Shop online at bambooclothing.co.uk
If everyone has a
book in them,
mine will be ‘Fitness in the over 40s’. By the time I
write it, it will probably become ‘Fitness in the over
50s’. I have learnt so much and it will be fascinating
to try and share my pearls of wisdom.
My generation has a splendid assumptive arrogance
that thinks taking up triathlon, endurance
challenges, pole vaulting or whatever in your 40s and
50s is normal. It represents a sea change in what we
expect from health and fitness at this age and
beyond (I’m now 47). We all think we’re 10 years
younger, or more. That’s fabulous, but the caveat is a
change in the rules of engagement and how we
approach it – we are older and that needs a little
understanding. If we think we can just continue, or
worse, pick up where we left off ‘a while back’ but just
a bit more gently, we’ll have problems my friends.
Muscles, joints, recovery times
I’m not talking about internal stuff, like heart,
etc., that’s not my bag – I’m talking about muscles,
joints, recovery times, the general muscular skeletal
system. How do we hold back the inevitable? How
do we fall apart more slowly? Things go wrong at
the drop of a hat; young taught, bouncy elastic
muscles have been replaced by their older, more
grumpy, less willing counterparts and they need
more help and often more persuasion to enjoy
themselves. That’s the discipline of being active
beyond 40. Whether you’re in fine shape, or more
spasmodically active;
then these hints and
4
tips below may provoke thought if you can apply it
to your situation and challenges:
Stretching – crucial, as we get less flexible and less
elastic, we need to preserve our range of movement,
regardless of activity. To make a point, an elderly
person shuffles along (generally) because the range
of movement has been lost; he/she can’t walk well
and definitely nothing more. Stretching is
fundamental to being able to complete whatever it
is. Especially in the hips and upper legs.
Platform – general maintenance of the muscular
skeletal system. AKA walking – the great hero of
health and fitness. If it’s fundamental as a base for
pole vaulting, what activity would it not be useful
for? Non-threatening to joints or muscles, or hips or
knees (I see people running on concrete and I
wince). If there’s a magic pill for health and fitness
for all ages, it’s walking.
Tightening up exercises – taught and elastic at 20
becomes slouchy and loose at 40. Like a loose
screw, looser joints and tendons don’t work as
happily and extreme movement causes
rattling! Core strength (pilates and yoga are classic
example) plus any area you’ve identified as
problematic. Permanent rehab work to strengthen
and tighten weak spots. Half my routine is injury
avoidance. It’s different for everyone and you
have to really think about this and how it applies
to you. For example I see Achilles tendons as a
key weakness as we get older but still want to
run. So many masters athletes have problems
there. I have the odd grumble, nothing to worry
about, but have added rehab style calf raising
and lowering into my routine as an insurance
policy, as well as buying a wobble board, to keep
the foot/lower leg area strong.