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Guest Post "Fitness at Any Age" by Nathan Henley
Today we will be featuring a guest post on Healthy Living Natural Beauty. Below you can read about "Fitness at Any Age" and the bio of our guest writer. This is helpful for us to know especially with our 30 Day Challenges. I hope you will enjoy reading this informative and interesting article.
Fitness at Any Age
20s – In your twenties, your body is strong and resilient. You can get away with bad eating habits and staying up late, but it’s far better to start a healthy fitness regime when it’s still easy. Most women just focus on cardio training when they’re young, but it’s important to add weight training as well. Weight training will build muscle definition and bone density, which will make it easier to stay active as you get older. Instead of automatically reaching for the lightest hand weights and doing bicep curls without much thought choose a weight that will be challenging after 10-15 reps. Young women should also consider strength-building activities such as yoga or Pilates, which will strengthen all the different areas of the body and can be practiced at almost any age. Experts recommend that women in their 20s should do 45-60 minutes of cardio 3 times a week, along with 30 minutes of weight training and 30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week.
30s – In your 30s, your metabolism starts to drop (it will continue to drop 1-2% each decade). Exercise is the key to keeping your body in shape so that you don’t begin to develop health problems. Good fitness habits like a healthy diet and exercise, as well as simple actions like taking the stairs, will develop lifelong health. Being fit will make having a baby easier, both during and after pregnancy. Having strong muscles will make labor less painful, while muscle-toning programs like Pilates will get the body and muscles back into shape after pregnancy. Women in their 30s should still focus on cardio and resistance training with the awareness that they will have to work harder.
40s – A slower metabolism and changing hormones will cause your body to gain fat more easily, especially in the torso. To keep weight under control, women should continue cardio work, though they may want to lower the intensity of their exercise while increasing the time they spend on it. Women in their 40s who have not done much exercise before may want to consider taking a fitness class or working with a personal trainer to make sure that they have the correct form. Otherwise, they may injure themselves. Weight training is still important as well, as this is the age when women start to lose muscle and bone mass.
50s, 60s, and Beyond – After menopause, women are more likely to gain weight. They also lose more muscle mass and tone, and their posture starts to change. Weight training becomes even more important at this age, although guidance is recommended for beginners to prevent injury. Older women should also try to add more activity to their lives, rather than less. It’s also important to warm up before and stretch after any exercise. Activities such as yoga, tai chi, and dancing also emphasize balance, which becomes increasingly important with age. Women over 60 may not want to exercise due to aches and pains, but this does not mean they should stop exercising completely. A simple change in activity, such as doing water aerobics or riding a stationary bike instead of jogging, can be the solution. They can still do light weight and resistance training, but heavy weights may aggravate the joints.
Pictures courtesy of Pinterest.
This article was written by Nathan Henley. He is a sports psychologist who specializes in performance improvement and injury rehabilitation. He also owns the site Sports PsychologyDegree for students interested in getting a degree in sports psychology.
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