My approach to exercise over 40 is to focus on slowly modifying easy habits that set you up for long term lifestyle changes.
I have been a pretty good athlete for most of my life so I have been exposed to quite a few different schools of thought. I am also middle aged, so I have been exposed to everything from Charles Atlas magazines to pilates. I have also worked with free weights, circuit training, aerobics, yoga, martial arts, swimming and interval training, among others. All of these have their merits, but, for the average person these are someone else's version of fun. Once you get into reasonable fitness you may find that you gravitate toward one or more of these, but to get physically well over 40 there are once again a number of things that will set you up for lifelong fitness.
1. Get good equipment. This will likely be a good pair of training/running shoes, but it could mean a good mat, a good bike or a good racquet. The point is start slow, but don't skimp on equipment. A cheap pair of walking shoes will ensure you don't walk after day three.
2. Make it hard to give up early - whether you are walking, running or biking, go out a certain distance, not in circles or around the block or a track. If you go out a certain distance then you will be forced to at least walk back. Pick a reasonable distance and commit to it, then increase the distance slowly every other day. Do this 4 to 5 times a week (3 is not enough)
3. Stretch. This is one of the most important things you can do over 40, especially at the beginning of your road to physical wellness. Above and beyond the benefits of stretching, it is a great way to begin to gauge your capacity to add things to your exercise program. If you are very tight then you may want to focus on flexibility for awhile. If you are somewhat flexible then some more aggressive aerobics might be in order. If you can drop and touch your toes without much effort then maybe the best thing to start with would be weights.
4. You have to work your core. This is defined as your gut, your lower back, your midsection, etc... Once you have some idea what you can do physically, you need to find some core exercises that you enjoy and can do in a reasonable time period (10 to 20 minutes) 3 to 4 times per week. I have tried everything and my best guess for most middle aged people as well as younger folks who aren't already tied to some core workout that suits them is pilate core exercises. I do pilate sit-ups because they work your gut, they don't hurt your joints and they focus the benefit where you need the benefit-your gut.
5. Lower body work-The rest of your routine will be far more effective. Any credible trainer will tell you that the effect of exercising your lower body (the biggest muscles) will exaggerate the benefit of all your upper body and cardiovascular work. This might be squatting up and down, stepping up and down on an elevated surface to jumping from a low platform to a higher platform in the same sets of 3 to 4, 3 to 5 times, 3 to 4 times week. My favorite is jumping rope. This is likely a more advanced exercise for most, but, I would buy one as soon as you feel it may be attainable and hang it up as a challenge. If you can make this even a semi-regular part of your routine you will be amazed how it accelerates your road to fitness.
6. Intervals-I have walked, jogged, biked, swum, climbed, lifted and stretched and the last thing I will share that is easy to do and totally accelerates your progress is applying the concept of interval training to whatever you do. Interval training implies that you increase the pace of whatever you are doing for short "intervals", decrease for short "intervals" and continue to alternate until you are done. One example might be walking for 3 minutes, jogging for 1, walking for 3 minutes and jogging for 1....and doing this for perhaps set of 8 to 10. The same logic could be applied to lifting, stretching or any other type of exercise. This challenges your body, keeps your heart rate elevated longer and it is a "relative" adjustment so it can be done by beginners and experts
Mark Aylward is a lifelong practitioner of holistic living, fitness, natural weight loss and wellness. He writes frequently about all of these topics. To learn more about natural weight loss please visit naturalleanbody.com/
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