For many women, maintaining a healthy weight or losing excess body fat becomes harder as you age. Your body begins to change during perimenopause/menopause. Your estrogen drops, which decreases bone density, putting you at risk for fractures. Your metabolism slows, which can make you gain weight and fat, and your body starts to ignore insulin, the hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar levels. To help you feel fabulous again, we’ve compiled a range of tips and workouts for women over 50!
4 Weight Loss Tips for Women Over 50
1. Embrace Strength Training
Strength training puts stress on your bones, helping them get stronger. It also prevents the loss of muscle mass. As you lose muscle mass, your metabolism slows, which results in weight and fat gain. Larger muscles burn more calories even at rest, so strength training is key to weight loss over 50. It’s important to focus on good form and lift as much weight as you can to force the muscles to break down. Then they recover and become stronger.
2. Tweak Your Diet
We hate to break it to you, but you can’t eat the same things you did in your 20s and expect your body to be the same. Your metabolism slows down as you get older, so eating bad-for-you foods will inevitably lead to weight gain. Eliminate junk food and processed food from your diet as much as possible and focus on lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. Also, try your best not to snack at night to maintain a healthy weight.
3. Choose Workouts That Are Easy On The Joints
Tired joints can keep you from getting a good workout, and aches and pains can turn you off exercise altogether. Swimming and water exercises are easy on the joints and can boost your range of motion. Water creates resistance, so caloric expenditure is 30% greater in the water than on land. If water exercise isn’t for you, walking, cycling, dancing and yoga are other great low impact workouts you can do.
4. Eat More Protein
High-quality protein is important for weight loss as well as stopping or reversing age-related muscle loss. Older adults have higher protein needs than younger adults, so adding protein-rich foods to your meals is key to good health as you age. Foods high in quality protein include fish, poultry, beans, tofu, nuts and seeds.
3 Workout Essentials to Invest In
1. Dumbbells
Dumbbells are required for strength training and they’re great to have on hand. They don’t take up too much space and can be used for various strength exercises. Having a range of weights will allow you to challenge yourself and take it easier when you need to. They’ll be a key part of your workout arsenal and are a great investment for your fitness.
2. Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are another excellent tool for strength training. They allow you to do different exercises than you would with dumbbells, adding variation to your workouts. You can get multiple bands with a range of resistance to use as you see fit!
3. Exercise Mat
An exercise mat is essential for at home workouts. They’re necessary if you’re doing any exercises on the floor, and when you’re standing up, they provide grip and comfort for your joints.
7 Workouts for Women Over 50
15 Minute Full Body Workout for Women Over 50 – Strength and Balance | Jessica Valant Pilates
If you’re looking to work on your strength and balance, this workout is perfect for you. Created specifically for women over 50, this full body workout addresses important issues like strength and osteoporosis prevention. It’s effective, fun and safe whether you’re a beginner or advanced, and it will have you feeling great!
Weight Training for Women Over 50 | Live Yourself Young
In this workout, you’ll learn basic weight training exercises with dumbbells using correct form. She takes you through 10 exercises and wants you to think quality instead of quantity. Remember, it’s better to achieve 5 high quality reps with correct form than 12 with poor form. You’ll need two sets of dumbbells, one heavier, one lighter, and you’re all set for this strengthening workout!
30 Minute Fat Burning Walking Workout For Women Over 50 | fabulous50s
Looking for some cardio but aren’t up for a jog or bike? Try this fat burning walking workout with hand weights! This fast paced indoor walking workout is suitable for all fitness levels and will help you burn fat and tone your entire body. It’s a full body workout that you can do on the daily as your full workout or add it onto a strength routine!
30 Minute Weight Loss Cardio Workout for Women Over 50 | Pahla B Fitness
This cardio workout includes no jumping and no equipment, but it will help you burn 200 to 250 calories. It was designed with women over 50 in mind – it’s challenging without being too hard and the perfect amount of time to feel like you got a great workout in. It includes a warm up and cool down, so let’s get started!
Resistance Band Workout for Women Over 50 | Live Yourself Young
Resistance bands are a great tool for strength training and this workout shows you how it’s done specifically for women over 50. All you need is a light resistance band, a chair and a wall, and you’re good to go! This full body workout will help you build strength, tone up and feel awesome! She also takes you through a warm up and stretch to finish it off at the end.
Strength Training Full Body Fitness Training for Women Over 50 | Be Healthy Enough
Work through this full body routine to build strong muscles, improve bone density and boost your metabolism. She teaches you what’s most important for strength training and weight lifting in your 50s and explains why this type of workout is so crucial as you age. You’ll need dumbbells and a workout mat since some of the exercises are done lying down on your back.
Lose Belly Fat Sitting Down | Ab Workout for Women Over 50 | fabulous50s
Check out this 15 minute seated ab workout to burn belly fat and create a flat stomach. Suitable for all fitness levels, this low impact cardio chair workout won’t strain your neck or lead to back or knee joint pain. It’s a simple but challenging workout that will tone your abdominal muscles with exercises like side twists, rainbow arms, side punches and upper cuts.
Ready to be middle age and fabulous? These tips and workouts will make you look and feel your best!
