Midlife mobility mindfulness – strengthen and stretch!
“Keep moving. Stretch it out. Build strength. Rest. Recover. Repeat!” This is a powerful fitness mantra for midlife, helping spur you on to support your health and wellbeing as you age.
Sedentary behaviour often sets in during midlife, as people’s busy schedules tend to prioritise family and work commitments over self-care and regular exercise. However, Australian health guidelines recommend that adults be active on most days with at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week. Do a quick tally to add up the hours each week that you commit to fitness, so you know whether it’s time to dial it up and don’t forget to be honest with yourself!
Along with moving more to support healthy ageing, it’s also worth embracing strength training and stretching. Here we look at exercises to incorporate into your fitness routine to support your mobility so you can feel strong, vibrant and confident throughout your life.
Move more to avoid sedentary behaviour
Let’s start with a question: Are you sitting too much? It’s worth asking yourself, because you may not notice the long periods you are seated without a break each day – whether you’re perched at a desk, in the car or watching tv. A lack of movement has been linked with many poor health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, cognitive illness and unhealthy weight gain. Movement helps to release endorphins, giving you an energy boost, improving your mood and boosting your circulation for overall body function. Start with walking and build the intensity by tackling an incline or increasing the pace to a jog or run or join a gym and get expert help with a personalised workout plan. Aim to be consistent with your fitness to build momentum and confidence!
Stretching to build flexibility for healthy joints in midlife
Mobility describes the ease with which you move, which is why joint health is such a major focus for age-defying wellbeing. From the age of 30 onwards, the connective tissue in tendons and ligaments gradually stiffen, which puts pressure on your joints – hence the aches and soreness you may be feeling. To support your joint health, strive to become a stretch devotee. Create a stretch routine incorporating your favourite stretches so you can switch to auto-pilot, making it easy to commit to your daily stretch pre and post-workout. Or, if you love a fresh and spontaneous approach to stretching, then mix things up with dynamic and static poses. Ask an expert trainer to provide you with different stretches to support your body’s needs.
Strength training for a stronger, more balanced and coordinated body
As you age, your muscle mass and bone density decreases, which are factors of frailty in old age. To combat this and support your balance, coordination and flexibility through midlife and beyond, focus on building strong muscles and bones using free weights and weight equipment. Add muscle strengthening exercises to your fitness routine like: push ups, squats, step-ups, pull-ups, hamstring curls, bicep curls and planks. Go for gym workouts that incorporate low-impact equipment such as the elliptical machine, which is gentle on the joints while providing a steady cardio and muscle workout. And choose group classes that offer regular low-impact exercise, such as tai chi, yin yoga and Reformer Pilates.
It’s important to listen to your body and change-up the plan where necessary, to ensure you feel comfortable and confident during and after each workout.Category List
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