What Are Some Health Tips To Stay Healthy Over Age Fifty?

As we grow older, we find that things become slightly harder than decades ago. Whereas in the past we could lose weight by simply eating a salad and walking a few hundred yards, we now find that we need to work harder to shift those stubborn pounds. What’s more, improving our health and fitness also becomes more challenging yet as we age it becomes more important than ever. Just because we’re getting older, this does not mean that health and fitness needs to be a challenging. Here are some health and fitness tips for over age fifty:

Stay active – As well as lifting weights when training, cardiovascular exercise is also very important. Heart disease is the world’s biggest killer, so looking after your heart is vital. Be sure to stay physically active to keep your heart in the best possible shape. Do more work in the garden, walk to the store instead of driving, go for a walk around the park, just do something other than sitting stationary for hours on end.

Make sure you get enough sleep – Beyond making us feel refreshed, the importance of sleep is also evident in the fact that it is key to us living a healthy life. Quality sleep assists in reducing stress levels and also in controlling blood pressure fluctuations. Controlling stress level and maintaining a healthy blood pressure may consequently reduce the risk of heart disease for older people to help them to stay healthy over age fifty.  Keep in mind that having a good night’s sleep is vital to enjoying a healthy lifestyle. It is just as important as exercising or maintaining a healthy diet.

Get plenty of calcium and vitamin D – As we grow older, we find that our bones tend to lose mass and become weaker and brittle. This can lead to osteoporosis, and other degenerative bone issues that can cause the bones to weaken and break. A great way of countering this is to increase calcium and vitamin D intakes. You see, calcium is a mineral that is absorbed by the bones, where it is used to strengthen them and protect them. We need vitamin D in order for the calcium to enter the bones, otherwise it simply goes to waste. Great sources of calcium include: milk, cheese, dairy, and green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale.

Always stretch and warm up before exercise – Before any form of physical exercise, even if it’s something as simple as a gentle hike through the town or countryside, you should always take the time to warm up and stretch. Warming up and stretching before exercise will reduce your risk of injuries such as torn muscles, it’ll improve athletic performance, and it’ll increase your core body temperature. Staying injury-free is obviously very beneficial, so take 5 – 10 minutes before working out, just to stretch those muscles and get warmed up.

Lift weights – Okay, forget about what people say about lifting weights and ‘not wanting to get too big’ because the truth is that building muscle is notoriously difficult, and a couple of moderate weight training sessions per week is not going to transform you into a bodybuilder. What they will do however, is help you to increase your lean muscle mass slightly and ramp up your metabolism. As we age, our metabolisms decline, and we lose muscle mass. This is where lifting weights can pay dividends. You can increase your metabolism, burn fat, and slightly increase your lean muscle mass. So, sop heading straight for the treadmill and start pumping more iron instead.

So, you may want to consider these tips to assist you in staying healthy over age fifty.  In addition, you may want to talk with your doctor before you consider starting an exercise and vitamin program.

Please follow and like us: