Staying active and incorporating regular exercise into your routine is increasingly important as you enter your 50s and beyond. Engaging in physical activity offers numerous benefits, including maintaining energy levels, preventing illness and enhancing your overall well-being.
But that can be easier said than done. It’s essential to tailor your exercise routine to your individual needs, consult with a healthcare professional, and recognise that every person’s experience of exercise will be different!
Here at Easy Exercising – we care about making exercise accessible to all ages. So, we’ve taken a deep dive into exercise for individuals over 50.
The importance of exercise for over 50s
There are numerous benefits of staying active for those over 50, including a variety of physical, mental and even social benefits.
Here’s a number of good reasons to stay active in your 50s and up:
Improved balance and flexibility
As you age, maintaining balance and flexibility becomes crucial. Exercise can help prevent falls and improve stability, enhance range of motion, joint health and overall mobility, supporting your ability to perform daily activities with ease.
Increased energy levels and strength
Exercise has been found to build muscle and bone mass, boost cardiovascular health, increase your energy levels and even make you feel stronger.
Prevent illness and diseases
Engaging in regular exercise can significantly reduce the risk of developing various chronic illnesses and diseases. Physical activity has been linked to a lower risk of conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer and osteoporosis. By adopting an active lifestyle, you can improve your overall health and well-being while minimising the likelihood of encountering these health challenges.
Minimise the symptoms of chronic conditions
For individuals already living with chronic conditions, exercise can help minimise symptoms and improve overall quality of life. Conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic pain can benefit from specific exercises tailored to the individual’s needs.
Social improvements
Exercise doesn’t have to be a solitary activity. Engaging in group exercise classes, sports activities, or exercising with friends can also provide social interaction, motivation, and enjoyment. Something we at Easy Exercising take pretty seriously!
Retain independence
Maintaining independence is a priority for many individuals as they age. Regular exercise plays a crucial role in preserving functional abilities and reducing the risk of disabilities. By staying active, you can enhance your strength, balance, and flexibility, which are essential for performing everyday tasks independently. This independence contributes to a higher quality of life and a sense of self-sufficiency.
Boost brain and emotional health
Exercise has been shown to have a positive impact on brain health and cognitive function. Physical activity stimulates the release of endorphins, which can elevate mood, reduce stress, and alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Regular exercise has also been associated with improved cognitive abilities, including enhanced memory and concentration. By staying active, you can promote your brain health and emotional well-being.
Improve your quality of sleep
As we age, quality sleep becomes increasingly important for overall health. Regular exercise can actually help regulate sleep patterns and improve the quality of sleep. Engaging in physical activity during the day can contribute to better sleep at night, helping you to wake up feeling refreshed and energised.
Maintain a healthy weight range
Regular exercise, coupled with a balanced diet, is essential for maintaining a healthy weight range. As metabolism naturally slows down with age, it becomes more challenging to manage weight. By incorporating physical activity into your routine, you can burn calories, maintain a healthy body composition, and prevent unwanted weight gain.
Exercise helps to increase calorie expenditure, build lean muscle mass, and improve metabolism. By maintaining a healthy weight range, you reduce the risk of obesity-related health issues, such as heart disease, diabetes, and joint problems. Additionally, staying within a healthy weight range can enhance your overall energy levels, mobility, and confidence, allowing you to enjoy an active lifestyle to the fullest.
Tips for exercising in your 50s and beyond:
Cover all bases with nutrition
Proper nutrition plays a key role in overall well-being, and should be a vital component in ensuring you’re getting the best out of exercise in your 50s and up.
A balanced diet, rich in nutrients, supports physical activity, muscle strength and overall health. By fueling your body with the right foods, you can optimise your exercise routine and promote vitality as you age.
Tailor your exercise program to your individual needs
Every individual is unique, and exercise routines should be tailored to meet specific needs and abilities. It’s important to tailor whatever exercise you do to your body’s individual needs. It can be helpful to visit a healthcare professional to discuss viable routines.
Easy Exercising can be a great exercise program to consider if you want to ensure your needs are considered, with the minimal amount of stress on your part. We understand the importance of personalised approaches and offer customised exercise plans designed for individuals over 50. Our experienced professionals provide expert guidance to create routines that suit your goals and abilities – ensuring a safe and effective exercise experience.
The significance of rest and recovery periods
While exercise is vital, it’s equally important to prioritise rest and recovery. Allowing your body time to recuperate between workouts reduces the risk of injuries and promotes long-term sustainability, especially for those over 50.
Keep a regular routine
In a 2009 article in OrthoInfo it was noted that “150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity each week, with each session lasting at least 10 minutes, can bring about substantial health benefits”. It’s a great goal, but there really is no fixed formula for how much exercise you should do.
It all depends on your current level of fitness and health – and even 5 minutes every second day will make a difference to your health and well-being (even if it’s not dramatic as a 10 minute session every day).
Make it well-rounded
Experts suggest that a well-rounded fitness routine should incorporate six basic elements: balance training, flexibility, core exercises, aerobic fitness, high-intensity interval training and strength training.
While high-intensity interval training may be out of the question for many over 50s, it’s important to focus on the other varied elements as much as possible (something Easy Exercising’s power-assisted machines are actually great for … )
Start slow and build from there
When exercising over 50, it’s easy to feel discouraged from the get go. But if you start out with small, achievable goals and movements, it’ll make the whole process much smoother. From there, you can gradually build your exercise routine aligning with your body’s pace.
There really is no point pushing yourself to a high-stress workout that’ll only put you out for weeks and will take away any incentive to go back.
Monitor closely with regular health check ups
Be sure to monitor your progress and well-being as you go. Regular health check ups are recommended, so you can identify any underlying health conditions from the start, and consider factors that may impact exercise recommendations. It’ll keep you in check and make sure you’re not overexerting yourself in any way!
Exercises to incorporate into your routine
Want a few tips on what exercises to incorporate into your own personal exercise routine? As previously mentioned, you should be aiming to include balance training, flexibility, aerobic fitness, strength training and core exercises.
A few experts weighed in on the topic:
“I would suggest starting with stability exercises (that strengthen your ankles, hips, and core) before building up to full and more rigorous exercise routines. This will help to prevent injury, will ease you into a new routine, and will keep you motivated by allowing you to achieve small ‘wins’ while building up to more difficult exercise.”
~ Matt Riemann, personalised health expert and CEO, ph360
“Perform exercises and activities that mimic and develop ADLs – squats, sit to stand, curl and press, walking, reach exercises, overhead activity etc. Compound exercise is best – squat, chest press, shoulder press, push ups, leg press, running, walking etc… You may be a bit slower and have less strength so warm up and cool down are imperative. Think if you have any conditions and see a doctor first.”
~ Rob Hadley, National Master Coach, Australian Institute of Fitness
“If I had to recommend one single exercise that would benefit someone in their over 50s it would most likely be the single leg RDL (Romanian Deadlift). This exercise is a good all rounder, needed to be able to perform a proper hip hinge while balancing and controlling the rotation through the core and increasing muscle activation in the whole posterior structure. This will counteract the modern day posture of being hunched or sitting, and you really will get you bang for your buck with this exercise. Regressions for this exercise are simple (hip hinge, good mornings, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts).”
~ James Brim, Personal Trainer
But we’ll let you in on a little secret – Easy Exercising can do all of this for you and more! You may not believe it, but our power-assisted machines do all the work for you. So you can get a full-body workout, without strain, without sweat, and while having a friendly chat with the amazing community.
You may think we’re bluffing … but we have the free trial session available to prove it!
Easy Exercising: making exercise over 50 effortless
Easy Exercising is a comprehensive workout program dedicated to making exercise over 50 easy and accessible.
Whether you’re looking for balance exercises, strength training routines, flexibility workouts, core exercises or aerobic fitness, our power-assisted machine’s will do all the work, helping you improve joint pain and mobility, reduce diabetes symptoms, recover from surgery and get back to doing the things you love in life. All without strain or overexertion, and while having a friendly chat with the community around you.
We’ll provide on-going support, with tailored exercise programs beneficial for over 50s, NDIS and Aged Care participants, and everything in between.
No more going to the gym, chiropractor or physio with dubious results and high costs. We’re here to make exercising easy, so you can get to your goals as quickly as a bench press.
Sign Up for a Free Trial Session at Easy Exercising
Interested in trying out our power-assisted machines for yourself so you can regain the mobility you had in your prime? Want to learn more about our incredible clinics across Brisbane? Or just want to step into a welcoming, fun community that gives you a purpose, a place to be, and helps you feel supported every step of the way?
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"I had a very good hour doing Easy Exercising which isn’t hard on your joints. I think it’s good for any over fifties to try as they will find it so good for their different problems or just to have some general exercise. There is a qualified person supervising you on each machine & its a very sociable environment." - Margaret
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