Different exercises for different age groups

Men and women are not only different physically, but also when it comes to our hormones and internal changes as we age.

When you’re in your 20’s regular, sustained exercises and resistance training, are good ways to keep you in shape and healthy. For the young ladies who are worried about weight training; using light weights will not make you bulky.  Now is also a good time to make sure that your body gets the right amount of calcium, magnesium and potassium.  Adding more bananas, yoghurt, milk, almonds, and so forth, to your diet, is a great way to up your daily intake of calcium, magnesium and potassium. 

In your 30’s you start losing bone mass.  It is vital to keep doing resistance training, cardio and using light weights to maintain bone mass.  Light hand weights, kettle balls, Thera bands, a Pilates ball, and so forth, are great tools to exercise with.  Other exercises like Pilates, Yoga and Kegel-movements, are great to maintain flexibility, build and maintain core strength (vital for a strong, healthy back), and stamina.  Eating foods rich in beta-carotene calcium, iron, magnesium and vitamin C, is a great way to boost the immune system and keeping the lungs, heart and gut healthy.

When you’re in your 40’s, hormonal changes can start to occur.  Making sure you take a good supplement and eating a balanced diet full of fruit, vegetables, protein and carbs, will help maintain energy levels as well as muscle strength and bone density.  Exercises like Pilates, Yoga, light weights, cardio (walking, cycling, swimming), as well as massages, Tai Chi and meditation, will keep the balance between body, mind and spirit, as well as help you cope with changes and daily life.  Whether you should use medical tablets or natural medicine for hot flushes is up for debate.  I personally believe natural products are safer and works better in the long run, but it is a personal choice.  I would recommend ginger tea for inflammation – wonderful tea that is also great for nausea and queasiness.

In your 50’s muscle mass can start to decrease if you don’t keep exercising.  Pilates and yoga are great exercise routines that will not only help you to maintain core strength, stamina and flexibility (one of the things one tends to lose with age), but it also wonderful balance and stability exercises. Turmeric is a spice that has many uses.  It is an anti-oxidant, can fight inflammation, thus alleviating arthritis, as well as boosting energy levels and mood.

Adding cinnamon to your food is also a great spice and, did you know, that taking cinnamon regularly, will stabilize your cholesterol levels? Together with turmeric (a natural anti-inflammatory), it keeps you healthy in a natural, simple way. Mix these into your drink, food, or buy the tablets.

Whether you are still young or close to retirement – the sooner you start to incorporate exercising into your daily life, the better.  It doesn’t matter if you go to the gym, to private classes, swim, run, walk or dance, the most important thing is to keep moving! 

Chris Walsh said “From your 30’s, without training, you lose 2 kilos of muscle mass and gain 4 kilos of body fat every decade.”

A decade might seem far away, but the less you exercise, the easier it is to quickly pile up those extra, mostly unwanted kilos of body fat, and the harder it is to lose it when you get older.  Exercising should not be seen as a chore – rather as a lifestyle.  Our bodies were not made to sit and lie all day; we were made to move; think of children who instinctively wants to move.  Movement, after all, is life!  Without movement your heart cannot function optimally, your lungs cannot absorb and distribute enough oxygen throughout the body, your brain becomes fuzzy, your muscles start to contract, becoming stiff and sore and you start having more and more back problems due to weak muscles and sitting all day.  Your bones need the muscles to carry the body’s weights and keep it off the bones.  As I mentioned earlier, from the age of 30 you start to lose bone density.  When your muscles are weak, it adds extra, unwanted weight onto the bones.  This puts the skeletal system under great stress, causing back pack, herniated discs, sciatica, neck problems, knee and hip problems, and so forth.  Having extra kilos just adds oil to the fire, so to speak!

Exercising and eating healthy are the best way to maintaining fitness, strength, flexibility, stamina and overall health and wellbeing.  Not smoking or stopping, keeping your alcohol consumption low and not drinking plenty of caffeine every day, are also vital to maintain a healthy body, mind and skin.  There is a saying – “what you eat you become.”  So be careful; keep processed foods and takeaways to a minimum or cut it out all together and make your own pizza’s and burgers at home.  There are loads of recipes to choose from and can be a fun activity with the kids!

If you do enjoy going out for a meal once in a while, or having a “cheat” meal, then keep it for once a month, instead of every week.  Children learn by example; so put on your tekkies, get up and move!