If you’re someone who has never exercised before...

...or you're past the age of 50 and are looking to continue your workout routine there are important things to keep in mind. Your health and fitness approach should be slightly different as your body has changed since when you were in your 20’s.If you want to ensure that you’re creating a proper program for yourself and stepping forward to see the success that you desire you need to take the proper steps to ensure safety.

Let’s have a quick look at a few of the top things to note.

Go With A Lower Volume Program

The very first thing that you should be doing is making sure not to use too much volume in your workout program. This refers to how many exercises you perform per session as well as how many reps and sets you’re doing in each of those exercises.

The thing to keep in mind here is that as you age your recovery ability will decline slightly, therefore you won’t be able to handle the total volume that you did when you were younger. Now do don't fret as you progress this tolerance will increase.

By cutting back on the volume slightly you can ensure that you’re able to recover well after each session and hit the gym the next day or the day after. Your risk of over training is going to be slightly higher, so you must be being mindful of recovery at all times.

Focus On Weight Bearing Exercises

The second thing that you must do is make sure to focus on weight bearing exercises. Now you really want to be doing everything you can to promote strong bones as there is the risk of bone loss with age. This means doing the treadmill rather than the bike for your cardio training and making sure that you are performing strength training regularly. Having strong bones will ensure that you are able to stay active as the years go on and enjoy all of the forms of exercise that you want to do most.

Monitor Your Heart Rate

Another important point to note is that your heart rate may not come down nearly as quickly as it used to in the past, so keep a close eye on it and make sure that it’s staying within a healthy range. You may find that you’re unable to workout at the same very high heart rate level that you used to and that’s fine. As long as the exercise feels challenging to your body, you know you’re on the way to results.

Don’t push yourself past discomfort as it could put you in danger.

Incorporate Some Relaxation Oriented Exercises Into The Program

Finally, the last thing to note is that you should try and make room for some relaxation oriented exercise forms as well. Since you may not be able to do four weight lifting workouts a week along with three or four cardio sessions, aim to replace some of your workouts with Yoga or Tai Chi instead.

Both of these will still help keep you in the ‘active mindset’ and offer positive benefits to your mind and body while not being quite as taxing as more intense exercise.

This will boost your recovery ability even more and ensure that you see great results from the hard workouts that you do perform.

So don’t let the fact that you’re nearing or past 50 stop you from getting started with your workout routine. As long as you make a few smart adjustments, you definitely can still maintain your activity and see the results you’re after.

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Yours In Health and Fitness

Kevin Votta