As you grow old, exercises for remaining fit becomes more and more critical in order to keep looking and feeling good. Staying in shape after 60 is a must to prevent the age-related illnesses like heart disease & diabetes, and avoid injury from falls.
Workout routines for older adults don’t need to be so different from the ones for younger men. The major differences are intensity, frequency and safety. Older adults may not recover as fast they did in their youth. And the major concern is that they are more susceptible to injuries from fall.
Exercises Guide And Tips For Men Over 60
Being a mature male doesn’t mean that you limit yourself to golf and light gardening. A variety of exercises, including resistance training and cardiovascular workouts provide safe yet challenging options for men over 60. By applying a few simple principles to your routine, you can work out a great exercise plan for staying in shape at any age. Read on for our recommendations.
Resistance Training
For aging males resistance exercises are an essential part of a workout routine. It helps to prevent muscle loss and fragility, boost metabolism, increase bone density and strengthen immune function.
Older adults don’t have to go in for power lifting or pull up incredible weights to gain from resistance training. In fact, as you grow old, it is utmost important to concentrate on working out your muscles and make every effort to avert injuries. As per the experts, three 30-minute full body workouts per week are enough for men over 60 to get the beneficial effects of resistance training.
Full Body Workouts
A man after 60 may not be able to fully recover if he works out as hard as he used to do in his earlier years or if he has not done it before. It may not be practically possible to hit every muscle from multiple angles several times in a week. A practical answer to this is a full body workout, which will fetch you optimum benefits in a short time. The best way is to structure your workouts in a manner so as to incorporate one exercise for each muscle group per workout. For instance, you might do body weight squats for the legs, dumbbell dead lift for the back, bench presses for the chest, dumbbell raises for the shoulders, and triceps push-downs and biceps curls for the arm muscles. You can aim for 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps for each exercise with 30 to 60 seconds of rest between each.
Repetition Pace
Don’t get excited on seeing young athletes and trainees pushing their bodies to the limits, working out to failure with incredibly heavy weights and even performing forced repetitions. Elderly persons simply are advised to desist from indulging in these types of techniques for safety reasons. Therefore, our recommendation is that aging people should rather make sure to follow precisely proper form of the exercises.
The rule is simple: If you cannot control it, do not lift it. The golden rule is to ensure correct form by using a slow, controlled repetition pace. For instance, on the bench press, you try to raise the weight in 1 or 2 seconds and take a full 3 to 4 seconds to lower it – in a controlled manner. This is the right way to engage your muscles to the exercises in a safe mode, ensuring a better a workout technique and prevent joint injury.
Cardiovascular Exercise
Regular cardio exercise is important for any age group, but older adults probably have the most to gain from starting (or continuing) a cardiovascular exercise program. Not only does cardio strengthens your heart and lungs, it gives you more energy, sharpens your mind, helps you manage your weight, can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and may even keep you young.
For instance, you work out the elliptical machine, treadmill or exercise bike at your gym. Another alternative is to be more active in general and find means to do exercise in a recreational form. Swimming, biking or walking make efficient options for doing a cardio workout. Walking is a wise versatile option because almost anyone can do it, and at any age.
Just Fitness Tips:
(i) “Exercise at 60” is no less important than when you were 25.
(ii) Make sure to warm up and cool down for five minutes before and after your workout.
(iii) For a walking workout, consider progressively increasing brisk walking duration as you gain endurance.
Im 60 and train for competition boxing. I spar 2 times a week with 20 to 30 yr olds and hold my own . Eat clean, dont drink or smoke and believe you can do it and you can.