I thought I was doing pretty well with my twice a week step class which lasts an hour - so that is two hours a week when I certainly break a sweat and the class includes strength training as well in the second part. So, I was feeling great until I read the latest guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine which says that healthy adults aged 18-65 should be doing a fairly intense cardio 30 minutes a day for five days a week. Well, on reflection, that is only half an hour a week out, let us say, but the ideal would be to do it every day. As I am just about to turn 60, I feel I am not doing too badly! I have put my photo up to-day just to show that I am not decrepit yet !
I have been reading a lot about strength training and apparently as we get older, it gets even more important. Why? Well, the fact is that we lose from 5-7 ponds of muscle tissue every decade of our lives and of course we tend to get a little fatter around the waist. Adults who are 65 and over should strength train a few times a week. The benefits are enormous from speeding up a metabolism that is inevitably slowing down, to boosting our immune systems and of course preventing osteoporosis. Strength training can help to keep your bones strong.
When you do strength training, apparently the best movements are those that involve the whole body , such as bicep curls, benchpress and the squat. These involve more muscles and also are similar to everyday movements like carrying the shopping upstairs or carrying luggage. Remember you should change your program after about six weeks and increase the intensity as the body will adapt to the stress involved.
Click on Mike Geary's site to get a really great program for a healthier body, no matter what age you are.
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