Fitness for the over 50’s

When people over 50 hear the words physical fitness they immediately think of only the physical aspects of fitness. True physical fitness encompasses much more than that. It must include, in addition to the Body, the Mind (thoughts) and the Spirit (emotions). To get truly fit a person, especially if they are over 50 must work on all three aspects. Working on the Physical aspect while ignoring our Thoughts and Emotions is not going to get you the results you looking for.

It’s a three-pronged approach

Working all three aspects the Body, Mind and Spirit, is going to be one of the goals of this website moving forward. By ignoring your Thoughts and Emotions about fitness your setting yourself up for frustration and failure. If we don’t prepare ourselves Physically, Mentally and Emotionally for what we are trying to accomplish we’ll end up getting frustrated and quit, before we’ve even started.

Get Fit At Any Age

Realizing that getting fit at any age but especially when you over 50, is going to take a life style change. And change at any age is hard for most people. The important thing here is to be patient with ourselves and to develop a routine that challenges us but isn’t so difficult that we dread it. Consistency, setting and accomplishing goals and being committed is just the beginning.

Consistency

Consistency is doing your routine every other day or three times a week. In order to do this you have to develop a routine that you can do in an hour. Start to finish, one hour. You can exercise every major muscle group within 30 to 40 minutes. And it doesn’t have to be hard and arduous work, as a matter of fact it should be fairly easy and fun. You can establish goals for each muscle group, and monitor you progress each time you do your routine.

Commitment

Commitment, something has made you want to get into shape. It may have been a Doctor, a Spouse, or just you looking in the mirror, it doesn’t matter what got you to this point. What’s important is that your here now. I have developed techniques that have enabled me to stay with a routine for over thirty years, and if it’s worked for me I know it will work for you. In subsequent articles, I will share with you, everything I know, about developing a routine that has not only been effective in maintaining muscle tone, well into my sixties, but has been fun and enjoyable as well.

Where to begin

You will be amazed how easy it is to get back into shape, no matter how long it’s been, or how bad of shape your in. If you’re are aware of a few things about yourself, your Mind, Body, and Emotions, you’ll be amazed on how fast you can regain muscle tone. Your muscles actually like to be worked out. I’ve read all kinds of material about this and suffice it to say that a healthy body enjoys exercise and works at it’s optimin level when it gets it. We were not designed to be sedentary, and our body show us it’s displeasure in numerous ways when we are.

Get Started

The hardest thing about getting fit when your over 50 is starting. But the fact that your reading this shows your ready to start. You have had the thought that something has to change, if you want to have the life and do the things you dream about. We aren’t talking about becoming a world-class athlete, we are talking about feeling good, building muscle tone improving our coordination and balance and adopting a healthier life style.

Banish Doubt

You may have all kinds of doubts a fear about being able to do this, but if you trust me and follow some of my suggestions, I can guarantee that you’ll be better off, than you are now. Once you start getting you muscle tone,confidence and self-esteem back, all kinds of opportunities will start to present themselves to you.

The Theater of Exercise

I’m sorry to break this to you,but if you think you can do this alone, in you garage or in front of the TV in you living room, I’m here to tell you that won’t work. Everyone I know, who has tried this, has some exercise equipment, either in their garage or in the corner of their house, that is just gathering dust or being used to pile stuff on.

Takes a Community

My experience has shown me that if you serious about getting fit in your 50s it’s going to take a community. I’m not talking about getting involved in some organized training program. What I’m talking about is having a place to go where you can exercise. I know this is going to sound strange, but going into an environment, where everybody is working on getting and or staying in shape, helps you mind and emotions get with the program. Your mind sees it, smells it, and hears it and even if you don’t feel like working out when you walk in,sometimes just being in the Theater of Exercise is enough, to get you into your routine. The psychological power of the theater is real, don’t discount it.

Convenient

I can’t tell you how many times, I’ve been totally unmotivated to do anything, but by simply going to the Theater of Exercise, I’ve found myself doing my routine almost as though I were in a trance.This theater can be a Gym in you complex, a YMCA in you community or a HEALTH CLUB or SPA near where you live, it just can’t be in you house. The most important thing besides being out of the house, is that it has to be convenient. If it is to far away or a pain to get to, it won’t work for the long term. No matter how nice the facility is, if it’s a hassle to get their, you’ll quit going within a year.

Benefits of going to the Theater

The other reason I stress a Gym or Club, is that you have examples and a lot of resources, to learn the proper techniques and positions, on whatever equipment you choose to use. We will be talking later about equipment and while a number of people swear that Free Weights are the only way to go, I have always preferred Weight Machines. They are easier to set and adjust and safer to use. But what really is important here, is learning the proper techniques, having someone check you out in how to adjust the equipment and the proper form to use is extremely important. I can’t stress enough, that in order to see benefits in any routine, technique and form are key. It doesn’t matter what equipment you prefer, there is a right way and a wrong way to use them. Save yourself a lot of frustration by learning the proper way to use whatever equipment you select for you routine.

You’ve already started

You’ve already started getting into shape by looking for a Website that might help you. I decided to do this Website to help people, especially seniors realize that there is a lot of misinformation out there on what it takes to get in shape and stay in shape. I want to share my experiences, of over thirty years of exercising,so you don’t make the same mistakes I’ve made. Developing an easy program, that is both effective and fun, is key to being able to do it, well into you senior years. The Theater of Exercise has become a Billion Dollar business, that often is just interested in the bottom line. You are capable of designing a routine for yourself, you don’t need a trainer or task master, watching you and pushing you, for that last rep. Taking your time, and realizing that progress is achieved through consistency and having fun, and that no matter how good something is for you, if it’s not fun you simply won’t do it for very long.

As always, thanks for visiting. Dave