Fitness over age 50 is more available to you and easier than your might imagine. Exercise programs for seniors and those who are just nearing the magic age of 50 can bring you decades of looking and feeling fantastic!

Your 50’s and beyond can be one of the best times of your life. You can’t enjoy your life if you are in lousy physical condition.

Getting in top shape, losing extra fat as well as looking and feeling great are all possible. The only catch is that it takes work and persistence. There is NO shortcut and no magic way to get there.

As I write this I’m 80 years old. I enjoy the strength, durability and health better than most 40 year olds. I have no physical limitations, and pretty much do what I like. This didn’t come about by magic, but I get to enjoy magic feelings 24/7/365.

Over seven decades I have learned what works and what is mostly hype. That is why i wrote Get Back in Shape After 50 This is my approach that anyone can use to start back on the road to feeling great and looking their best.

To build a fit and durable body you have to begin with the fundamentals and master those. That is what I have done for you in this book. There is no “magic bullet”, just the most important material you need to know if you want to get the most out of your time, money and trouble.

If you are in your 50’s it is great time to start doing the things that will give you a high quality of life for decades to come. You can’t turn back the clock. But you can start doing things that will make a massive difference in how you feel every day and what you can do as you age.

As you probably know the keys to building a strong and durable body are 1. Exercise and 2. Proper Nutrition. Without doing these things, everything else you might do is essentially a waste of time (and perhaps money).

In this short article I’m going to give you my take on what constitutes a good program for both exercise and nutrition. This is based on my 65+ years of working out and living a fit lifestyle. I’ll stick to the important stuff and skip the fluff and hype.

Exercise

It is easy to say exercise but what is it you should actually do?

If you are over 50 IMHO there are two basic things you should do: lift weights and do some cardiovascular conditioning.

Why should you lift weights?

The most compelling reason is that it rebuilds your muscle tissue so that you can be physically viable for a long long time. If you are strong (and durable) you will be physically able to do things you want without much limitation or risk. If you are weak and feeble, doing almost any physical activity becomes a major challenge.

If you build solid muscle tissue you drastically diminish the chances of developing chronic illnesses such as Type II diabetes, hypertension, and osteoporosis. In other words, one big payoff is what doesn’t happen to you.

Solid muscle also helps protect you against the risks of everyday life such as accidental falls, lifting heavy objects, or unplanned exertions. If you are strong and durable activities like moving furniture, doing home repairs, or lifting heavy household objects is no cause for concern.

On the other hand, if you are weak and have flaccid muscles, any of these activities can be put you at risk of significant injury.

Another major benefit of lifting weights is that you will regain a sense of physical dynamism that may have gradually diminished over the past few years. Instead of “enduring” physical activities, you will come to relish them.

Weight training has another positive impact that is not widely discussed. This is that regular weight training (with aerobics) has a powerful anti-depressant impact. Many studies have found that one of the best anti-depressant treatments is physical fitness training. For people who suffer from depression, even mild cases, fitness training can bring blessed relief.

Peer reviewed scientific researcher has established that physical training has a major positive impact on brain health. Exercise generates many many brain enhancing processes. If you want to stay sharp for as long as possible embrace the mantra “sound body, sound mind”.

Along with lifting weights, I strongly advise doing aerobic exercise. Together these two forms of physical training build your body and strengthen your heart and lungs by combining movement and resistance training.

Aerobic training builds your body by regularly providing oxygen rich blood to your brain and all your other vital organs. If you are sedentary, this rejuvenating effect does not happen. Aerobic training is a great multi-purpose tonic for your whole physical system.

In summary, building the body you want to live in for the rest of your life requires that you do both weight training and aerobics. In Get Back in Shape After 50 I show you how to do this.

Nutrition

Most people are carrying a lot of extra fat. This fat is doing it’s best to kill you early and make your life miserable beforehand.

I’m not talking about just “looking good”, I’m talking about a fast track to getting diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and not being able to do much beyond sit in a chair. If your ambition is to take a lot of prescription meds, be physically unable to do many fun things, and simply “wait for life to happen to you”, hanging on to 20-100 extra pounds of fat is a foolproof way to do that.

Eating properly is critically important to getting in good physical condition. There are seemingly millions of diet plans out there that claim to be the “only one that will work”.

Rubbish! If you eat fewer calories than you burn (metabolism) every day, you will lose body mass. If you eat more than you burn, you will put on fat. If somebody tells you otherwise, they are misleading you.

There are some stunningly simple rules that you can follow to drop fat. Even though they sound simple, they are part of a fundamental process that you must adopt if you want to become fit and have a great life in your 50’s and beyond.

Rule #1 – Calories are important. You can’t eat more than you burn off, or you store it as fat.

Rule #2 – Don’t eat crap! The most “fat building” crap include chips, candy, most baked goods, deluxe coffee drinks, deep fired food, “snack food” and almost 100% of the “food like items” you find for sale at gas stations along interstate highways.

Rule #3 – Sugar and sugar additives in processed food are your mortal enemy. A tiny bit of sugar in your diet is not damaging. Most processed foods use sugar to make you want to eat much more than is good for you.

Eating properly does not have to be more complex than quantum physics. The key is eating fresh food, downing lots of vegetables, and eating like a fit person, not a garbage disposal with feet.

For you to succeed you need to master the basics of nutrition. If you are able to master the three rules above, you will begin to drop a lot of fat and be a lot healthier.

I discuss the basics of good nutrition in Get Back in Shape After 50. Getting the body and the life you want will mean you begin having a lifestyle where you “eat to live”, not “live to eat”. Getting started will mean working on the basics. Without the basics, you can’t progress to the more complex.

I wish the best for you. Building a strong and resilient body is not an easy task, but it is one that gives you a reward 24/7/365. Every time you move with ease. Every time you sleep soundly. Regardless of where you start, you can see your body transform into something you can be proud of.

The cool thing is that you are in charge of how fit you become. It is up to you, and not some distant force.

Get Back in Shape After 50 costs less than two super sugar loaded drinks at the coffee shop. However, if you follow the instructions, it can be priceless.

Richard