Its never too late to start your health and fitness journey, and exercise is important to ALL of us no matter what age you currently are. We just have to recognize that the priority for each age group differs considerably and understand what are the potential dangers to our body at various times in our life. As we age our body’s needs will change and if our nutrition and exercise program matches this we can maintain great health. We should always be aiming to have a well-balanced healthy diet and be constantly trying to move throughout the day, but as we age we will need to vary what foods we eat and what exercise we do. To help explain how things change and what to look out for we will start with children and work our way through the generations providing you with a summary of what the main priority at each age should be.

Below is a picture that gives a great visual as to the difference between age group generations. As we take a close look at each age group you will notice that as much as there is some very obvious differences there is also some common themes to every age.

Exercise Priority For Kids

When we talk about exercise for kids we think of playing sport. While this is a great way to get them moving we need to spend considerable time improving their movement skill. We cannot assume that sport will just sort things out. Twenty and thirty years ago we did not have IPADS and computers to stare at all day and most kids spent their time outside playing. Not necessarily playing sports, but actively moving and doing things like climbing trees, playing tag, or just meeting up at the local park to kick a ball were just some of the common things kids did. We were rarely inside as it was so boring. As a result children in the past developed natural movement skills more easily. Today’s generation need time to be shown as they are missing many of the learning stages that were just a part of life.

See the picture below of a study from earlier this year featured in the newspaper.

In the gym when we talk about exercise and strength training for kids we are talking about MOVEMENT DEVELOPMENT.

We are teaching kids as young as 8 and 9 how to move correctly using mainly their own body weight, but at times resistance bands, medicine balls and even dumbbells and barbells. But the focus here is not on muscle size, but efficient movement skills in preparation for when they are adults. We can prevent many of the chronic injuries we see with adults by teaching kids how to move more efficiently.

Kids can learn very fast new skills and movements and at the age of 11 to 12 is the best time to expose them to strength movements. For it is at this time their brain is like a sponge seeking to retain as much information as possible to create permanent motor programs. If it only sees perfect form you can basically brainwash their brain into amazing movements that prevent injury and dysfunction later in life.

See video below of the gradual learning progression with kids

Great articles you can read are below

• Strength Training For Kids Is Critical For Optimal Movement Development
• Why Kids Must Learn How To Change Direction Correctly If They Play Sports

Strengths & Weaknesses Of This Age Group

• Strength – Great mobility and can easily change movements
• Weakness – Lack of coordination and stability
• Priority – Improve movement skills and coordination
• Danger – Modern living easily create poor posture, dysfunction movement and bad eating habits

Exercise Priority In Your 20's

When we are in our 20's we are at our peak with physical development and still actively building muscle tissue very easily.

I remember the days of feeling “invulnerable" and could not understand how my parents would tell me how hard it was to go for a run or go outside and play basketball for several hours day after day. I also remember not eating very well at this age and never seeing any consequence.

As our body is still accumulating muscle our metabolic rate is easier to remain quite high and be able to burn through sugars and poor food choices much more effectively that it can when we age and our body slows down. Also at this age we are yet to encounter many of the stresses and pressure of life to come and we are more at peace with our minds. However, even though you feel strong this is does not give you a free pass and unfortunately the modern world has begun to see a serious decline in health with the younger generations.

This is the time to really focus on perfecting quality movement skills and also train for fast powerful movements as you will start to lose this ability very quickly if not used. Development of fast twitch fibres and adding muscle is the easiest to do in this phase, and significantly harder to do at any other time in your life. By spending the time to build a great base now it will pay huge dividends in your ageing years. This time in your life is where you can lay some great foundations for the future. Or vice versa create potential problems. The choice is yours.

For more detail on this read our article – Why It Is So Important To Include Power Training In Your Workout

While I was not perfect at this age and made many mistakes, the exercise habits I spent considerable time working and in particular my movement skills have come to serve me well in my 40's. Even today at the age of 45 I can still move and compete well in sports with people half my age.

Strengths & Weaknesses Of This Age Group

• Strength – Muscle mass is still increasing and high metabolic rate
• Weakness – Lack of experience & risk taking
• Priority – Improve movement for future and preserve fast twitch fibres by focusing on power/speed training
• Danger – Modern living easily create poor posture, dysfunction movement and bad eating habits

Make sure you download a copy of our Little Black Book Of Training Secrets that will give you a ton of ideas and all you need to know for this age group. Click here to get your copy.

Exercise Priority In Your 30's

As we enter our 30’s people who do not exercise will start to notice a decline in muscle mass, which will make keeping weight off harder, hence the reason to enjoy lifting weights / strength training, especially the ladies, who will also start to notice a change in their hormones. By far the biggest change in this age group is that your life brings with it a lot more responsibility, at work, and also at home. And with that also comes STRESS.

However, the biggest obstacle here is TIME.

Physically if you have looked after yourself and played a lot of sports in your 20’s, your early 30’s will enable you to continue playing well and if not better as your body has had a lot of time to become an expert at your chosen sport. That is why you see so many elite athletes still competing well in their early 30’s.

However for many people their job has seen them rise in the company ranks or they may even start a small business that now sees their time diminish and they no longer exercise as much as they could. Add on top of that, you might start a family that also has new responsibilities and it is now impossible to devote as much as time as before to exercise or playing sport. You now have to squeeze workouts in at the gym around your commitments.

Read our article – How To Find More Time To Exercise When You Are Overly Busy

It is in this age that your focus should be on maintaining muscle and reducing stress. Poor posture and poor movement is also a big factor to be addressed in this age group as this is where we find most of the chronic injuries begin to develop due to the heavy workload and stress on the system. Quality of exercise instead of trying to crush our bodies, reducing stress, and eating good nutritious exercise are the keys to good health at this time in our lives.

Strengths & Weaknesses Of This Age Group

• Strength – Experience, good muscle mass & mastery of movement
• Weakness – Time poor, stressed
• Priority – Reducing stress and adding muscle
• Danger – Sacrificing health for career and other commitments

Exercise Priority In Your 40's

For a lot of people this is when their health and fitness journey resumes, the 30’s may have been more focused on career and young families, this could have led to a more sedentary lifestyle, poor nutrition habits resulting in weight gain, loss of muscle, increase in blood pressure, risk of diabetes etc. However, it’s not too late to reverse these health problems.

The person at this age is at the crossroads of staying in great shape for a long time if they place a priority on their health, or heading down the path of chronic pain and disease if they ignore it.

We all age differently, and it changes dramatically from the age of 40 if you are not aware of the potential danger that loss of muscle mass can bring. Look at the picture below to see the potential change in aging. This picture shows the aging process of two people.

The person represented by the blue line is someone who exercises and adopts strength training program that maintains functional movement skills for their entire life.

The person represented by the orange line shows a person who does not use strength training and the steep decline in muscle mass and function is much more rapid where they eventually reach a point where they reach what is known as the disability threshold.

Again time and stress can be big factors here as people in this age group are more likely to be in senior management positions with their work and juggling a young family at the same time. This means that looking after your health is more important than ever. The person who over-exercises here may put their heart at severe risk. For more detail on this see our article – Best Exercise For Heart Health

In regards to exercise in our 40’s especially if we are beginning our exercise program we need to be mindful of not over doing it straight away, injury can occur very easily and old injuries can re appear.  We need to ensure that our technique is correct and this is where having an experienced coach or personal trainer is vital. Functional Strength training and adding muscle is ideal, (don’t worry ladies you won’t get big muscles. There may also be more of a focus on some abdominal & core work at this age. Having possibly been sedentary for our 30’s there is the possibility that we may have lower back pain, which can indicate a weak core.

Getting your heart rate up is great as well, but again this needs to be done smartly, interval training is by far the best method to use for this. See article – How To Use Interval Training For Great Results

At this age is where many start to see their weight increase. Poor food choices you were able to get away with before now start to become a problem. This is due to hormonal changes and the loss of muscle mass. For this reason your nutrition needs a strong focus and should be well balanced and full of variety. Avoiding high energy carbohydrates, for example white bread, pasta’s, white rice and replacing with good quality protein and vegetables or salad.  Moderation of alcohol is key as well, as this where over consumption of alcohol can lead to weight gain.  Reducing coffee is also highly recommended.

Strengths & Weaknesses Of This Age Group

• Strength – Experience, good muscle mass if maintained
• Weakness – Time poor and stressed
• Priority – Reducing stress, improving nutrition and maintenance of muscle mass
• Danger – Training too hard or sacrificing exercise for work and other commitments

Exercise Priority In Your 50's & 60's

At this age many will begin to feel more at ease with their work life balance. Most young families have grown up and the working career may be of less stress than earlier years giving people more time to focus on their exercise routines.

If you have been looking after yourself up to this point you will still be able to many things for as we discussed earlier we do not all age the same. For if you have not been consistent with exercise and looked after your muscles and movement skills you will begin to encounter many health problems and injuries at this age. Heart disease and strokes are very high with the older generation and can be avoided if great lifestyle choices were adopted early enough. Not only does muscle loss continue in our 50’s but bone density loss can begin to take shape if you are not regularly exercising, in particular with strength training. Females start to enter menopause which will increases bone loss and lead to osteoporosis and arthritis.

Once again functional strength training is vital as research has proven it can prevent the degeneration of bone density and even reverse arthritis and bone density problems.  See article – How To Reduce Arthritis and Bone Density Problems With Exercise

When need to incorporate movement into our workouts and start to add some balance / stability training as well.  We should also be walking around 30 minutes daily.

If we were eating correctly in our 40’s not much needs to change, a well-balanced diet with variety is the key. Many may see their protein intake and portion sizes decrease at this age as our reduced muscle mass no longer requires as much.  We increase our calcium intake, but stick to full fat varieties rather than low fat or no fat as these varieties are normally higher in sugar, which can lead to weight gain.

The one thing that needs to be a focus at this age is the increasing risk of falls from a lack of movement and gradual loss of balance.

Many also start to feel less flexible than earlier years as the joints begin to stiffen.

We must keep moving, don’t let age stop you now, we need to keep up our strength training to help with muscle and bone loss and continue to work on our balance and stability to help with fall prevention. We should also be continuing with our walking, or even try swimming. A good stretching program is valuable as well.  See article – How To Improve Flexibility In Minimal Time

Continuing on with our well balanced diet, making sure that we are including good quality Omega 3 essential fatty acids in our diet, which help fight against inflammation.  We should be including good quality protein to help fight sarcopenia ( muscle loss ), and dark leafy green vegetables.

Strengths & Weaknesses Of This Age Group

• Strength – More time & less stressed
• Weakness – Begin to lose muscle fast
• Priority – Adding muscle, improving balance and stability
• Danger – Falls from loss of balance, and development of disease from poor lifestyle

Exercise Priority In Your 70's & 80's

Now you might be thinking exercise is not as important at this age. Exercise is more important than ever. The minute you become sedentary you will bring upon the aging process faster than ever. Breaking of bones can occur very easily at this age, as bones can become more brittle, but if we have been doing our strength training throughout our life, we will be at a lower risk of breaking bones as the strength training has helped to minimise bone loss and bone weakness. The danger of not exercising cannot be overstated.

Approximately 50% of those who suffer a hip fracture never fully regain their mobility and independence, and 50% of those die within the first year! Falling for an older adult is a very serious matter, and a life-threatening situation.

Cardio and fitness is not important but maintenance of movement, strength and stability for daily activities is of high importance. Swimming or tai chi can be great exercises but neither will develop the necessary muscles or skills needed in life. Time and stress that was a huge problem in your 30’s and 40’s is now no longer a problem.

Fear of falling and lack of confidence to move often is. The reaction time of a 60-year old is on average 25% slower than that of a 20-year old! People who live in extended care have even slower reaction times than those living in the community. But it does not have to be this way for even at this age you can dramatically improve and still add muscle. It is never too late!

See the videos below of an 80 year old client of ours completing several strength training, balance training and even power training exercises.

A great FREE report you can download with tons of ideas about how to use strength training with older adults is below. Click here to download.

We may have less of an appetite as we age, but we should still focus on a healthy well balanced diet that includes good quality protein, carbohydrates and fats, and ensure that we stay hydrated.  Protein shakes may be a good idea if appetite is lacking.

Strengths & Weaknesses Of This Age Group

• Strength – Time, less stress, wise
• Weakness – Loss of muscle, poor balance, poor mobility
• Priority – Strength, balance and movement
• Danger – Falls, hip fracture and disease

Do You Need More Help?

There is a lot of information and great exercises I have not included in this article and I do suggest to grab a copy of our latest report that covers everything you need to know about older adults health. This report provides you with detailed pictures, instructions of over 50 exercises and some excellent workouts and tests to use for measuring your improvement. Many of the exercise pictures shown in this report are of clients who in their 70’s and 80’s who currently train with us at No Regrets. We also feature several of their stories for you to see how they changed their life by adopting the methods explained in this report. I hope you enjoy reading this and it helps you to enjoy your golden years.

Summary

I hope you have enjoyed this journey through the ages. If you go back and look at the common theme to all ages with regards to the priorities you will find quality MOVEMENT, and STRENGTH is needed every step of the way. Fitness is very over rated and where many make a big mistake thinking exercise is all about getting sweaty and annihilated. If you can constantly be trying to move well and look after your nutrition and lifestyle habits you can do almost everything you want in life without limitation or problems.

Just remember, we do not all age the same and this is determined by how much effort you spend trying to look after yourself. It is never too late to start your health and fitness journey, but you must start now and remain consistent.

If you live in Melbourne and would like to know more about any of our personal training programs or older adults programs click here to request a free consultation.

About The Author

Nick Jack is owner of No Regrets Personal Training and has over 15 years’ experience as a qualified Personal Trainer, Level 2 Rehabilitation trainer, CHEK practitioner, and Level 2 Sports conditioning Coach. Based in Melbourne Australia he specializes in providing solutions to injury and health problems for people of all ages using the latest methods of assessing movement and corrective exercise.

References:

• Bending the Aging Curve -  Joseph Signorile
• Movement - By Gray Cook
• Functional Training for Sports - By Mike Boyle
• Corrective Exercise Solutions - by Evan Osar
• Athletic Body Balance by Gray Cook
• Diagnosis & Treatment Of Movement Impairment Syndromes - By Shirley Sahrman
• Low Back Disorders - by Stuart McGill
• Back Pain Mechanic - by Stuart McGill
• Anatomy Trains - by Thomas Meyers
• Motor Learning and Performance - By Richard A Schmidt and Timothy D Lee
• Assessment & Treatment Of Muscle Imbalance - By Vladimir Janda
• How To Eat, Move & Be Healthy by Paul Chek
• Scientific Core Conditioning Correspondence Course - By Paul Chek
• Advanced Program Design - By Paul Chek