Do you have a go-to work out? Maybe running is your forte, or you’ve gotten into the routine of doing Pilates at 9 am every morning. Perhaps you like to keep it simple with a midday stretch to revive your body.
Exercise comes in all shapes and sizes. And regardless of your current fitness habits, having any at all is doing your body a great service. However, fitness researchers indicate that a single workout routine won’t support muscle mass, balance, and mobility as they decline with age.
A well-rounded workout routine that incorporates strengthening, stretching, balance, and aerobic exercises is key to feeling your best now and remaining healthy as you age.
Exercise physiologist and clinical professor at Sacred Heart University, Peter Ronai, explains how walking is a “great form of activity for most people, but unfortunately, doesn’t do a lot to help bone loss, bone density loss. Doesn’t do a whole heck of a lot to address muscle loss. Doesn’t do a lot to address power.”
Dr. Elizabeth Joy, a family, sports, and lifestyle medicine physician and chair of the American College of Sports Medicine’s Exercise Is Medicine program, states healthy aging is a result of combining different types of movement that “get your heart rate up, build strength, challenge your balance and keep your joints moving.”
Here are four types of exercise you could consider adding to your routine:
- Aerobic Exercise
Also known as cardio, aerobic exercise gets your heart beating faster and speeds up your breathing. It helps increase your endurance and improves your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. Examples could be brisk walking, cycling, swimming, dancing, or jogging. Keeping up with aerobic exercise can help make going up 3 flights of stairs a piece of cake.
- Strength Training
Strength training builds back lost muscle mass. It’s what makes daily tasks like carrying groceries easier. Strengthening the muscles protects your bones from injuries. Preserving your muscles also gives you the chance to function independently as you get older.
Strength training workouts typically involve body weight exercises such as squats, push-ups, and lunges. It could also be exercises that use resistance from weights, bands, or weight machines.
- Stretching
Stretching helps with keeping you flexible. Lack of use is partly why joints become stiffer with age. Exercises like yoga could preserve joint health, improve posture, and possibly decrease arthritis symptoms.
- Balance
Maybe the least talked about of the four is balance. In older age, balance is crucial for fall prevention. Working on your balance can improve your coordination and stability. Improving balance can look a little different from other workouts.
It could be practicing standing on one leg or walking heel to toe. Balance and strength training work together well, as many resistance training workouts build strength and balance simultaneously.
Conclusion
To prevent age-related physical declines, doing a little bit of each of these exercises works better than focusing on one. It doesn’t have to be done all at once.
You could start by adding one new exercise into your routine, even just 10 minutes, until it becomes a habit. Try experimenting until you find the activities you enjoy most and that create your ideal, well-rounded workout routine.