Fundamentals of Over-50 Fitness Development

To be safe and effective you shouldn’t train an over-50 adult/ senior like you would a young adult. Over-50 fitness requires a constant focus on optimizing risk/benefit, thoughtful and appropriate exercise choices, body-respecting movement techniques and gentle exercise progressions. Over-50 fitness should have its own fundamentals based on the physical characteristics and individual requirements and challenges of over-fifty bodies. Some over-50 fitness fundamentals are below. Read more about the unique characteristics of aging bodies.

  • Optimize risk/benefit at all times – an aging body has less margin for error and requires a more thoughtful and conservative exercise approach (read more)
  • Establish fundamental movement and body control skills before other aspects of fitness and emphasize movement quality and control at all times
  • Emphasize and work to enhance optimal alignment, posture and balance
  • Prioritize from-the-hips-down lower body functional development – train your “wheels” and train on your feet whenever possible
  • Emphasize high-significance exercises that enhance more than one functional quality at a time – I call these “two-fers and three-fers”
  • Emphasize movement patterns with the most “functional carry-over” – movements which have the greatest positive impact on your daily life, movement ability and individual physical challenges
  • Demonstrate competence with lower body movement skills using your own body weight before adding external resistance like dumbbells or kettlebells
  • Encourage steady progress with small “bite-size”, step-by-step movement pattern progressions which are appropriate for your unique body and current ability level

Fundamentals of Over-50 Fitness Development

To be safe and effective you shouldn’t train an over-50 adult/ senior like you would a young adult. Over-50 fitness requires a constant focus on optimizing risk/benefit, thoughtful and appropriate exercise choices, body-respecting movement techniques and gentle exercise progressions. Over-50 fitness should have its own fundamentals based on the physical characteristics and individual requirements and challenges of over-fifty bodies. Some over-50 fitness fundamentals are below. Read more about the unique characteristics of aging bodies.

  • Optimize risk/benefit at all times – an aging body has less margin for error and requires a more thoughtful and conservative exercise approach (read more)
  • Establish fundamental movement and body control skills before other aspects of fitness and emphasize movement quality and control at all times
  • Emphasize and work to enhance optimal alignment, posture and balance
  • Prioritize from-the-hips-down lower body functional development – train your “wheels” and train on your feet whenever possible
  • Emphasize high-significance exercises that enhance more than one functional quality at a time – I call these “two-fers and three-fers”
  • Emphasize movement patterns with the most “functional carry-over” – movements which have the greatest positive impact on your daily life, movement ability and individual physical challenges
  • Demonstrate competence with lower body movement skills using your own body weight before adding external resistance like dumbbells or kettlebells
  • Encourage steady progress with small “bite-size”, step-by-step movement pattern progressions which are appropriate for your unique body and current ability level
Santa Barbara Over 50 Fitness Classes
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