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10 Exercises to Keep You Healthier for Longer
Posted on May 17th 2011 12:00PM by That's Fit EditorsFiled Under: Fitness
By Penny Love Hoff
Solid research has proven again and again that if you exercise, you can live as much as six to eight years longer. And not only that, you will also spend those bonus years being more comfortable in your body. To give you an idea of how substantial a gift that is, subtract eight years from your current age and think back to where you were then. Would exercising every day be worth living that much additional time? I vote yes.
I work in a gym and our gym members are not coming in to burn more calories so that they can squeeze into their Friday night skinny jeans like we did in the 80's. The people I see working out are interested in waking up feeling energized and being able to tie their own shoes with ease. At 49 years old, being out of pain is a big deal for me and my friends. If I am sitting on the sidelines of my son's baseball game, I want to be able to jump up and throw that foul ball back in with ease -- and I want to keep doing it until I am 99 years old, too.
What can you do to keep you healthier for longer? Here is my top 10 list of exercises that will help you reel in those extra years:
Lifting Heavy Weights
Twice a week you need to spend 20 minutes lifting a heavy-enough weight that you cannot do more than a dozen repetitions with good form. Go get your gallon jug of milk and see if you can do twelve biceps curls. It weighs nine pounds. If you can do more reps, you need no less than a 10 pound weight. Women are notorious for underestimating how much weight they can lift, but you will get more bang for your bone buck if you go heavy. This type of strength conditioning will also rev up your metabolism so that later on in the day you will be burning more calories even if you are lounging on the couch. Good news.
60 Minutes-Plus of Aerobic Exercise
Corbis
I work in a gym and our gym members are not coming in to burn more calories so that they can squeeze into their Friday night skinny jeans like we did in the 80's. The people I see working out are interested in waking up feeling energized and being able to tie their own shoes with ease. At 49 years old, being out of pain is a big deal for me and my friends. If I am sitting on the sidelines of my son's baseball game, I want to be able to jump up and throw that foul ball back in with ease -- and I want to keep doing it until I am 99 years old, too.
What can you do to keep you healthier for longer? Here is my top 10 list of exercises that will help you reel in those extra years:
Lifting Heavy Weights
Twice a week you need to spend 20 minutes lifting a heavy-enough weight that you cannot do more than a dozen repetitions with good form. Go get your gallon jug of milk and see if you can do twelve biceps curls. It weighs nine pounds. If you can do more reps, you need no less than a 10 pound weight. Women are notorious for underestimating how much weight they can lift, but you will get more bang for your bone buck if you go heavy. This type of strength conditioning will also rev up your metabolism so that later on in the day you will be burning more calories even if you are lounging on the couch. Good news.
60 Minutes-Plus of Aerobic Exercise
A recent Harvard study found that women 50 years and older need a minimum of one hour of exercise every day in order to maintain their weight. Older women, who did any amount less than this, typically gained. That does not mean it has to be a marathon, nor does it have to be too high intensity. A daily long walk will do the trick.
What does long mean? A good rule of thumb is that you should be walking fast enough to cover four to five miles in one hour. Every day. We older women are not getting a fitness break in this phase of our life. But don't be discouraged. Find a buddy and talk the entire hour. Your husband will thank me. And remember, you are getting eight extra years weighing the weight you want to. Worth it.
To find out what other exercises made the cut, visit The Huffington Post's new wellness destination site, Healthy Living, and read the article in its entirety.
What does long mean? A good rule of thumb is that you should be walking fast enough to cover four to five miles in one hour. Every day. We older women are not getting a fitness break in this phase of our life. But don't be discouraged. Find a buddy and talk the entire hour. Your husband will thank me. And remember, you are getting eight extra years weighing the weight you want to. Worth it.
To find out what other exercises made the cut, visit The Huffington Post's new wellness destination site, Healthy Living, and read the article in its entirety.
