How to stay fit after 50

9 Sept

In order to achieve optimal health in your 50’s and beyond you need to do weight-training, cardio and mobility exercises. Doing only one or two of these will limit your body’s performance and wellbeing over the long-term.

The best goal for anybody, especially when you get older, is to try and balance your body’s strengths. It is no good being excellent at something and completely rubbish at something else.

I am referring to doing only one of these things:

cardio
weights
stretching or light, mobility-based routines.

Let me explain why.

A lot of people enjoy cardio. They like running, cycling, swimming or sports. They become very good at it, or have been good at it for a long time, and they keep on doing it. The same can happen with people focusing on weight-training. They become strong and muscly. That feels good so they keep on doing it. Others might prefer stretching or yoga classes and they become very good at that.

Each of these types of exercise is good for something. But it cannot replace the others.

Cardio is good for your heart, cardiovascular system and stamina. Weights are good for muscle, joint health, strength, to counter arthritis and more. Mobility-based exercises are good for keeping great range of motion and make your body supple.

As you can guess, a healthy body will need all these things. You need to do all three regularly or you won’t be optimizing your health. Unfortunately this means you might have to get out of your comfort zone and do something you don’t enjoy as much or perhaps that you have never done.

Take my advice and learn. It’s worth it because you will be at your absolute physical best when you do all three.

Your body will be able to do anything because of your variety of exercise.

Ideally I suggest everyone to do this each week:

weight-training at least twice a week. Do the most important compounds like squats, deadlifts, presses and rows.
cardio or sport twice a week at least.
stretching and mobility work at least once a week and certainly a bit after every workout.

This way it’s achievable, realistic and promotes recovery.

Additionally, variety also means you won’t be bored.

Bottom line is to try and get better at each one of these disciplines.

I hope you found this helpful!

Thank you,

Alessandro