Oxygen news: Exercise is empowering for the over-50s, expert claims
People over the age of 50 can benefit physically and mentally from exercise, it has been claimed, so it may be a wise investment for many individuals to use portable oxygen to keep their energy levels up when they train.
Ceri Wheeldon, founder of fabafterfifty.co.uk, suggested women who start working out in middle age can feel empowered by the activity.
"Perhaps they have spent too much time running around looking after families to have time to actually spend on themselves, including committing time slots for themselves to go out and get fit," she explained.
It is also good for people's mental health because individuals will experience a feeling of positivity after doing exercise, the specialist added.
"When you start to feel more alert, brighter and more motivated, that is going to have a knock-on effect on other aspects of your life. Suddenly you look better in your clothes, you have got more energy and that is very empowering," Ms Wheeldon remarked.
As for what kind of exercise women over the age of 50 should try, the expert said the most important thing is that individuals find a type of physical activity that they genuinely enjoy
While ballroom dancing has been popular with this demographic, so has new workout trend Zumba - a class in which people get fit to the sounds of Latin American music.
These two ideas are a way individuals can socialise, the expert noted, which can also be an important factor because it makes keeping healthy a positive and fun thing to do.
Other activities that have attracted a lot of women over 50 include walking, running and the Wii Fit.
But if people find they do not like these activities after all, it may be better to do something they do enjoy rather than go with fashionable workouts, as Ms Wheeldon noted many individuals start a fitness regime they cannot maintain and then stop exercising.
Charlotte Watts from de-stressyourlife.com, nutritional therapist and co-author of the De-Stress Diet, said yoga is a good exercise for older women to get involved with.
"Good circulation, breathing, detoxification - all the things that are naturally anti-aging - yoga is particularly good for that," she stated, adding that it can be personalised to match people's body types and levels of flexibility in order to make it suitable for every individual.
It is also very good for improving posture, which Ms Watts noted is considered a "big benchmark of keeping and holding on to youth".
As well as this traditional Buddhist activity, the specialist suggested trying walking and doing some weight training.
However, members of the public do not necessarily need to go to the gym to do this, which is one of the expenses that might put people off.
She suggested individuals use walking as a form of transport instead, which will mean they are not living as much of a sedentary lifestyle.
Going places by foot is also a good example of a weight bearing exercise, she said, explaining that sometimes it is not necessarily about building muscle with older people but rather stopping them from atrophying.
It is important to keep fit for health reasons and those over 50 could combine improving their physical endurance with their cognitive skills.
A recent article published in New York's Union College website said new research had found senior citizens using interactive video games to exercise also benefit from the brain training involved, which it was suggested could help protect them against dementia.
Posted by James Worrall
24/01/2012 17:08:57
Subscribe to the News RSS feed
Related articles