We often tend to think of exercise as a tool for weight control or weight loss. But the benefits of exercises for women go way beyond that – from preventing osteoporosis, reducing menstrual symptoms to relieving stress and improving sleep, and improving mental health. A lifelong exercise program is the surest way to help you live and thrive into old age. To ensure that you stick to a long-term exercise plan, it is important to select a workout regime that you enjoy and one that fits into your time schedule. Exercise is important at every stage of your life, but your needs do change as you grow older.
The 20s Exercise Routine
Your body is most likely in its peak physical condition and is ready to tackle any challenge you throw its way. Your muscles will recover quickly—more so than they ever will in the years to come. So, this is the time to incorporate multiple forms of exercise in your routine – cardio, weight training, balancing workouts, and stretching.
It is recommended to do cardio at least three to five days a week. You could choose any form of cardio, be it running, swimming, cycling, or walking. This is the period of time where you can hope to find a form of cardio exercise that you enjoy—and can do properly and consistently, preferably for life. So, give a try to different types of cardio exercise so that you can decide what suits you and what you enjoy the most.
It is also recommended to do weight training at least two days a week, challenging all major muscle groups – back, chest, arms, core, shoulders, and legs. Weight training is not only important to improve body composition and build muscle, but also to increase bone density. Squats, deadlifts, standing presses, and other power lifting-type movements are workouts that you can add to your exercise routine.
The 30s Workout
Your body may no longer be at its peak, and you may start to notice that it now takes longer to recover from workouts. This is particularly an important time for women to start resistance training to offset any potential future complications from osteoporosis or arthritis. If not joining the gym, you can get some resistance bands and work with these at home.
Muscle mass and strength begin their steady decline once you turn 30 and —and that can be fixed by strength training. It is recommended to add a variety of functional lifts like presses, pulls, squats and deadlifts to your workout regime.
Cardio is recommended at least three times a week. This can be walking, jogging, cycling or yoga.
This is also a good time to invest in getting professional help or coaching for learning the right type of exercises for women. Getting your posture and techniques right when exercising and building it as a practice can be a big asset for you in the future years.
The 40s Workout
This is the time of your life when it is most important to have an exercise routine. Around this time, the muscles begin to lose mass and elasticity. This slows down your metabolism and makes it easier to gain weight. During this time women also start experiencing dropping hormone levels. This also makes it easier to gain weight, especially around the abdomen. This kind of weight increases your risk of developing health problems. These could include high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. Exercise is the best way to fight all these changes.
If you are only doing cardio exercise—which is what many of us tend to do—it’s now high time to add strength training exercises to your routine. With age, bone density tends to decline, as does strength and muscle mass, so strength training exercises are really important at this stage.
It is recommended to do strength training exercises, working for all major muscle groups each time at least twice a week. Keep up with your cardio workouts, 3 to 5 times a week.
The 50s Workout
The process of bone and muscle development starts to slow down during this time. Considering this, it is important to continue resistance training, primarily for hips and shoulders. Studies show that resistance or strength training improves bone density and tends to slow down the aging process with the loss of lean body mass.
In your 50s, you may start to experience more aches and pains on a daily basis. If you’ve been running through your last few decades, you might want to ease the wear and tear on your joints by shifting over to power walks, which can be just as effective.
It is recommended to try 30 minutes of cardio – even walking would do – at least five days a week. You can break up the 30 minutes into three 10-minute sessions if that’s easier on your joints.
During this time, you’ll also have to fight your body’s natural tendency to curve forward. Include exercise to strengthen your core by focusing on the muscles in your abdomen and your back. This will help your body stand up straighter and fight the curve.
The 60s+ Workout
This is the time when you can start focusing on preventing falls. You should incorporate balance exercises that work with coordination in your fitness regime. This helps both men and women in this age range maintain independence, strength, cognitive awareness, and improve mobility. Simple balance exercises like standing on one foot, leg raises, and walking heel to toe is highly effective.
You should try to continue cardio exercises – 30 minutes, 5 times a week. These can include minimal-impact exercises like swimming, rowing, using the elliptical machine, spinning, and stationary core exercises.
Studies show that older women who engaged in strength and resistance training had fewer lesions in the white matter of their brains—a sign that their memory and other mental functions were holding up better. You can get a lot of benefits from lifting weights twice a week.
Keep in mind that your cardiovascular levels aren’t as high as before, so give yourself ample time for recovery between exercises or sets of exercise.
People without any health issues can follow these workout patterns without many problems. But if you have a health condition, it is advisable to talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program. Your doctor can help you decide what types and amounts of physical activity are best for you and what are the right kind of exercises for women depending on their age group, physical condition and activity levels.
And at all times remember to listen to your body.
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