Starting An Exercise Programme Age 65+

You are never too old to start moving your body and feeling the benefits of that.

Joan MacDonald is my heroine, she started her fitness journey at 70. She is now 7 years into her journey and can do things a lot of 20 year olds would struggle to do!

These are some things to consider before you start:

Medical Advice

Speak to your Dr before starting an exercise programme (if you have previously not been exercising regularly) If you have pre-existing medical conditions and medications these may need to be taken into consideration for the types of exercise you do.

Start Slowly

Begin with low-impact exercises and gradually increase the intensity and duration over time.  This is the same advice for everyone but this will allow your body to adapt positively and reduce the risk of injury.

Joint Health

Choose exercises which are gentle on your joints, if you have any issues with them. Walking, swimming, cycling are all great forms of cardiovascular exercise. Joints are structures that need support and the support comes from tension in muscles, so Resistance Training is an excellent way to keep your joints strong, healthy and happy.

Balance and Stability

Include exercises that improve balance and stability or prevent falls and maintain functional independence. Things like balancing on one leg, exercises that put you into a split stance with one foot in front of the other.

Flexibility

Flexibility is like fitness, to improve it you need to work on it. Having good flexibility helps joint mobility and can reduce the risk of injuries. The beauty of some resistance training is that there has to be a stretch response when you move your limbs so as well as getting stronger and building muscle, putting your joints through their full range of movement with load improves your mobility and flexibility. Win-Win!

Proper Form

This applies to everyone! Focus on maintaining proper form during exercises to minimise excessive strain on muscles and joints, generally the slower you move weight, the safer it is. This is where working with a Personal Trainer or Physiotherapist for a while could be beneficial.

Listen To Your Body

Pay attention to how your body feels during and after exercise, it will tell you when it is not happy, do not ignore it, especially pain. If you experience dizziness, shortness of breath stop exercising and speak to a medical professional if you need to.

Stay Hydrated & Fuel Your Body

Drink water before, during and after exercise to stay adequately hydrated. If you are doing a brand new exercise programme make sure you have eaten something an hour or two before. Even a light workout can make you feel lightheaded if you have gone a long period of time without eating.

Rest and Recovery

Allow your body adequate time to rest and recover between exercise sessions. This is essential for muscle building and general well-being. We create the stimulus in the exercise session we grow and become stronger at rest.

Enjoyment and Variety

Choose activities you enjoy (or sound like you would enjoy them) to make regular exercise sustainable and fun. Incorporate a variety of exercises to work all the major muscle groups, improve your cardiovascular fitness and prevent boredom.

My job as a Personal Trainer is to create a personalised plan based on your specific needs and abilities and over time as you become stronger and fitter adapt the plan with you x