The importance of exercise as we age

Did you know, our bodies change with every decade? Depressing, I know! But the more you look after yourself, the more it will pay off in the future.

As we go through life’s various stages, our needs, desires and reasons to exercise will change with us as we grow. The good news is however, it’s never too late to start!

From our teenage years, to our twenties, where you’re young, carefree and can get away with eating the cake, the pizza, drinking the beers without seeing too much impact on the scales. Then as we enter mid/late twenties, you’ll notice your body’s metabolism starts to slow down, ☹ meaning that our ability to burn calories takes longer and more work is needed at the gym!

In our thirties, we’ve often got hectic and demanding schedules and at this point, family life may play a crucial role in our lives, and in some cases; pregnancy has a huge impact on the body. As well as often dealing with increased financial strain or simply having less time to work-out.

Entering our forties, we’re at increased risk of high blood sugar levels, meaning our chances of diabetes has gone up. Muscles get stiffer, joints and ligaments get tighter and we might not be able to work-out to the same extent that we used to and our maximum heart rate decreases.

Once we reach our fifties, our bone density drops and one of the main things to note for women is the menopause, which can cause oestrogen to decrease and can lead to increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and more. At this point, it’s highly important to tick all the boxes for; building strength, working on our cardio and flexibility whilst also concentrating on functional fitness for everyday living.

As we get older we pretty much have two choices; use it or lose it!
Ok, so the good news is; we’ve much more time and perhaps fewer family demands and maybe even more financial freedom. Which means you can really concentrate on “me time” at this stage in your life.

So whatever stage you are at! Getting exercising and make it become part of your routine.