Mount Vernon – A typical New Year’s resolution is to go to the gymnasium. The more you age, the more difficult this goal can become.
Knox Pages asked the Mount Vernon YMCA staff to stay healthy and mentally if you are over 40 years old.
Annette Goeppinger, physical conditioning instructor, and Madi Queen, member of health and well-being expert staff, provided their responses by email.
1. What are the most important physical activities for people over 40 in order to maintain their overall health?
ANSWER: The most important physical activities for people over 40 are a form of aerobic activity and resistance training. Aerobic activity can consist of walking with friends, playing pickleball, cycling or everything that allows you to move. This helps when you appreciate the activity, because it will make you want to continue doing it.
Resistance training, such as weightlifting or even bodybuilding exercises, is also extremely important to maintain overall health. As they get older, it becomes more difficult to win and maintain muscle mass. Consequently, the weekly integration of resistance training helps to maintain muscle mass and bone density in the face of problems such as osteoporosis in the future.
2. How should people think about physical exercise after 40 years? What changes?
A: As a rule, people over 40 do not push their limits, looking for optimal performance or maximum muscle mass as they could have been earlier in life.
Priorities are becoming the health of joints, prevention of injury, maintaining functional capacity, stress management, increased energy level and slowing down natural decline in muscle mass. They are generally more concerned with remaining active and healthy.
3. Do you recommend specific exercises to prevent age-related current injuries?
A: Force training is very beneficial because it helps maintain muscle mass, improve bone density and improve overall physical functionality. As people age, they naturally lose muscle mass, which can cause a higher weakness and risk of falls and fractures.
Balance exercises, such as standing positions or squats on a single leg, help prevent falls by strengthening the muscles necessary to maintain stability, which naturally decreases with age, thus improving overall and reducing mobility The risk of injuries due to falls or other sudden movements.
4. How often should people over the age of 40 focus on strength training and what are the safe but effective methods?
A: People over 40 are expected to concentrate at least twice a week on strength training. Focusing on the main muscle groups using weights, resistance bands or body weight exercises is an excellent starting point to see the advantages.
If you do not know where to start to guarantee good form and effective strength training, you can hire a certified personal coach or attend group packaging lessons to get the education you need to do ‘Exercise properly and prevent injuries.
5. What role does flexibility play in maintaining mobility and reduction of pain as we age?
A: Flexibility allows our joints to move in all their amplitude of motion, which helps prevent muscle contractures, improves posture, reduces the risk of falls and relieves joint pain associated with aging.
Flexibility is an essential element of mobility, which also involves strength, balance and coordination. Poor flexibility affects daily life and the ability to avoid current conditions and injuries often linked to aging.
6. What types of cardiovascular exercises are the best for heart health after 40 years?
A: Walking is one of the best cardiovascular exercises for heart health after 40 years. It can lower blood pressure, improve circulation and reduce the risk of heart disease. What is even better with walking is an inexpensive activity and to which everyone has access!
7. What is the impact of regular physical activity on mental health and the level of stress of people over 40? Are there any advantages?
A: Regular physical activity reduces stress levels, increases energy levels, improves sleep quality, naturally relieves stress by releasing endorphins and helps manage stress hormones like cortisol.
Exercise can improve your mood, concentration and vigilance. This can even improve your mood and help you have a positive vision of life.
8. Are there specific exercises particularly beneficial for mental clarity and reduction of anxiety?
A: There are a wide variety of beneficial exercises for mental clarity and reduction in anxiety. Some specific examples include walking, running, swimming, dance, cycling, basketball and weightlifting.
In addition, yoga strengthens the parts of the brain that play a key role in memory, attention and consciousness.
9. How can people over 40 remain active without doing any overtraining or risking injuring themselves?
A: As you get older, you should strive to do 150 minutes of exercise per week, including aerobic training of moderate in high intensity and at least two exercise sessions of 15 to 20 minutes. strength training.
Compound movements (exercises that work several muscle joints and groups at the same time) are very beneficial and must be used more often or with isolated exercises such as biceps bending.
A training plan that allows a slow progression, an increase in weight and/or repetitions over a period of time will help reduce muscle injuries. As always, appropriate control, shape and alignment when performing any exercise is imperative to prevent injuries.
10. What are the best strategies to improve recovery time and reduce pain after training after 40 years?
A: The best strategy to improve recovery time and reduce pain after training is to supply your body with adequate nutrition. This involves consuming protein -rich foods, drinking a lot of water and including carbohydrates and healthy fats after your training.
It is also important to include stretching before and after training to help reduce muscle tension.
11. What is the importance of nutrition to have good mental health and exercise after 40 years?
A: Nutrition plays an essential role in maintaining good mental health. Nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals are essential to brain health. Good nutrition also contributes to mood regulation, stress management and energy levels.
A balanced diet provides the energy and nutrients necessary to promote muscle recovery and improve physical performance. Both will help you have more effective training and better results.
12. How has a person who was rather sedentary to the forties adopt an active lifestyle?
A: Break the sedentary time every hour while walking. Start with short intervals and slowly increase the intervals and speed over time. Simple exercises, like standing in a sitting position, increase the number of repetitions.
Training with weights or resistance drive, using light weight and few repetitions, increasingly increasing with time.
13. What role does sleep play in maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle after 40 years?
A: Sleep is one of the most underestimated factors to maintain a healthy lifestyle. If you don’t sleep enough, it may be difficult to eat well and motivate you to exercise. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults aged 25 to 64 need an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night.
So sleeping enough (7 to 9 hours) can help improve many areas of your life. It can improve your mental acuity as you age, regulate your appetite and your metabolism and also contribute to your hormones.
If you do not sleep enough every night, it can cause anxiety, depression, hunger and cravings, a weakened and much more immune system. One of the best things you can do is therefore turning off the television, putting on your phone, closing your eyes and sleeping more at night.
14. Can you share examples of customers over 40 who have managed to improve their physical condition and their general well-being?
A: I currently have a 58 -year -old client who needed a double knee arthroplasty but who wanted to lose weight and regain strength before operations. In 10 months, she lost 42 pounds, 8 inch size and 7 inches of hips, and she lost many sizes of clothing. She says that she has improved her sleep psyche and her best adaptability.
All this is the result of its improved diet and its regularity in its training. She started taking group lessons including bodybuilding, cardio and stretching, modifying most exercises.
At first, she was unable to move from the position lying to the standing position without help. It changed the floor boards and exercises using the wall or a raised surface, rather than going to the floor.
In 10 months, she was able to acquire enough strength to get up from the ground and easily move from the sitting position to the standing position without help.
When it was time to replace her first knee, she acquired enough strength in her legs and her trunk to allow her to raise her leg without help and exceeded the objectives of her surgeon and his physiotherapist during her recovery.
Her second knee operation was just as successful and she continues her fitness journey today, maintaining her weight and new strength.
This independent and local report provided by our postponement for America Corps is presented to you in part thanks to the generous support of Knox County Foundation And Kokosing.