If you’re moving into your later years, one important thing that you must make sure that you’re constantly considering is how to keep fit in your 60’s. It’s extremely important that you are making sure that you are maintaining some form of physical activity at this stage in your life as it’s going to have a large influence on the quality of life you experience as well as the amount of muscle you’re able to maintain moving forward.
Those who don’t keep active as they move into their 60’s are much more likely to start to feel restricted on various activities they may begin to perform which can lead to plenty of frustration to say the least.
Let’s look at a few of the best tips to remember about how to keep fit into your 60’s.
Don’t Discount ‘Lifestyle’ Activity
The very first thing that you must make sure you don’t do is discount all the lifestyle activities you do that will count towards physical activity.
Many people often get into the mindset that in order to exercise, they must visit a gym. This isn’t the case at all. If you would hardly describe yourself as a ‘gymbody’, then it’s time to look elsewhere for ways to keep in shape.
For instance, gardening is actually a great way to work all the muscles in the body and will burn off a number of calories as well.
If you can go out and work in your yard for 30 minutes, that will easily count for your total daily activity recommendation.
Likewise, house work will count as well. Lifestyle activities can be just as good, if not better in some cases, than what you’d be doing if you went to the gym for a more structured workout session.
Meet With A Personal Trainer
Another thing to consider if you’ve never been on a structured workout program before is to take the time to see a personal trainer. Many people over 60 believe that it’s just too late to start on a structured workout program, but if that’s what you’d like to do, do it.
Don’t let age stand in your way. It’s perfectly possible to get into great shape at this age and build some quality muscle mass that will serve you well for years to come.
The more muscle strength you have, the easier it will be to complete all the daily activities that you need to sustain your lifestyle, so strength training will have a huge payoff.
Get a session with a trainer scheduled though so that you can learn proper form in the strength training exercises you perform. If you’re not using proper form, you will really increase your risk of injury.
Focus On Low Impact Activities
As you move into the later years, another important thing to keep in mind as you strive to stay active is to try and focus on lower impact activities. These are going to be much more enjoyable for many of those past 60 since they aren’t quite as taxing on the body and shouldn’t cause any joint pain.
Some good examples of lower impact activities to try out include walking, swimming, rowing, using a cross trainer, or performing tai chi or yoga.
These will all still help to strengthen the muscles and get you in better shape without causing knee, hip, or back pain.
If you don’t experience any joint problems at all right now and want to partake in higher impact activities, that’s definitely fine, just do be aware that these are more stressful on your body and could create problems over time.
Pace Yourself
Finally, the last important thing that you should do to help keep fit in your 60’s is pace yourself. At this point, you aren’t in a race. You must work at a level that feels good to you so that you come back to each session excited to keep going and ready to give it your all.
Remember that as you get older your recovery ability after a workout session will go down, so you may need a little more time to rest up between each workout you do.
Aim for a day on, day off structure. Unless you’re just doing very light activity such as walking, having that day of rest in between each session should help ensure that your muscles have recovered and that you’re feeling good going into the next day’s activity.
Taking care to monitor for signs of recovery will also allow you to see how your body is responding. Certain activities you may recover from faster than others, so make sure to pay attention to that as well.
So there you have the top tips to remember about staying active into your 60’s. If you approach it with a positive frame of mind and keep activity fun, you should have no problem sustaining good physical fitness and a high quality of life.