As we age, we tend to get less and less physical activity and exercise. And, most of us know that exercising and being physically active has health benefits. 

Over the last year, with many exercise facilities closed and most of us working from home, it’s been even harder to live an active lifestyle. We’ve had to be more creative to find ways to engineer even the most basic activities into our days.

A recent survey conducted by 35 research organizations worldwide found that home confinement during COVID-19 negatively impacted physical activity intensity across all fitness levels. On average, the days of walking decreased by 2.45, and daily sitting time also increased from 5 hours a day to 8 hours daily. It is enough of a decrease in physical activity to cause an increase in disease and mortality rates. 

As if this wasn’t enough bad news, we also know that about half of women decrease regular exercise during middle age. At the same time, women lose lean muscle mass as they age. 

Having muscle helps us burn more calories, so losing muscle mass reduces our metabolic rate – the number of calories we burn during rest. The combined effects of decreasing activity and loss of lean body mass contribute significantly to weight gain during menopause. And, in this vicious cycle, the increased weight gain contributes to the risk of disease. Ugh!

The good news is it’s never too late to feel great, have more energy, and get significant health benefits from increasing exercise and physical activity, and it doesn’t take much to get results. 

Research shows that adults who weren’t active until later in life - after 50 - have an almost equal reduction in risk for disease and early death as adults who were always active. 

Continue your active lifestyle if you already have a routine, but remember it’s never too late to start being active or exercising. Making changes, no matter your age, can help add quality years to your life!

For cardiovascular exercise, also known as aerobic exercise, the recommended amount for optimal health is at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 60 minutes of vigorous activity per week. That translates to 30 minutes a day, either five days a week for moderate-intensity or 30 minutes of vigorous exercise 3 days per week. 

Moderate-intensity activities include walking, biking, stair walking, or dancing. Vigorous-intensity activities include things like tennis, running, or jumping rope. 

To help you quickly gauge your intensity level, you can use the talk test. 

During moderate-intensity activity, you should be slightly out of breath but able to speak a few sentences at a time. Think of a brisk-paced walk with a friend. 

During vigorous activity, you may find it more challenging to speak in complete sentences, but it still feels comfortable to continue. 

There are other ways to monitor exercise amounts to ensure you’re meeting the minimum health and weight maintenance levels. You can use a heart rate monitor, smartwatch, or fitness tracker to measure your heart rate and target heart rate zone. You can also aim for burning 1000-2000 calories through physical activity per week. 

Some people find calorie counting an easier way of tracking the amount of activity completed if they use exercise equipment or other calorie counters to monitor dietary intake. 

To achieve higher fitness levels or additional weight loss, you can increase your minutes of exercise, set a goal for also doing 10,000 steps, or find ways to add extra activity into your day. Little things like gardening, parking in the far corners of the parking lot, taking the stairs, or taking ten-minute walking breaks throughout the day add up!

Both physical activity and cardiovascular (aerobic) activity are essential. Recent research emphasizes just how vital moving throughout the day is for longevity. 

If you think this is all excellent information on what you need to do for exercise and physical activity, but believe it’s all easier said than done, you’re not alone!

Modern conveniences of living have engineered activity out of our days, so it’s harder to stay active year after year. Think about it; you don’t have to get out of your car to pick up food, dry-cleaning, money from the bank, medications, and even a bottle of wine. We have to work harder to design an active lifestyle. 

You can do some simple practices to help build additional activity and exercise into your routine and stick with it.

• Prioritize physical activity and exercise in your life. Make it essential by adding it to your calendar, and like any other important meeting, don’t schedule over it or work through it.

• Be consistent. Things get in the way of developing habits, but going back, again and again, is part of what makes it stick. On the days you lack motivation, make a pact with yourself to do at least 10 minutes of some physical activity. Stretch, do yoga, or yard work to get moving. Committing to a minimum of 10 minutes of activity, you’ll get started to build consistency in your routine and will often end up doing more than 10 minutes. 

• Have a routine. Block your calendar, have a daily structured routine for activity. Are you a morning exerciser, or are you more consistent in scheduling your activity after work? Pick a time of day that works better for you. Make a plan for what you will do when things derail your best intentions. 

• Make exercise and physical activity a social outing with friends or family. Women often sacrifice their own needs to put others first. Make a date with other people to be active, and you’ll be more likely to prioritize the activity and help others get active too.

• Find the right environment. Belonging to a gym or fitness center where you feel comfortable, feeling safe in your neighborhood if you walk after dark, and inclement climate and weather are all factors that impact the desire to be active. Trying to find alternatives to minimize these influences is important. 

• Focus on the health benefits of being active. Write how you feel after being active in a journal, on a post-it note, or in your calendar. It will help you focus on the benefits of being active and why you want to be more active.

• Discover your internal motivation. Do you feel euphoric after exercising? Are you experiencing a sense of accomplishment from staying committed to your goals? Has your time spent being physically active or exercising become a time of mediation or stress reduction for you? Whatever your internal motivation is, write it down and revisit your reasons often. When you lack the motivation to be active, review your list of inspirations. Internal motivation will keep you going for the long term.  

• Delete what you don’t enjoy! If you’re doing an activity you don’t enjoy, pick a different activity. There are countless ways to exercise and be physically active. You won’t stick with something that makes you miserable. Want more ideas on ways to be active? Want to be inspired by other women? Join us this month as we get active together. Download our idea sheet. Follow us on social media as we post our ways to #moveinmay and #flourishafter50. 

As we age and start to experience aches and pains, it’s natural to want to sit and rest. However, the key to living a long, healthy, and independent life with the ability to enjoy ourselves to the fullest is to sit less and move more!

In upcoming blog posts, we will cover simple ways to fit more activity into your days, the importance of caloric balance and weight training for optimal health, and weight management for women in their prime time. To learn more, sign-up today.

Rumble on!

Karyn and Rebecca