Just Move! Fitness after 50, you can do it!

Are you over fifty years old and do you worry or wonder about your overall fitness? If so, then I have a book for you! I was reading a local neighborhood newspaper that had a few articles about how to age with ease, and they mentioned this book in passing. It caught my eye, so I ordered it off of Amazon. AND WOW!

It’s fantastic! I highly recommend it to you!

Here are five things I love about this book.

#1: It’s written by Jim Owens, who is now 76 years old. He started getting fit when he was 70. The idea that it’s NEVER TOO LATE to get moving is very true!

#2: The photos in the book are all of people who are older than 50! Super fun to see grey haired people moving and being active!

#3: Super practical suggestions and explanations of terms related to exercise and working out. Beginners and those who are more advanced can benefit from this book.

#4: Jim outlines the 5 parts of functional fitness. Functional fitness is about training your body to navigate all the daily activities of life without strain, pain, or injury.

The five parts of functional fitness are:

Core Stability and Strength – grateful I do yoga at least once a week. And I love it that my office mates and I regularly do planks!

Flexibility – key thing here is to stretch. Use a foam roller! I love/hate my foam roller, that I use every single day. Also it is helpful to get regular deep tissue massage.

Balance – so important as we age. Critical to move mindfully throughout the day. Ideas to work on balance: stand on one foot while brushing your teeth, talk on the phone or wash dishes! I’m going to start doing this one.

Muscular Strength – sarcopenia is the term for age-related muscle loss. It’s estimated that by the time we are 50, 10 percent of our muscle mass is done. This means it is critical to keep working on building muscle strength! Train for strength three times a week. WOW. This book was a critical reminder of how important this is.

Cardiovascular Endurance – without a doubt, this is my favorite category of exercise! It was wonderful to see this section of Jim’s book.

#5: Jim describes that the goal is for all of us to prioritize and find time to exercise for one hour six days a week. Brilliant!!! Wise and do-able and so worth it. This made me re-commit to scheduling my workouts for the week on Sunday afternoons. I am making sure that I cover all 5 parts of functional fitness each week, and I make sure at minimum I am exercising and moving my body for a minimum of one hour a day six days a week! How about you??!! You in?!

Here’s the book for you! You and your health are worth an hour a day and you are worth the price of this simple book!! May it inspire you as much as it inspired me! Please let me know!!