DECADES OF FITNESS

Altering your approach to fitness as you age

If there's a magic pill for staying youthful, it may be one that's hard to swallow: exercise. Daily doses of exercise have been proven to thwart a number of aging factors -- stress, obesity, heart disease, diabetes -- and the longer you're physically active, the less you'll notice getting older. But how that looks and feels will vary from decade to decade as your lifestyle and unique biology play out. All the changes your body undergoes during each phase of life require altering your approach to exercise. For the most part, this can be mapped out by the decades.

The 20s

In your 20s, hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, human growth hormone, and the thyroid hormones are working together to keep you in great reproductive shape. The side benefit of this is that it amps up your muscle-building power, making every workout you do more effective. According to celebrity fitness trainer Nam-Wook Kang, “Physically you are in your optimal decade. Your hormones are at the highest level, you have the gift of fast recovery, and enjoy a sharp neuromuscular system.” As such, you can get away with abusing your body with high-intensity metabolic circuits, lifting heavier weights, and you can pack a lot of calorie burn into a short period of time and it will keep your metabolism up for the rest of the day.

The 30s

Your metabolism has already started to slow in your 30s and you may start to lose some muscle mass. So this is the time when you may start needing to work harder to keep the fat off. Cross training is particularly useful during this decade - cardio and resistance training both benefit your body. Weight lifting is essential in helping to build muscle mass and improve your bone density. It will also rev up your metabolism.

The 40s

This is the decade of the triple whammy: fighting gravity, dealing with hormonal changes, and even more slowing of your metabolism as lean muscle mass continues to decrease and body fat increases. Hormonal changes in this decade – especially a drop in estrogen with perimenopause – can lead to changes in the fat distribution in a woman’s body. “Even women who don't put on a pound may expand,” according to Pamela Peeke, M.D. "After 40 and certainly after 50, virtually all women find that they gain fat more easily in the torso -- below the bra, through the triceps area, on the back, and in the belly," she says. "You're not doing anything wrong; your body composition is just changing." The best way to fight this is to keep up with weight training three to four times per week, with cardio in between.

The 50s

Let's face it: a 50-year-old body isn't the same as a 20-year-old one. You won't be able to do the same things (nor should you), recovery from exercise gets harder in this decade, and joint pain becomes more likely. But exercise is key to your independence and a good quality of life as you age. So what do you need to think about to be healthy without hurting yourself? Lower-impact exercise (with less jumping and pounding). Pilates and yoga are great additions to your cardio and strength routines. Focus on your core to prevent your shoulders from hunching forward and your back from aching.

The 60s

"We now know that a decline in strength and fitness isn't entirely a natural consequence of the aging process but is also due to lack of use. We need to push ourselves physically no matter how old we are -- we just may need to alter the activity," says Marilyn Moffat, Ph.D., a professor of physical therapy at New York University. Adapting a workout routine for the 60s sometimes means giving up aerobic exercise that jars and stresses the joints; long runs can be replaced with jogging one or two miles, jogging in a pool, swimming, or riding a stationary bicycle. Resistance training is still important, "but I would not advise anyone to lift heavy weights if it aggravates your joints," Moffat says. And stretching and balance exercises are absolute musts. If you don't stretch now, "by the time you're in your 80s, your joints will have lost their flexibility."

The 70s

Seventy years of age and older can benefit from bodyweight training with assistance (such as the TRX suspension system) and re-training the core musculature. Balance exercises that work with coordination help both men and women in this age range maintain independence, strength, cognitive awareness, and improve mobility. Keep in mind that cardiovascular levels aren’t as high here as they were in your 60s, so take ample time for recovery between exercises or sets of movement.

Working out the same way in your 50s as you did in your 30s sets you up for a world of hurt. Changes in flexibility, muscular strength, bone density, and recovery time make injuries more likely if you don’t adjust accordingly. The coaches at both Success Studio North and Success Studio Ivy are trained to know what you should do through the decades to set you up for success. If you are stuck in the wrong fitness decade, book a strategy session and we’ll help you get started where you need to be so you can get the results you want.