Right off the bat I want to say: Start slow and steady. The key is to be consistent.                                    

If you are just starting out, be patient with yourself.

Cardio vs. strength training – they both win and so do you! 

Aerobic cardiovascular exercise simply means that you are involved in an activity that raises your heart rate to a level where you are working but still control of your breathing. It’s a great way to burn calories and help you loose weight. It makes your heart strong so it works better and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. It makes you feel better, sleep better and reduces stress etc…

Numerous studies show that muscle strengthening exercises are superior to aerobic counterparts, especially when it comes to fat loss. Why? Because that added muscle causes the body to burn calories even while at rest, as it expends more energy. If you happen to add five pounds of muscle to your body, you could burn up an additional 200 calories per day, or 72,800 calories a year, which equals a weight loss of 20 pounds. That’s not bad for making the right exercise decision.

So whether you pick up dumbbells, use a medicine ball, give the heavy bag a thumping, climb stairs or even do bodyweight exercises, after two months you can expect to reverse the effects of two decades of muscle loss, increasing your strength by a whopping 40%.

Start with light intensity, such as moderate walking or aqua aerobics, and build up your stamina before you push yourself harder. You don’t have to exercise vigorously to start getting benefits. Any amount of exercise yields tremendous health benefits compared to being sedentary. Exercise is a process and you have the rest of your life to work on it and for heaven’s sake enjoy!

What a coincidence, I happen to be turning 50 in few days so this is a pertinent concern to me. In fact I have been working on a program called “Training in the Second Half”.

There is no single group that can benefit more from exercise then the middle aged to elderly.

Weakening of the muscles and decline of the cardiovascular system was once believed to be an irreversible consequence of aging is no longer considered true.  Studies have show that older people who exercise have the same absolute rate of strength gain and cardiovascular improvement as younger people. There is also conclusive evidence that exercise helps prevent osteoporosis. Bone is constantly being formed throughout life and exercise stimulates this event.  Weight control becomes more difficult because metabolic rate lowers as we age but increased muscular activity through cardiovascular movement and strength training improves metabolic rate. This also plays an important role in controlling obesity and adult-onset diabetes which is now affecting 20% of the population in the United States and is a major cause of disability and death among the elderly.

It’s never too late to start exercising, even after reaching or passing middle age.  Unfortunately, most people embrace age-related decline as inevitable, or are unlikely to change bad habits through excuses. The former is a lack of information, while the latter is a poor window to potential health consequences. This does not need be the case!  It’s an exciting thing to know that we used to think problems such as reduced cardiovascular and respiratory function, muscle wasting, and bone loss were just a natural part of aging, but its clear now that these problems are actually a result of inactivity.