You may have heard the phrase “better late than never.” The famous popular saying applies to many situations, including healthy living. If you are over 40 and you think it is too late to start exercising, or maybe your body is already weak to withstand the burden of exercise, it is time to rethink your ideas!
Your health would be thankful when you start practicing a physical exercise, even if you have never practiced anything before. At this stage of life, there is often loss of muscle and bone mass for both men and women.
For men, they happen because of the reduction in hormone levels, especially testosterone, and for women this is very common in climacteric and menopause, a phase where the levels of female hormones are reduced in the woman’s body, which causes a series of changes, such as bone loss. In addition to these reductions, after 40, our cardiorespiratory condition usually worsens.
At this stage, opportunistic and chronic-degenerative diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, high bad cholesterol (LDL) and even osteoporosis are common, which is also a consequence of lifelong habits since childhood. Physical exercise will contribute to the improvement of these and other condition.
Surely, these losses damage any physical performance, but that should not be a concern. There is no problem if there is loss of performance because, when exercising, the goal is to achieve a complete physical, mental and social well-being stage.
Choosing an active life, with the proper guidance of a professional, brings improvement and strengthening of all cardiorespiratory complex system (including heart and lungs), muscle strengthening, improved motor coordination, better flexibility and better control of body composition, cholesterol, glucose and blood pressure.
The practice of physical exercises has the power to prevent cancer and arthritic processes. In addition, there is progress in all adjacent factors, which means that stress, depression and anxiety will go away, as there will be improvement on mood and social interaction.
Please NOTE: Before practicing or even starting any physical activity, it is always important to seek professional medical advice.
After testing your fitness, it is time to move on. The recommended first routine of exercise is a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercises, which should be done with a certain degree of comfort.
If you develop a preference for a specific activity, it is not advisable to restrict to that one alone. For example, if you enjoy walking, you should have it as your main mode, but also add others, alternating between water sports, group sports, weight exercises, etc.
Most experts agree that at this stage of live, around 40 years and counting… The basis of the exercises should be aerobic, since the body may not be able to withstand a heavier load. But, how to differentiate an aerobic activity from an anaerobic? Contrary to common sense, a walk, for example, is not necessarily aerobic, just as an exercise with weights has no obligation to be anaerobic.
What determines is not the method, but the intensity applied in relation to the heart rate. Thus, a light walk is an aerobic exercise and uses the aerobic metabolism, that is, demanding oxygen to obtain energy; however, an intense race can be considered anaerobic, using anaerobic metabolism, a process that does not require oxygen to obtain energy to carry out exercises.
The ideal, then, is not to stay with one type of routine, but several, so that various physical areas are worked out.
There are no more excuses. The recommendation of the doctor and the physical education professional must be respected. And, considering these many benefits of physical activity, even more so after the age of 40, it is difficult to find reasons to procrastinate.
How about starting your routine today? Please visit a gym at the earliest convenience if you already past or are approaching the 40 something pit stop mark!