The workouts you should be doing in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s
Adaptation and prevention
Exercise is at the root of good health: it’s the key to a longer — but more importantly, a more active and fulfilling — life. So how do you do it right? A lifelong, well rounded exercise programme that caters to your physiological needs and your stage of life should be your focus. Consistency is by far the most important factor, but our bodies change as we age, so our exercises regime needs to as well.
Lay the foundations
When we’re in our twenties, it’s easy to feel invincible; we can miss workouts and over indulge without gaining too much weight or feeling like we need a day off to recover, and it’s far easier to get by on genes alone. But studies show that developing fitness habits early on in life yield major results — not least because it’s a useful way of dealing with stress, which left unaddressed can lead to developing unhealthy food and alcohol habits that only worsen later in life.
Regular exercise has been linked to a reduced risk of colon and breast cancer, and the World Cancer Research Fund estimates that about 2 in 5 breast cancer cases could be prevented by maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active and reducing alcohol consumption. Adopting a healthy lifestyle in your twenties will not only make it easier to stay fit later in life, but it’s one of the best tools for disease prevention.
As we age, we lose muscle mass and bone density naturally, so building it up in our twenties can help to stave this off.
Build balance and resilience
We usually develop set physical patterns — either through overdoing only one type of exercise, or postural habits which come about due to excessive sedentary periods. To combat these, work on your flexibility and take up yoga, pilates, or barre based-workouts to addresses alignment.
Maintaining your cardio and strength training during this time is also important, and at every age group, making the right food and sleep choices are key — as is maintaining a healthy bodyweight. This also has a huge effect on fertility, as being both over and underweight can have a negative impact.
Overweight women have a higher level of androgens, higher oestrogen and insulin levels, all which can impair ovulation; while underweight women can have low levels of leptin, an appetite regulating hormone that helps control weight. If the body doesn’t have enough fat available for reproduction, it will halt ovulation as a protection mechanism.
The same goes for men and fertility: a study from Harvard University found that overweight and obese men are more likely to produce a lower sperm count than their peers of healthy weight. According to the ONS, over half of births in England and Wales in 2015 were to mothers in their thirties, while two thirds of men became fathers in that same dec- ade, so keeping your health in check is a must.
In your 20s:
In your 60s:
Strength training becomes more important in your forties, when testosterone and growth hormones start to decline. We also tend to lose muscle mass at a faster rate during this time, so keeping metabolically active muscle will not only allow you to maintain strength, but it will also decrease the dreaded midlife gut, and help keep hormones healthy, mood stable and bones strong.
Resistance training is essential for this, whether it’s through traditional weight training, strengthbased classes or barre. Barre is a great exercise to do at this age as it’s incredible for muscular strength, but is low impact and works your flexibility and posture.
Many individuals start to feel the effects of chronic stress in their forties, which can induce the body to store more sinister visceral fat around our organs. Stress release, then, is essential: whether you get your stress relief from yoga, cardio, or even long walks, switching off and calming your mind is essential.
Maintain energy
You may think it’s time to slow down, but exercise becomes more important if you want to maintain energy as you age.
Cardio needs to shoot back up, with most governmental bodies recommending 5 x 30-minute cardio sessions per week to preserve heart health. Posture and flexibility are also key, so keeping up yoga, barre or pilates is essential.
If you’ve trained hard your entire life and are used to longer sessions, long may they continue. But if you haven’t, starting long runs in your 50s can lead to injured joints very quickly.
Swimming is a great way to strengthen your muscles and heart in a low impact way, while moderate weight training will start to help with joint stability and muscular strength.
Men should keep up strength training to fend off a decline in testosterone and keep the libido healthy, while menopausal women can help alleviate some of their unwanted symptoms like weight gain, anxiety and depression through a combination of cardio and strength training. As oestrogen declines, the body preserves more fat — specifically around the abdomen, and muscle growth keeps metabolism high.
Loss of muscle mass in ageing populations has a negative impact on overall health and fitness, but addressing this will improve joint and bone health, aerobic capacity, decrease risk of fractures and boost fatty acid metabolism. The NHS guidelines for strength training for individuals in their sixties is twice weekly, however that’s just the minimum amount to stay healthy.
Studies have shown that individuals in their sixties need to weight train more often than younger adults to maintain their muscle. There is a difference with the intensity at which you should train — our tendons and ligaments lose elasticity as we age, so extremely heavy weights will increase your risk of injury. Keep weights moderate if you’re a beginner and try to keep heavy or maximum weighted sessions under the supervision of a coach or expert who can help you determine your limit. The best advice is to engage muscle tissue and maintain conditioning, rather than following a programme aimed at hypertrophy (growth).