joint health and strength, which is essential for maintaining mobility and independence as we get older.
- Heart health: Regular exercise can help lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and reduce the risk of heart disease, which is particularly important as the risk of heart disease tends to increase with age.
- Weight management: Metabolism tends to slow down with age, making weight management more challenging. Regular exercise can help boost metabolism, burn calories, and maintain a healthy weight.
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