Is it Too Hard to Stay in Shape after 50?

Preserving yourself once you cross that golden age rests on many factors. Depending on whether you took care of your body when you were younger or you inherited certain genes from your parents, you might need to work extra hard to keep yourself looking and feeling youthful. But it’s not enough to simply enter a power systems coupon code for your kettlebells and speed rope purchase in order for you to get there.

Today, we’re here to give you more tips to keep you healthy after 50.

1. Keep Your Appointments

Even as we keep to our homes to weather the ongoing pandemic, it is necessary to keep our medical checkups. This is our best way to understand what is going on in our body so that we can keep illnesses at bay. Find out if your doctor offers virtual visits so that you can maintain communication and get an easy consult. Listen to what the professionals say and always take your medicines on time!

2. Walk Some More

A common present gifted during holidays are fitness trackers; in fact, you might have already been given one by a nephew or your own daughter at some point. Don’t keep it in your drawer! Learn how to use it so you can find out how many steps you take daily. You get to a certain age when walking can really bring some comfort and it truly is an easy way to keep your heart healthy. According to this 2011 study, 10 thousand steps daily is a good way to start.

3. Get Into Yoga

Yoga might seem trendier for younger people, but there’s really no required age to do it! Whether you are 5 or 50 years old, there are many difficulty levels in yoga that you can master. According to Johns Hopkins, yoga can ease your arthritis, relieve some of your back pain, as well as get you to sleep better. And at this age, you really will need those hours to recharge!

4. Lessen Your Idle Time

In the 1960s, a research study was conducted by the University of Texas about the effects of too much bed rest. They tested 5 healthy people in their twenties and found that after only 3 weeks of staying in bed, they developed higher resting heart rates, a marked increase in body fat, and a weakening of muscle strength! The good news is the trial did not end there. The volunteers were put to work through an 8-week exercise routine and the effects of too much bed rest were more than reversed. If lying down too much can be bad for 20-year-olds, how much more for people in their fifties? It can be tempting to watch tv or read books all the time, but too much of something is not always great for you! Retaining your energy is a worthy goal at any age. As they say, time never stops ticking. But it can be all the more worth it when you can still be healthy even well into your senior years. After all, age is just the number of trips we’ve taken around the sun!