As much as we may not care to admit it, none of us are getting any younger! And along with age comes a natural physical decline in our bodies, particularly if we’re inactive.
Of course, we can not only delay the onset and slow the rate of this physical decline but also continue to experience progress, at any age, if we follow a few simple guidelines. Here are four:
Do a daily morning re-charge
Have you ever seen a cat wake up from a nap? If not, it will usually do three things: yawn, straighten it’s back while it stretches its legs, and then arch its back after it stands up. After this quick, full-body-stretching wake-up routine, it goes about the rest of its business.
That’s basically the concept of the morning re-charge. Spending 5–10 minutes—longer if you prefer and have the time—doing a few basic stretches and joint mobility exercises (e.g. toe touches, arm circles, Brettzels, yoga movements) will work out the kinks from any odd sleeping positions, improve blood flow, and give you an enjoyable energy boost to start the day. Performed daily, it will also help to reduce the natural decline of flexibility (a muscle’s ability to stretch) and mobility (a joint’s full and fluid range-of-motion) that comes with aging.
Strength train at least 2 days per week
Inactivity leads to a loss of strength and muscle mass beginning sometime in our 30s. Over the years, this typically leads to trouble with balance, the ability to easily perform everyday tasks, and weight management, the latter of which because we continue to eat the quantity of food that we’re used to eating but have less metabolically active tissue—muscle, in this case—to use the energy the food provides.
Strength training helps to combat that strength and muscle loss as well as promote muscle gain. I’m biased toward kettlebells, but the tool doesn’t really matter. Just lift something heavy for you over a few basic movements: squat, hinge, get-up, and loaded carry. (More on the non-linked movements in future tips.)
Include fast movements in your training
Along with a decline in flexibility & mobility, muscles naturally experience a decline in the ability to produce force quickly (i.e. contraction speed) as we age. As you might guess, doing regular speed training will help to slow this decline.
Jumping or sprinting—not long distance jogs but short, max or near-max sprints with long rest periods between sets—are potential options. However, they may be less than appealing if your joints ache or if they haven’t been regularly included in your training routine for some time.
This is where kettlebells really shine. Swings and push presses (or jerks) are relatively easy to learn and are low-impact options which fulfill this need for speed training.
Be intentional about your recovery
This actually starts with your exercise. While we may have been able to get away with training at 110% effort during every session when we were 20, that’s a recipe for stagnation and injury at 30 and beyond. (And, to be honest, it’s not really as beneficial at 20 as many people think either.)
Instead, intentionally varying our intensity—technically, the amount of weight that we lift in a set relative to our 1-rep max—and volume (i.e. total reps x sets) from session to session and week to week promotes steady long-term progress while also keeping us feeling relatively fresh. In other words, build heavy, medium, and light days into your training for better recovery and results!
Of course, a variety of other options to improve our recovery ability also exist:
- Getting enough sleep
- Optimizing nutrition (including getting enough protein)
- Using other therapeutic processes (e.g. massage, saunas, cold/heat therapy)
- Maintaining a training log (to track program difficulty, as described above)
Use any, all, or more options to fit your needs. As you age, consider the “all” or “more” options for best results.
Putting it into practice
As I always emphasize in this section, starting small to build consistency is more likely to lead to long-term success than is trying to add everything at once.
So if you’re currently physically active, pick one of the suggestions above—whichever seems to be the easiest to implement—and add it to your routine today!
If you’re currently not very physically active, I’d suggest starting with the morning re-charge. It’s a short and simple first step in helping to develop healthy habits at any age!