As you age, it becomes increasingly important to prioritise your health. Ageing is associated with a decline in muscle mass due to our metabolism slowing down. By incorporating quick and efficient workouts into your lifestyle, you can maintain your health, mobility, and appearance as you age. These workouts will make you feel younger, especially when they target strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular health. Today, we will be exploring four workout to maintain your overall health as you age.
1. Functional Strength Boost
As you age, you are more prone to falling and getting injured. However, you can prevent this by building functional strength. This exercise promotes overall strength and balance, keeping you fit to perform daily activities. To do this workout at home, all you need to do is get light dumbbells or use household items such as water bottles. You can perform 12 reps of chair squats, 8-10 reps of pushups to plank hold, and step-ups consisting of 10 reps per leg. These workouts should be done in order with 30 seconds of rest and repeated for three rounds.
Chair Squats:
- Stand in front of a sturdy chair.
- Lower yourself until your glutes lightly touch the chair, then stand back up.
- Keep your chest lifted and core engaged.
Push-up to Plank Hold:
- Begin in a pushup position.
- Lower yourself, push back up, and hold the plank for 5 seconds.
- Repeat for the specified reps.
Step-Ups:
- Step onto a stable surface, like a low bench or step.
- Bring your opposite knee up.
- Step back down and alternate legs.
2. Mobility and Flexibility Focus
As you age, you will find yourself feeling more pain, and your mobility will be affected. You can maintain joint health and flexibility by incorporating exercises that enhance these things. You can perform cat-cow stretches, hip bridges, and standing side stretches on a yoga mat or soft surface to keep your joints limber and your body agile. For these workouts, you will do 10 reps of the cat-cow stretch and 12 reps of hip bridges. For the standing side stretches, you will do 8 reps per side. Perform these workouts consecutively, rest for 30 seconds, and repeat for three rounds.
Cat-Cow Stretch:
- Start on your hands and knees.
- Arch your back (Cow), then round it (Cat).
- Move smoothly between the two positions to loosen your spine.
Hip Bridges:
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat.
- Press through your heels to lift your hips, hold briefly, then lower slowly.
Standing Side Stretches:
- Stand tall with feet shoulder-width apart.
- Reach one arm overhead and lean to the opposite side, stretching your torso.
- Switch sides and repeat.
3. Cardiovascular Vitality
With age, the risk of getting heart attacks and other heart-related issues increases. This occurs due to the stiffening of blood vessels with age, an increase in blockages, and a higher likelihood of developing inflammations. Therefore, incorporating cardio into our weekly routine is important to maintain cardiovascular fitness. You can march in place for two minutes, do jumping jacks for 30 seconds, and do high knees for 20 seconds. You can rest for 30 seconds and repeat for three to four rounds.
Marching in Place:
- Lift one knee to hip level while swinging the opposite arm.
- Maintain a steady rhythm.
Jumping Jacks:
- Jump your feet out while raising your arms overhead.
- Return to the starting position and repeat.
High Knees:
- Jog in place, lifting your knees as high as possible.
- Move your arms for added intensity.
4. Core Stability Builder
Ageing comes with bad posture, loss of balance, and back pain. You can prevent all of these from happening by doing exercises to strengthen your core. You can incorporate dead bugs, side planks, and bird dogs into your fitness routine to stabilise and strengthen core muscles. For the dead bug, you can do 10 reps per side; for the side planks, you can do 15 seconds per side; for the bird-dog, you can do 8 reps per side. You should repeat for three rounds on a yoga mat or soft surface and rest for 30 seconds, as recommened by AOL.
Dead Bug:
- Lie on your back with arms and legs extended.
- Lower one arm and the opposite leg simultaneously, then return to the start.
- Alternate sides.
Side Plank:
- Lie on one side and lift your body off the ground, supported by your forearm.
- Hold for the listed time, then switch sides.
Bird-Dog:
- Start on all fours and extend one arm and the opposite leg.
- Return to start and switch sides.
