Mac from Elite highlights reasons why exercise is important for people who may have left it on the backburner!
Keeping your strength up is super important at any age, but it
become especially important in your 50s and beyond. If you fail to build up
your strength and get into a good exercise regimen, you can run into a number
of common problems that elderly people experience. Here are 10 reasons why
strength is important in your 50s!
1.
You Will Live Longer
Studies suggest that exercise will help you to live longer.
Elderly people who exercised regularly were actually found to reduce their
physical age by around 5 years!
2.
You’ll Be Able To Maintain A Healthy Weight
Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for older people. It can
become more difficult as the metabolism slows, and we actually need to eat less
when we get older. If we pile on weight, it can cause all kinds of health
problems and put pressure on our joints. Keeping up strength with exercise will
maintain a healthier weight.
3.
You’ll Look Younger
Looking younger isn’t the be all and end all, but it can certainly
improve your self-esteem and confidence. By strength training, you will keep
body fat low, muscle tone high, and reduce the appearance of things like fine
lines and wrinkles. As a result, you’ll likely look and feel much younger than
your real age!
4.
You’ll Manage Pain Symptoms
If you have pain symptoms now, you can expect them to get worse as
you age. That is, unless you begin strength training. Exercise has been proven
to reduce the symptoms of chronic pain, although many people falsely believe
that it makes it worse! Exercise can actually be more effective than medication
for managing pain.
5.
You’ll Fight Off Illness And Disease
Not only does strength training fight off chronic pain, it can
also fight off illness and disease in all forms. You will strengthen your
immune system, and become less likely to even catch a cold. You’ll also lower
your blood pressure in the process!
6.
You’ll Keep Joints And Bones Strong
Keeping up your strength by training properly will allow you to
lubricate your joints and strengthen the muscles surrounding them. As a result,
this will keep your joints healthy and strong. Not only that, you’ll strengthen
your bones, which is crucial when you are getting older! Weak bones can result
in easier breaks and difficulty getting around. Don’t let it happen to you.
7.
You’ll Feel Better
You’ll feel better when you decide to build up your strength with
exercise. Not just because of all of the benefits here; you’ll increase the
‘feel good’ hormone serotonin, which automatically makes you happier. Plus,
you’ll enjoy more endorphins after an exercise session. Exercise, combined with
these hormones, helps to fight depression and other mental health problems.
Many people find it difficult to talk about mental health, but it is becoming
more common in older people due to things like loneliness and isolation. You
don’t have to be lonely though; depression can happen to anybody.
8.
You Will Stay Mobile
How do you imagine your later years? Are you walking around just
like you are now, using a walking stick, or perhaps in a wheelchair? By keeping
your strength up, you’ll stay mobile for much longer! You won’t need to rely on
a cane or anybody to push you around.
9.
You Will Be Physically Independent
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Mac with a TRX, something
everyone could have in their homes! |
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Nobody wants to become somebody who is weak and unable to do
things for themselves when they get older. Do you want to be able to wash
yourself, or have a nurse you barely know do it for you? By keeping up your
strength with regular exercise, you can remain physically independent, doing
all of the things you do for yourself now.
10.
You Will Be Able To Function Better In Everyday Life
Strength will allow you to function better in everyday life. If
you don’t stay strong, then things you take for granted now, may become impossible, as you get older. You will be able to continue
carrying shopping, looking after grandchildren, and enjoying your life with
ease.
Who knows? You might just meet some like-minded people in your
gym, or find a friend in your personal trainer. Socialising is important as you
age, and exercise is a wonderful way to do that.
You no longer have to
resign yourself to a life of becoming weak and unable to care for yourself.
Inactivity is the reason elderly people often become weak and feeble - it isn’t
down to ageing at all! You can age and still remain fit, trim, healthy, and
strong. You’ll look and feel all the better for it, too!
