Getting and staying fit after 50 and beyond is vastly different from fitness during your 20s, 30s, or 40s. Why? Because you have a different body! You know that during your 20s you didn’t think about diet and exercise. In your 30s you worried about looking good in a swim suit. Then, sometime during your 40s you started denying those few pounds – just water weight. You can’t ignore it any longer.
Just about the time you sign your name to that AARP invitation, you start to notice a few unpleasant things about your body. There you were, sitting on the floor sorting pictures and when you went to get back up again, your legs, back, and hips started to argue with you. Maybe all those clothes in your closet started shrinking somehow. Perhaps you caught a glimpse in a full length mirror and thought “where did that come from?”
Aging is inevitable. As a matter of fact, it’s preferable. However, the way we age is subject to many variables. Things like weight gain, unsteady balance, and loss of muscle and bone strength don’t have to be our doom. We can strive to be the strongest, healthiest person we can possibly be. After the age of 50, we need to be sure that we are working on our health – not just for today, but for our future.
You have gotten where you are in this world by having some smarts. You know there is a plan for getting and staying fit after 50. Now, all you have to do is believe that you’re worth the effort it takes to feel great. You deserve a strong, healthy body that will carry you happily into the decades to come. Let’s get you on track with a few simple steps:
Set Your Goal: Remember when you wanted to fit in that swimsuit when you were 30? You starved yourself until you did it. Now, your goals have a new meaning. You want to feel good – no, not good, GREAT! Yes, you want to be trim and look good, but your goal must be something that is focused on your quality of life. Perhaps next year at this time you want to run a 10k race. Maybe you want to get back on a bike and ride with your grandkids. Maybe you want to be able to get in and out of your canoe again. Whatever it is, your goal must encompass a bigger meaning in your life than getting back into those jeans, although that’s cool, too!
Choose An Exercise Program That Fits You: You’ve probably tried a few exercise programs throughout your life and already have a pretty good idea what will work for you. Don’t go back to a gym if lifting weights around people never worked well for you. If floor exercises and free-weights get you hopping, then go for it. If camaraderie and support is important to you, then choose programs that embrace groups of people. If your idea of heaven is walking with headphones on, then you need to get walking. Whatever you choose, make sure you enjoy doing it!
Stick With Your Fitness Program: Once you have found something you enjoy doing, stick with it! That’s easier said than done. Why? Because many of us stop doing our exercise because we haven’t seen results. We are very impatient. It took years and years to lose our healthy, fit self, but we expect to get it back in 30 days or less. Give yourself some time. Enjoy your exercise program for 90 days before you consider making a change. Then, by all means, find something else! Don’t just stop exercising!
When you get fit, and stay fit after 50 you are investing in your future. Yes, it will feel good to climb up those steps without getting winded, but it will feel even better when you’re 80! Exercising today and every day is what will give you the strong bones, muscles, heart, and lungs that will carry you happily through your entire life – for decades to come!
Will good, solid fitness programs for seniors improve quality of life? Visit us at RemarkableWrinklies.com and check out what folks age 50 and far beyond are doing to stay fit and healthy.