Drop And Give Me 30 – Day 4 – How Do You View Exercise
Posted on Thursday, March 4th, 2010
The definition of getting fit over 50 and staying fit over 50 has changed through the decades.
Many women who were born and raised in the 1940’s and 1950’s were taught that strenuous exercise for women was unhealthy.
Scenes like this were not uncommon in the world of “girl’s” fitness classes.
“Are you ‘glistening’ Betty? Because if you are, you’d better slow down. That is SO unattractive!”
“Gee, thanks Irene. Say, don’t forget to take your gym suit home tonight and wash it. We want to look fresh and pressed again tomorrow.”
Okay, I just had to have a little fun at these lovely ladies’ expense. It’s what the general public believed – exercise for girls and women was not considered terribly important. And, worse, it was considered detrimental to their health, especially at “that time of the month.” And heaven forbid you should break a sweat!
Many of the younger baby boomers don’t have a problem exercising. There was a shift in popular opinion during the 60’s, but if you happened to have spent your formative years in the 50’s, you may have developed some attitudes about exercise. Let’s see if we can get you over those hurdles, so to speak.
Recommended Exercise
What are some of the basic exercises that mature women and mature men are both told to do when they start a fitness program?
Walking comes to mind immediately. Partly because most older people CAN start a walking program relatively easily and inexpensively. However, it’s also highly recommended because a walking program yields great results in total fitness for both women and men.
If you were raised during a time when strenuous exercise was frowned upon for women, and you haven’t been following any sort of fitness program, walking is a good way to start. It doesn’t rub up against those exercise taboos that you may still be harboring and it is very pleasant.
Another benefit of walking is it can be entertaining and sociable. Walking with friends is a great way to get fit while having a few laughs and some pleasant conversation. If you are a women who was raised believing that “women don’t sweat, they glisten” then walking is a wonderful way to launch your fitness program. But, beware… it is addictive!
Swimming also seems to be a suitable fitness program even with women who don’t see themselves starting an “exercise program” per se. After all, they’re just going swimming.
Joining a swimming program makes sense for many older people. Swimming is a low-impact form of exercise, making it a great way for people who have joint problems to exercise without pain, fatigue, or further damage.
Floor exercises were and still are a generally well accepted form of exercise for folks of all ages. Even though women of a certain generation didn’t necessarily go all out for this kind of exercise, most women know what sit ups, leg lifts, and push ups are and how to do them.
However, many of these exercises have come a long way since your high school gym class. Protecting the lower back and neck are crucial if you plan to start doing your sit ups again. Re-creating the same exercises you did in gym class is not a good idea.
If you plan to restart a floor exercise program, do some research. Buy an exercise video or two and the trainer will show you the new and improved exercises. I’ll put the emphasis on IMPROVED here. There is research that makes a direct connection between the old “knees bent, feet held down, hands behind your head, and up, down, up, down…” kind of sit ups and lower back injuries.
There is a proper way to do these standard exercises, and an improper way. You were most likely taught the improper way. If you plan to revive the old gym class routine, do it right with some new information and techniques.
Dumbbells are, and have been for quite some time, a simple way to add a good fitness program to your life. And now that you can buy pretty pink and purple dumbbells in lighter weights, even women who have never exercised before are becoming interested in this “new” trend.
Of course, the real news here is that women, especially older women, not only should do a fitness program that uses dumbbells, but they MUST do a fitness program that uses dumbbells. We know now that doing weight-bearing exercises strengthens bones and that an exercise program using dumbbells becomes more important as women grow older.
This is one of the hardest fought battles of fitness professionals specifically for older women. Women of a certain age still see “weight lifting” as bulking up and getting bigger. What woman wants her clothes to get tighter because she’s getting more muscular.
Of course, muscle burns fat and muscle supports our skeletal structure. We need muscle to keep our balance, stand up, sit down, get out of a chair, get off the floor… all those good things that we won’t be able to do into our 80’s and 90’s if we don’t build muscle now.
Quick exercises are a must! None of those hour long exercise videos or trips to the gym. You know, you youngsters don’t have a corner on the “busy market.” We have things to do, too. If we can sneak in a 10 minute exercise, then go out the door to meet a friend, then do another 10 minute exercise when we get home, great. If I’m stuck doing an hour of floor exercises and dumbbell stuff, the chances of me doing it every day are slim to none. The exercise program I know I have to do, like my weights, better be fast.
It sounds like us older folks want our cake and we want to eat it too. Well, yes. We want to be fit but we don’t know if an exercise program is something we want to do. Do we really need to make that commitment to, ah…. sweat?
Yes. Stretch, sweat, get sore, sweat some more, stretch, pump those dumbbells, build muscle… all that rough stuff. It’s not very pretty, but neither is not being able to get out of a chair.
Won’t you join me and take a few minutes every day to do some form of exercise? Do what you’re comfortable with, especially if you’re a beginner. Then, as you get stronger, choose to do something more strenuous. Trust me, ladies, you’re not going to look like Mr. Universe if you start doing a few tricep extensions with 3 pound weights – especially if they’re purple! Ha!
Seriously, though, join me so you can be fit for the long haul!
p.s. What am I doing to get fit and feel good? I’m enjoying Scott’s FatLossQuickies more now than ever. I’m starting to increase my dumbbell weights and I’m even getting better balancing on that silly floor ball! The exercises are fun and fast… 10 minutes twice a day for a total fitness routine.
Check it out by clicking on the picture here and see if you could benefit from some Quickies, too!
(psst!… you get two FREE Quickie exercises just for clicking on!)
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