Stick to these 5 rules for over 50s fitness success

Do you want to start exercising but you’re not sure where to start?   You’re not alone!  Many people decide to begin exercising in their 50s as a way to either improve or maintain their function.   Perhaps you have more time to spend on yourself now, or you want to start playing your favourite sport again.

Whatever the reason, good information about how best to begin is hard to come by.  Below I give you five rules to guide your decision making and get you off to the best possible start.

1. Start with where you want to go and work backwards.  What do you want your body to do that it can’t do now?  Do you want to play tennis?  Run a marathon? Live without pain?  A clear long term goal will bring focus.
2. Strength underpins every goal no matter what it is.  Your muscular system must have control of your joints to prevent injury.  Begin with this in mind.
3. Exercise is wonderful medicine but it’s difficult to get the dose right.  Start easy and progress slowly.  You usually have to do much less than you think to see improvements. 
4. Tightness in the muscular system is a sign that you’re moving too fast.  Monitor yourself and rest if you find you’re losing range of motion around a joint or joints.
5. Approach exercise as an opportunity to learn.  Stay conscious when you train and your results will improve exponentially, as will your enjoyment of the process.

Paul Argent BSc (Hons) MATs RTS
Human-Movement