Stay Healthy And Fit As You Get Older
We love working with people of all ages at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY. While it’s satisfying, no matter what your age, it’s particularly enjoyable to watch seniors. We can help you stay healthy and fit as you get older. Aging doesn’t have to sentence you to a rocking chair or limit your energy. You can be more mobile and self-sufficient no matter what your age if you practice healthy habits. You do have more of a challenge the older you get, since the body doesn’t produce as many enzymes for digestion and muscle tissue breaks down faster. That may make it harder, but definitely not impossible.
If you can start earlier, by all means take the challenge.
You don’t have to wait until you’re frail, begin today. If you’re in your 40s, you already have probably noticed changes. Think of people like Jack Lalane or Jane Fonda who spent much of their lives exercising and look fabulous. That doesn’t mean it’s ever too late. You may not have heard of Charles Eugster, who was the world’s oldest runner at 97, or Ernestine Shepherd, 84, the world’s oldest competitive body builder. Charles didn’t start working out until he was 87. Ernestine started body building in her late 50s and still competes today. It just proves that while it’s harder the older you get, it’s still possible. Always check with your health care professional first.
Making lifestyle changes is the key to staying healthy and fit.
As people age, they often become more sedentary. Hormone levels also drop. Both of those things increase the loss of muscle mass. What can change that is simple. A program of regular exercise, a healthy diet, adequate hydration, lack of sleep and more. Start with eating healthier. Switching to a diet high in whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables, lean protein—especially fatty fish—and fewer processed foods containing sugar and white flour is a great start to healthy eating. You won’t have to cut calories to lose weight, just focus on healthy eating.
A program of regular exercise can help maintain and build muscle mass.
Building back muscle tissue or stopping the natural loss that occurs all starts with a great program and a consistent effort. Don’t ever get discouraged because you don’t see the immediate changes you got when you were younger. It takes a little longer, but is well worth the effort. If you have mobility issues, there are chair exercises you can do. Start where you are. If you can only walk to the corner, walk there and tomorrow take a few more steps until you can walk miles. It’s all about improving, not competing with others or even your younger self. If you have physical limitations or health conditions, don’t give up. Seek the aid of a personal trainer for a program designed specifically for your needs.
- Weight training is just as important to older people, if not more important. Not only will strength training slow and reverse the loss of muscle mass, it also can help keep bones strong and healthy.
- When you’re working on building more muscle strength, increase your protein intake. While younger people need approximately 1.8 grams of protein per pound of weight, seniors tend to need 2.6 grams for the same results.
- Get adequate sleep. Lack of sleep can cause hormones to become imbalanced, creating more ghrelin—the hunger hormone and reducing leptin—the hormone that makes you feel full. That can lead to overeating. Sleep is also important for heart health.
- Drink plenty of water. It will help you physically and mentally. Seniors are more prone to dehydration, which can lead to kidney stones, stroke, infectious disease, constipation and even cause symptoms that resemble dementia.
For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training
Before going into the discussion of calories vs macronutrients, you need to understand what both are. Calories are a measure of energy or heat, whose definition has changed over the years. You don’t need to know the exact definition to understand that if you eat too many calories, you’ll gain weight and to lose weight you have to eat less. Macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein, and fat, which are the building blocks for your body and all food you consume.
It does take time to come to the gym and workout, but it’s worth it. However, there are times when you’re busy that it might seem impossible. For those times, you don’t have to skip exercising entirely, just supplement it with workouts that fit into your schedule. You can start by breaking down your workout into sections that last ten to fifteen minutes each and do them throughout the day when you get a few minutes. Studies show that it doesn’t matter how many sessions you have as long as they’re about ten to fifteen minutes long, if you get at least 150 minutes a week.
While many clients come regularly to the gym for their workout, there are those that for a variety of reasons, never go to the gym at all. Even those that attend regularly often find they cut corners avoiding other exercise outside the gym. In fact, they may even circle a store parking lot several times trying to find the closest spot, rather than doing the extra walk. Whether you workout regularly or are completely sedentary, increasing how much you walk can be a huge benefit to your overall health.
You can actually watch people’s faces change from stressed to more relaxed as they workout at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY. When you workout, you not only burn calories, you also boost your mood. The recent stay at home order caused many people to become sedentary and there was an increase awareness of depression on a national level. Society wasn’t getting the exercise they needed to chase the blues away and often mild depression became even worse. While there are medications for this mental health issue, one of the best ways to help is strength building exercises. You’ll get a benefit for the body and the mind.
Going to Disneyland, taking a vacation or enjoying the latest nightspot may not be what you need to be your happiest. Sometimes, you can improve your happiness by stepping back and taking a short break. Wearing the latest fashions, being in with the in-crowd and having the latest iPhone isn’t going to make it either. Being happy is a state of mind. Nobody can make you happy but you. Sometimes, all it takes is carving out a few minutes each day to count your blessings and looking at the things that truly make you happy.
How can I say your weight doesn’t really matter when I’m helping people in Louisville, KY, shed extra pounds? It’s easy because it’s true. Too often people focus too much on weight. It means you’re on results, rather than process, and just one result. Getting into shape isn’t all about weight loss. If you’re eating healthy and working out regularly, getting to a healthy weight is one of the outcomes, but so is increased strength, endurance, flexibility and better health.
For some reason, it has become noble to work yourself to a frazzle and simply take care of other people’s needs. It shouldn’t be that way. In fact, it’s not just an unhealthy stance to take, it’s also dangerous and counterproductive. You should take care of yourself so you have the energy to help others and the good health not require others to take care of you. There are some emergencies where that doesn’t hold true, but for the day-to-day schedule, you deserve to be number one.
When time was available, did you find that you didn’t get all those things done you thought you would if you just had a little more time? It’s been the same experience for most people that I’ve talked to recently. They found that it was just as hard to stay physically and mentally healthy when you’re stuck at home, as it is when you’re busy with work and running everywhere. Most people give tips on how to make time, but ignore the fact that too much time leaves us all open to procrastinating. It all starts by taking the first step toward a healthy lifestyle. We have provided online help to make it easier.