Senior Fitness Training: A Guide to a Healthier Life Through Exercise

The benefits of a successful strength program

Growing old does not have to be a struggle with physical ailments, nor does it have mean you can no longer do the things that have been enjoyable at an earlier age. A physical life style contributes to longevity and to productiveness in the elder years. The old saying ‘Use it or lose it’ applies in this case. Read on to discover how you can protect your health to some degree by following a strength-training regimen.

Background introduction

Fitness does not come in one flavor nor does good health come from following one exercise program. The components of a good exercise schedule consist of, at a minimum, the following factors:

Cardiovascular health endurance
Muscular strength and endurance
Flexibility

Good numbers in these areas should all be indicative of a favorable body composition make up, i.e. your lean muscle to fat ratio.
Body composition, strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular abilities each in their own way relate to power, speed, agility, balance, and coordination. Each element is a trainable feature of good health. Each is independent yet dependent on the others in the cycle of fitness.
Without decent cardiovascular and muscular endurance, the tissues fail to have the stamina to undergo strenuous strength and power training sessions.

Strength and flexibility contribute to an active life by enabling the body to function as it was meant to be-in an active enthusiastic manner.

As you no doubt realize strength comes in many forms including mental strength or the stick to it habit of successful people. Wally Amos of ‘Famous Amos’ cookies once said, “In work and in life, don’t stop until finished”.

It’s the same for living a healthy life every day; once you begin to exercise don’t stop until you have reached your daily goal in time, reps, sets, mileage, or range of motion. Stick to it and be rewarded with a better quality of life.

A solid fitness program will challenge your body and mind in an undulating progressive manner. Each day will see you training a specific element of the fitness triad, the cardio, strength, and flexibility in a wave like fashion. One day you will be doing reps of fives, and the next fifteens in your strength program.

The cardio will see you adding or subtracting by percentages the overall time or distance. Exercise programs resembling this design means nothing remains the same for your body to become accustomed to, thereby avoiding the inevitable plateaus so frequently found in many linear exercise routines.

Always warm up, cool down, and stretch correctly and use correct exercise technique in all movements. The motto should be “technique first, adding weight second.” Don’t get sloppy with your technique, because eventually it will catch up to you.