We all want to age beautifully, and no matter how old you are you can take advantage of these simple exercises. Light exercise does wonders for skin tone, wrinkles, and flexibility – all things that tend to decline as we move into our golden years.
Exercise increases blood flow, which helps skin cells reproduce effectively – the result is firmer, tighter skin and a healthy glow all over your body.
What are the other benefits of exercising when you are over 50? For one thing, it’s great for reducing menopause symptoms. Many women experience sleep issues, hot flashes, even increased anxiety and symptoms of depression as they age.
Exercise is also going to hammer out those physical ailments – it’s been shown to reduce the risk of osteoporosis, diabetes, and heart disease. Who wouldn’t want some of that?
Slow And Steady
It’s important to take it slow, especially if you’re just getting into a new exercise routine. Low-impact exercises work best because they’re easy on the joints, but they still allow you to get a great cardio workout that will be beneficial for your heart and respiratory system.
We’re going to break down an exercise routine for women over 50 into two categories: light cardio and flexibility exercises. This is a beginner routine that will help you build up endurance.
For now, stay clear of too many weight-based workouts or anything that’s hard on the joints, like squats. The worst mistake you can make is pushing your body too far before it’s ready.
Cardio Exercises For Women 50 And Up
Light aerobic exercise is like the Holy Grail for you – it’s something doctors have known for years, but which few women take advantage of. No matter what aerobic activity you decide to do, aim for 20 minutes with each session. The hardest part of this is finding the right pace.
You want to increase your heart rate, but not too much. At the ideal pace, you should be able to talk regularly without huffing and puffing between each word. Physicians call this the talk test.
Try walking or jogging, or if you don’t want to leave the house you can simply turn on the TV and move around as you watch. Bounce from foot to foot, swing your arms, jog in place, dance a little if you want. Just keeping your body moving will work out the large muscles – your thighs, calves, abs, and shoulders, pumping oxygen-rich blood to your organs.
Flexibility Exercises For Women Over 50
For the second part, let’s talk flexibility. I don’t mean just stretches, although those are important too. I’m talking about a few simple exercises that give your muscles a light workout while you stretch them out. Arm lifts are a great example. Here’s how:
Arm Lifts
For this exercise, you’ll need a set of light dumbbells. With the dumbbells in hand, hold your arms flat at your side. Keeping your elbows locked, raise your arms to the side until your hands are higher than your shoulders. Hold it there, then slowly bring them back down. This will increase the range of motion for your shoulders while strengthening your shoulders, triceps, and biceps.
Side Toe Touches
Another good flexibility workout is the side toe touch. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, then step each foot sideways until you can feel a light strain on your inner thighs.
The next part should be done rapidly: Bend sideways at the waist and reach down towards your left foot, going as far down as you can. Now switch over to the right foot. Try it ten times with each side for a low impact workout that also stretches your ab muscles and your thigh muscles.
At the end of the day, what’s important is the motion. Look for ways to move more during the day, whether it’s parking further away than normal or simply getting up to march in place while you watch TV.
Hitting 50 isn’t an excuse to stop working out; it should be motivation to stay active and continue to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Source: http://dailyweighin.com
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