Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays where we are talking about one exercise topic for two minutes and giving you three reasons why you should follow our advice. Now this week, we are talking to the ladies out there who are over 50. What things do you need to make sure you are doing with your exercise to keep your body strong, to keep your body feeling great, and to keep your body injury free?
1) Do TONS of Weight Training
Exercise tip number one for women over 50 – make sure you are doing TONS of weight training. Resistance training and weight training are the things that will help you keep your metabolism up, that will help you prevent osteopenia and osteoporosis, and will help keep your joints and muscles healthy. You have to be weight training every single week, so make sure you are finding time to do so.
Action Step: Get in a minimum of two days of weight training (but preferably three or more) every single week. Sit down with your schedule and find times when you can lift weights for 20-30 minutes. Put it in your schedule and prioritize getting it done.
Related: 3 Tips To Follow If You Want To Tone Up
2) Moderate Your Cardio
Exercise tip number two for women over 50 – if you are going to do cardio, moderate it. There is nothing wrong with doing cardiovascular activity – going for a run, bike ride, etc. But, you cannot sacrifice your resistance training in order to get in more cardio. So, if you are going to do cardio, it has to be in addition to the resistance training you are already doing consistently throughout your week.
Action Step: How many days are you wanting to workout each week? Schedule your resistance training workouts in first, and then fill the rest of your desired days with cardio. Doing it the other way around will likely cause you to skip the resistance training, which needs to be prioritized.
Related: 3 Considerations When Doing Cardio
3) Workout As A 50-Year Old, Not A 20-Year Old
Exercise tip number three for women over 50 – train your body and workout with your body as a 50-year old, not as a 20-year old. The problem that we often face is that we learn how to workout when we are in high school or college. You have to be mindful that your body makes drastic changes throughout the years from having kids, going through menopause, and anything else that has happened over the past three(+) decades. Make sure you are making the changes your body needs in order to make exercise a lifelong activity.
Action Step: Check out our ebook, the 5-Minute Mobility Check, to start to get an overview of where there may be some issues within your body that need to be monitored while you are exercising!