As we get older, many people lose that ability for snappy movement. Generally they notice it playing with the kids or getting of the sofa.
Lots of people do some Pilates or some Yoga which are both great but still feel like they should be able to move a bit faster. Maybe they notice one or two of their friends move in a more athletic way, and they want to know how to keep that ability themself.
Since packing in field sports, I concentrated more on the gym, lifting weights for strength and spin biking for cardio health. As a result of me getting on a bit, into the latter half of my 30’s I’ve made more of an effort to do exercises that I know will keep me more athletic and ready to deal with everything life throws at me.
With that in mind here’s a post about things you can do to move in a more athletic way as you age.
This article is to help you discover how to keep that spring in your step as you age and how to stay more athletic and ready for everything life throws your way.
Staying physically active is the key for good health as you get older. But many people lose athleticism because they dont know what to do to keep it.
Keeping Athletic
6 Ways to Keep Athletic as You Age
We’ve picked 6 ways to stay more athletic that almost anyone can do.
The good news is many forms of exercises help you stay healthy. These tips are for people who want to move like they’re younger.
1. Stay on Top of Your Mobility
Without a doubt, what we see most often is people can’t move like they used to. They struggle with their posture and getting into positions to move well. It takes a good bit of work to free things up initially if you’ve let yourself get stiff over the years.
But the good news is, it’s easy to keep it once you’ve done the work to get it back. With just 5 minutes of mobility drills per day, you can keep yourself in better posture and moving great. If you need help getting yourself moving better massage or physio can help free things up.
2. Do Some Fast Exercises
Your muscles and tendons recycle energy like a spring. And this spring like ability is a use it or lose it. If you only move slowly, you lose the ability to effectively use that spring. But you can train that “stretch-shorten effect” to get it going again.
Because these exercises have a little more spring in them, it’s best to do them after warm-up. If you’re in the gym they’re best at the end up the warmup but before your work out. Examples can be
Side Shuffles
Stepping sideways, quickly but at a pace you’re completely comfy with. 2 steps each way when back the opsite way.
Step ups
Keeping your top leg on a step and using the front leg repeatedly to lift yourself in a controlled way.
Backpeadling
Not one for anyone who struggles with balance. But a short backwards jog works your legs a lot harder than moving forwards and develops spring.
3. Do Part of the Exercise Faster to Build Speed.
When you’re doing some exercises (as long as its pain free) and you’re not injured, it’s fine to do the up phase a little faster. So, if you’re doing a squat, you can go super slow down to work the muscle control and faster on the up phase to build that spring/ power in your legs. If you want to make it easier you can do sit stand out of a chair. Super slow on the way down, and faster getting up. You’ll be surprised how quickly you get more spring in your legs.
4. Single-Leg Work
It’s good to do things like squats but a lot of day-to-day stuff is more single leg based so to keep yourself athletic, it’s good to do some single leg work.
Examples- Step ups, sets of stairs (doing the stairs 5 times in a row to make it a mini work out), Static lunges are also a good precursor to more difficult single leg exercises.
5. Do Some Core Exercises That Aren’t Crunches
Everybody is at different levels and enjoys different things. So, the optimal exercise for each person varies. So we’ve put some options here.
Efficient athletic movement is all about your body moving well. And how your body parts (legs, hips and trunk) move together in synergy. Core exercises that just involve crunching don’t train the various parts of your body to move well together. Instead try to incorporate stability challenges and arm and leg movements.
Superman
These can be made easier by having a fit ball under your tummy.
Plank
The easy way to start these is on your knees. Make sure your knees are bent at 90 so it’s more comfy
Plank and reach
In the plank position you can practice just lifting or if you’re comfy reaching out with one arm before returning it to the start position.
6. The Most Important Tip- Play 🙂
The old phrase, “Variety is the spice of life” applies to fitness and keeping athletic too. Don’t be afraid to have some fun.
It’s great to have some fun elements in your training, gym classes are great for adding that variety. I’ve moved away from just lifting and cardio to playing squash twice per week to make keeping fit more fun.
If you’re having issues with a joint or area that’s slowing you down, don’t let it hold you back from keeping your athleticism, just get in touch to find out how we can help.
Similarly, if you’ve been working on a computer or doing repetitive manual work and you need to get things freed off to move better and fix your posture, we can assess those key areas and help you free things up and give you exercises to work on your specific tight points/ posture.
At Glossop Physio we have a clinic based in the heart of Glossop on Norfolk Square, and we offer free physiotherapy consultations, where you get to sit down with a member of our team. Get answers to the questions you have and find out what can be done to help you move and feel better.
When you are ready just give us a call on 07517421800 to organise your free consultation. Or if you like to do things online you can start organising your free consultation by filling out our webform Click Here
Other Free Resources
Click Here To Read – The benefits of activity and exercise for elderly people who want to keep active
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