Jane Fonda, at 86, no longer does her namesake workout from the ’80s. But this does not mean that she stopped playing sports. “Slowly, you’ll realize that’s the key word,” Fonda told Julia Louis-Dreyfus when she visited her Wiser than me podcast. “I do pretty much the same movements, but slowly and with less weight.”
It’s wise to follow Fonda’s example and adjust your approach to physical activity as you age. But you don’t have to—and shouldn’t—wait until you’re eighty to do it. Instead, consider recalibrating to around 55.
“I think we need to come to terms with the fact that we get older and our bodies change. You can’t beat yourself up about it because it’s no use.” Joan Pagano, a New York-based exercise physiologist and personal trainer with 35 years of experience, told Fortune. “You have to say, ‘I don’t have the body I had when I was 30, but I want to look my best.’ Let’s find the good in our bodies.”
To that end, she said, “we need to think about changing the program to make sure it’s effective and safe.” And women, she adds, need to “address the problem that we’re starting to lose protective estrogen, which is our body’s magical superpower.”
It’s the need to change up your fitness routine as you age that inspired kinesiologist and trainer Dan Ritchie, co-founder of Institute of Functional Aging, a fitness center and trainer certification program in Indiana. “20 years ago, we saw a huge change in our population: the largest number of people in US history were turning 60… So we looked at what the fitness industry was doing and found that it was woefully unprepared.” says Richie. Luck. “This generation wants to age better than their parents and grandparents. Now, if you’re 70, you might not even think of yourself as an old person yet.”
But this does not mean that you should train with full dedication. “Our main goal is to help you move better, improve your balance and reduce your risk of injury,” he says.
Below, Pagano and Ritchie talk about what to consider when exercising as you age.
Be open to change and then mix it up
“People settle into a routine that works for them, and that’s understandable,” Ritchie says. “But you have to constantly change your routine, otherwise your body will adapt to it very quickly,” making it ineffective.
Pagano, who is 78 and follows a combination of strength training, core work, stretching and a running-walking program, advises being well-rounded. She often works one-on-one with clients (including Caroline Kennedy, as well as her mother Jackie Onassis, who wanted to get stronger for equestrian sports) who come to her feeling frustrated because their tried-and-true daily routine seems to be more does not work. do your work.
“Strength training, cardio and stretching are the three aspects of a complete fitness program,” she says.
“There are many different ways to do this,” Ritchie notes. “You can promote resistance with gangs and pneumatic equipmentbut you have to strain the muscular system to make the bones grow and stay dense.”
When it comes to cardio, Pagano advises doing higher-intensity intervals—this doesn’t have to be a hardcore HIIT class, but can instead be an approach to a walking program. For example, instead of taking a 30-minute walk five days a week, you would break it up into 3 minutes at a moderate pace and 3 minutes at a faster pace or jog and do it five times in a row.
But whatever your daily routine, she cautions against hitting anything. “You need to warm up, you need to take care of your joints and train with proper form, plus develop a progressive program with a gradual progression of strength exercises. Just taking certain precautions because if you do get injured, you will be thrown off course.”
Ritchie takes what he calls a functional approach, based on what the client wants to be able to do in everyday life. “It makes no sense to me to put you through a comprehensive preparatory workout for an NFL athlete if you like to hike and play tennis,” he says. “Instead, let’s look at the activities you want to be good at and design a program around that… One 55-year-old man might say, ‘I want to compete in athletics,’ and another might want to be able to play with granddaughter on the playground. These goals are different.”
Others may be motivated by vanity, he said. “If it’s really important, then we need to work on the nutrition component because I think people make a big mistake by thinking, ‘Exercising will get me back into shape like I was when I was 30,’ and that really overestimates the value of fitness.” ability.” Also essential: eating right, sleeping well, and managing stress are all important as your body composition and hormones change as you age, including for men, who typically notice these life changes a little later than women.
Finally, Ritchie says, by sticking to the same routine for years, you risk avoiding “progressive overload,” in which you overload the system in a positive way to continually stimulate it and help it adapt. “If all you do is a treadmill and a few weight machines, why would you expect any results in 10 years?” He says. Instead, it’s important to try “new games, new challenges, a new dance step with an exercise program tailored to it.”
Be aware of personal risks and be your own advocate
The specifics of a balanced daily regimen should be based on your personal risks and health concerns. “Ask, what do I need for cardio if I am at risk for cardiovascular disease? Am I stretching enough? What about my bones? Look at these areas, personalize your routine, and find a professional who can give you some kind of assessment,” advises Pagano. “Once you see the goals and consider your medical history, that’s a good start.” She adds that women should aim to have a baseline bone density test at age 50.
“Especially because when women lose estrogen in the five to seven years after menopause, we can lose two to three percent of bone density per year, which means we lose 21% of our skeleton,” she says. “And strength training is what has been provenover and over again to maintain and even restore bone density.”
After a thorough physical examination, Pagano advises finding support during your workout and choosing your instructor or coach wisely. “Ask them, ‘What’s your background?’ What are you certified in? Do you have experience working with older women or women with osteoporosis?’ Some of these young guys don’t get along and will push, but you have to respect the wisdom of your body.”
There are some specific movements that are not recommended for women with osteoporosis, such as twisting, twisting, or bending over completely. So it’s important to know your specific risks, Pagano says, emphasizing that there are plenty of modifications for each problem, as long as you move slowly and don’t avoid moving altogether for fear of getting hurt.
“To make progress, you need to resist the aging process, but you must do so in a safe way, understanding your personal limitations and that, for example, a lack of estrogen can cause or cause the onset of cardiovascular disease,” she says. . “You have to know your risk factors.”
But the bottom line is what Fonda advised on the Louis-Dreyfus podcast: “Keep exercising. You have to stay strong.”
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