Adapting Your Routine To Getting Older

As we get older, our health becomes more of a priority than we ever considered it to be when we were younger. But that doesn’t have to be a negative; you’re looking to make changes to your lifestyle to assist yourself in ageing well rather than stopping yourself from living. Respecting your age is about changing diet and exercise, not sitting still and watching the clock tick over. So with that in mind, we are going to take a look at some of the change you should be making as you get older in order to keep fit and healthy well into your later years.

Exercise

Throughout our lives, we should be getting some sort of exercise into our daily routine, but as we get over 50 the demands of our bodies change. The rules of being active suddenly become very different and we must adapt to the new normal. So what are the changes that you need to take note of and why?

First of all, the importance of warming up and down properly beforehand becomes not just important but essential. Whereas you might have got away without a post-exercise stretch in the past, those days are behind you and to feel the benefits of your fitness regime you should make sure you are stretching yourself out. One way that you might want to consider is to include a yoga session at the end of your daily workout or instead of. Many people put their positive fitness in later years down to doing yoga, including former athletes who have done programs like DDP Yoga to fight back against the pain they have put their body through. If it is good enough for the professionals, then it might just help you too.

There is also a big change to the type of exercise that you should be doing. Whereas you once might have focused on aerobic exercise, the name of the game as you get older should be to transition into resistance based workouts. The reason for this is that as we get over 50, bone density and muscle mass drops rapidly so we need to do more in order to maintain our strength. You do still need to do cardio, but now it should be in the form of interval training to get your heart pumping and your body moving, especially if you have one eye on your calorie intake.

Finally, when it comes to exercise in your 50s and beyond you might find that you now need to take an extra day or two in between sessions. Your body is changing and the name of the game should be to prolong your fitness, not injure yourself trying to do too much.  

Diet

As discussed under the exercise section, there are changes that happen to our body as we move into 50s that require changes to routine. Those changes also apply to what we are eating. There are many changes that you will need to make to your diet as you get older, one of which is to ensure that the once reduced intake of trans fats is eliminated altogether. Trans fats contribute to raised cholesterol and your risk of heart disease.

But rather than focus on what you can’t eat, we should also discuss the things you should be eating to promote a healthy lifestyle. One thing to consider is introducing prunes to your diet should you not already eat them. We have mentioned bone health when discussing changes to your workout routine, and prunes help to strengthen bone health. Whether you are having them as part of a salad, a jam, or just as a snack, find a way to get prunes in your diet.

Health

The positives of growing older far outweigh the majority of negatives, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore some of the troubles that can come your way. Being aware of health issues as you age is part of the fight against any serious problems occurring. However, should you find yourself in a situation that you hadn’t planned for healthwise then be prepared with all the information you can possibly have at your disposal. The same applies if you have friends or family members who are going through a difficult health diagnosis, arming yourself with information on things like cancer care and dementia services will put in a good position to deal with what life can throw at you.

Preparation is the key to everything in life and the same idea applies as you get older. LIfe doesn’t begin or end at 50, it continues and that is the great thing about ageing.

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