What Exercises Are Right for Your Age?

Our bodies benefit from various types of exercise as we age. Here are some tips for everyone.

The effect of exercise on health is profound. It can protect you from various conditions, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancers.

However, the type and amount of exercise you should do changes as you age.

To ensure that you are doing the correct type of exercise for your age, follow this simple guide.

Getting enough exercise promotes a healthy body image and helps manage stress and anxiety.

In Your 20s

You are at your absolute physical peak in your mid-20s, with the fastest reaction times and highest VO2 max – the maximum rate at which the body can pump oxygen to muscles. After this peak, your VO2 max decreases by up to 1 percent each year and your reaction time slows each year.

The good news is that regular physical activity can slow this decline.

Building lean muscle mass and bone density at this age helps you retain them later.

Vary your training and keep it fun. Try tag rugby, rowing, or boot camp.

If you are a regular exerciser, get advice from an exercise professional to build “ interval training ” into your training regime.

This involves dividing your training regime into progressive cycles that manipulate different aspects of training – such as intensity, volume, and type of exercise – to optimize your performance and ensure you peak for a planned exercise event, such as a triathlon.

In Your 30s

As careers and family life for many intensify in their 30s, you must maintain cardiovascular fitness and strength to slow normal physical decline.

If you have a sedentary job, make sure you maintain good posture and break up long periods of sitting by forcing activity into your day, such as routing your printer to another room, climbing the stairs to use the bathroom on another floor, or standing while taking a phone call, so you are moving every half hour where possible.

Work smart. Try high-intensity interval training.

During this type of workout, bursts of high-intensity activity, such as sprinting and cycling, are interspersed with periods of lower-intensity exercise.

For women, and especially after childbirth, do pelvic floor exercises, sometimes known as Kegel exercises, daily to help prevent incontinence.

Diversify your exercise program to keep it interesting. Try boot camp, spin class, or yoga.

In Your 40s

Most people start to put on weight in their 40s. Resistance exercise is the best way to optimize calorie burning to counteract fat accumulation and reverse the loss of three to eight percent of muscle mass per decade.

Ten weeks of resistance training could increase lean weight by 1.4kg, increase resting metabolic rate by 7 percent and decrease fat weight by 1.8kg.

Try kettlebells or start a weight-training program in your gym.

Take up running if you don’t run already, and don’t be afraid to start a more intensive exercise program. You get more bang for your buck with running versus walking.

Pilates can be beneficial to build core strength to protect against back pain, which often starts in this decade.

In Your 50s

In this decade, aches and pains may crop up, and chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, can manifest. As estrogen declines in postmenopausal women, the risk of heart disease increases.

Do strength training twice a week to maintain your muscle mass.

Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking, are recommended.

Walk fast enough so that your breathing rate increases and you break a sweat.

Try something different. Tai chi can be excellent for balance and relaxation.

In Your 60s

Typically, people accumulate more chronic conditions as they age, like cancer.

Maintaining a high level of physical activity can help prevent postmenopausal breast cancer, colon cancer, and womb cancer.

It reduces the risk of developing chronic conditions like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Physical activity tends to decline with age, so keep active.

Try ballroom dancing or other forms of dancing; it’s a fun and sociable way to exercise.

Incorporate strength and flexibility exercises twice a week.

Aqua aerobics can be a great way to develop strength using water as resistance.

Maintain cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking.

70s and Beyond

Exercise in your 70s and beyond helps prevent frailty and falls and is essential for your cognitive function.

If you have a period of ill health, try to keep mobile. Strength and fitness can decline rapidly if you are bed bound or inactive, making it hard to get back to previous levels.

Walk and talk. Instead of inactive visits from family and friends, go for a walk together. It will keep you motivated and boost your health more than solitary exercise.

Incorporate some strength, balance, and cardiovascular exercises in your regime.

But get advice from a physiotherapist or other exercise professional, especially if you have several chronic conditions.

The main message is to keep moving throughout your life. Sustained exercise is what benefits health most.