Special Exercises for the Over 50s
Whilst we can all be in denial for a short time, eventually, we all accept that our bodies and their abilities are not the same in us fifties and sixties as they were in our thirties and forties. Body changes affect many aspects of life including exercise.
It is still essential to have regular exercise as we grow older, perhaps even more important than when we were younger; but workouts and exercise routines should be gentler and geared more exactly to the limitations of your personal needs in areas such as joints, back, bone density, cardio problems, health issues and the like.
Exercise and Make Your Body Flow Like a River
If you have not been following a regular exercise routine, you should get the all-clear from your doctor before you start one. After that, set some realistic and inspiring goals – for example, I wanted to bring down my blood pressure so I wouldn’t have to go on medication.
Next, get some company for motivation for workouts. It could be simply by joining friends and neighbours or even getting a personal trainer. If you go down the personal trainer route, make sure it is somebody who can relate to your age group needs, preferably through personal experience.
Grant Wood is a 63-year-old personal trainer and massage therapist, and he says, “I’m in better all-round shape now I’m 63, than when I was belting myself around when I was in my twenties, thirties and forties. I’m able to match personal trainers at half my age.”
He has a very different approach to fitness that really suits any age but is particularly appealing for the over 50s. He stays away from high impact exercises and concentrates on slowly revitalising muscles and parts of the body that may not have been used for a long time.
The adage of “use it or lose it” is, unfortunately, one that has proven true for many of us, and the ‘rejuvenation’ of muscular strength and overall flexibility takes both patience and skill if you are to avoid injury.
“Earlier on, I was involved in a lot of high impacting sports such as marathons, high-level endurance events, adventure races and high-level rugby union. Whilst that was excellent fun and challenging, it also meant that I sustained many serious sports-related injuries. I’ve had my knee smashed, I’ve had a dislocated hip and six herniated disks. I’ve got two bolts in my neck and I’ve had a dislocated shoulder.”
Grant realised that if he carried on the way he was going, then pretty soon he wasn’t going to be able to do much at all. “So I went on a mission to devise different ways of training. I was still doing what I loved to do, but without belting myself up.”
“Over the past 12 years, I devised a method of training that incorporated Yoga dynamics, Pilates dynamics, Tai Chi Dynamics, and other Martial Arts dynamics, and I’ve just enhanced them all together to get a flow.” His motto is “Make your body flow like a river, and move like animals in nature” because according to Grant, “If you watch the animal world, you’ll see they don’t charge around all the time, they move with harmony. With my training, you’ll hardly move anywhere else from where you are standing.”
“I help people to use their own muscles and stretches to improve all-round functional movements. You don’t need expensive equipment or long hours of gruelling workouts. Quite often I slow you down, and you’ll find how the muscles work far more effectively. The equipment you need can be as simple as a chair, a post or a step, although you can actually do even without those. You definitely don’t need weights or rowing machines.”
Grant explains that the workout routine you need and the movements you need will depend upon what your objectives are and the state of your health and fitness to start with. We are all time-poor, but apparently, even with a ten-minute workout a day you can achieve a great deal.
They are all non-impacting, thus preserving our joints. “I work with individuals to develop a stretchy fitness routine for them, which you can do anywhere, any place, any time and enhance any other fitness or sporting activity you may be doing at present.”
Grant’s techniques obviously work and his personal approach is helpful and motivating. I can vouch for this because Grant is my personal trainer. I met him 4 months ago at an exhibition and after a thirty-minute session, I was hooked.
I now have a 45-minute session two times weak, I’ve gone down 2 inches in trouser size and can walk 5 km without getting breathless and have become more flexible than my 34-year-old son! Grant has trained boxers, runners, and even folks that want more enjoyment from trekking and bushwalking, all with a common goal of increased fitness reducing sports injuries.
If you’ve only got a short period of time because time’s a premium commodity for everyone these days, these workouts can replace your longer or higher impact workouts.”
“By doing these workouts on a daily basis, any time of the day, you’re getting a good all-round body workout that’s going to improve your Cardio, Strength, Endurance, Mobility and Flexibility.”
Not exercising and remaining inactive puts you at greater risk of health issues such as obesity-related diseases, heart disease, some cancers, osteoporosis, diabetes and so on. We all want to be active and exercise regularly; low impact could well be the path to a safer, more flexible outcome.
Contact: Grant Wood Dip P.E.
Tel: (07) 5578 1320, Mob: 0433 097 604
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