Getting strong, fit and flexible at 50. Possible?

[Alooffoof]

I was always a fit active person but over the past few years I’ve had a combination of health and family issues that have really taken their toll and I have realised that I don’t even have a basic level of fitness anymore 😦

So I’m starting from scratch at 50. I don’t need to lose any weight but I’m desperate to improve my strength, stamina and flexibility.

Does anyone have experience or tips for this? Anything that gives me reasonable results fairly quickly would be a good start. I’m in it for the long haul but I’m motivated by improvements for sure.

I’m also vegetarian with a pretty poor diet. I’m going to work on that too and would appreciate any ideas on where I can get advice on the correct foods to give my body the best chance at getting the most from training.

Anyone else doing similar, requiring support?

Early fifties and loving Caroline Girvan. A combination of strength, hit and the all important functional fitness. I eat low glycaemic and that works for me.

@samthebordercollie

Weight training for muscle and bone reinforcement is the most important exercise to do once you are in the menopause, when the risk of osteoporosis increases a lot. I wish I could get motivated to join a gym but I hate exercising inside and find weights so dull! I love outside sports, I've always walked a lot but took up running at 48, ran my first marathon the following year and went on to do several more. I walk, cycle and swim too and have done a few triathlons. I'm 56 now - a friend of mine in the running club is still running at 78, it's never too late to get fit. You just need to find a sport you enjoy. Good luck!

How did you find joining a running club as an older new runner?

Absolutely! I’m 51 and started working on my fitness when I turned 50. It was during lockdown so I started with c25k and I now run about 20-25 miles a week. I do need to work on my strength though, so I’ve started weights at the gym and I’m also learning to swim. If I have to dial back on the running as I get older I want to have other things to turn to. I’m also starting to try some yoga and a bit of Pilates for flexibility.

I’m in no way super fit but I’m a lot fitter than I was and a healthy bmi.

I would also like to join OP. 50 and lockdown has knocked me back - lots of extra weight, new injuries, so stiff and sore. Need help!

I did. Started at 49, I was menopausal, flabby and unfit. I’d gained 2 stone after a hysterectomy.

I started seeing a PT which was a great investment, worth every penny. I still see him weekly. I also run, but less than I used to as I developed raging plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendinitis.

Also do yoga with Kassandra, I couldn’t bear Adrienne. Try a few to see who works for you. I’m not massively supple but much better than I was.

I love lifting weights. I’m stronger, leaner, fitter and more toned. I hate classes and am a solo runner and yoga person. In the gym I stick my earbuds in and off I go, a mix of cardio, weights/resistance and body weight stuff.

I get bored easily but 2 years later I go to the gym 3-4 times a week, try and run 1-2 times a week and do a few short yoga online sessions when I can.

I’ve also got RA and my symptoms have improved a lot since I started working out. It’s crucial for older women to develop muscle and bone strength.

Can you add me to your thread as well, please? 50 next year and I joined a gym in January as I was feeling very blah and middle-aged at the end of last year. I'd like to be more toned and energetic and lose weight without super strict dieting.

I suppose to me the important thing to keep in mind, is you will LOSE flexibility, tone, fitness if you don't try to maintain it. Leaving aside hope of gains, there is a lot to lose if you don't keep up physical activities as one gets older.

1-2 kg for person with fibromyalgia sounds much too ambitious -- try 500g max to start.

Could you add me too please. I'm 43 but need motivating to sort my fitness and diet.

@Merrymouse - I joined my local running club last year at 44 - lots of older ladies in it - some have run for years, others have only started in lockdown.
The club is immensely supportive to everyone at every level

My advice is to try your local clubs and hopefully there will be one close which has a similar ethos (many do!)

the training sessions are daunting initially but they should be doable at all levels (if the trainers plan it that way - and they should!) and runners are the best people - IMO everyone supports and cheers everyone else

I am 70. I started the Second Nature programme just before the first lockdown when I'd just had a hip replacement and was looking to shift some weight. Just over 2 years later I'm two and a half stone lighter, and fitter than I've ever been. It took time and I'm not 100% there yet, but I have imperceptibly changed my entire lifestyle and I'm much happier for it.

My advice would be to focus on healthy habits little by little, don't concentrate simply on exercise or simply on diet but include things like mindfulness and gratitudes, try lots of different exercise types till you find one that suits you, and read James Clear's Atomic Habits which is all about making microscopic changes that all add up. Lastly, engage with some sort of support group, it makes all the difference. I wish I'd done it at your age instead of waiting as long as I did.

@Merrymouse I had no problem joining the running club, it's a local one and very friendly and there were other women there when I joined. It gave me the confidence to start doing races and I found I had quite a good level for my age (never having been a cross country fan in my youth!) It's much easier to do interval training with other people than on your own.

I did couch to 5k at 47 so I could stay fit in middle age and beyond. Still running twice - occasionally three times - a week now I'm beyond 50, also do pilates once a week. If I don't I start to feel it in my back/shoulders/neck etc since work is very computer based.

I started exercising seriously 2 years ago. I'm mid-60s and fitter than most women half my age. I mostly do YouTube workouts and I focus on HIIT and weights. At least one hour a day. Plus I walk everywhere.

Growingannanas for HIIT
Rebecca Louise: Best Abs, Bingo Wings, Ageless Arms
Lucy Wyndham Read: Thighs & Glutes
Bowflex 3 minute plank (I do this every day)

And once you've done the above for a while, you'll be ready for Caroline Girvan!!!! (Start with her Epic Beginners).

[quote samthebordercollie]@Merrymouse I had no problem joining the running club, it's a local one and very friendly and there were other women there when I joined. It gave me the confidence to start doing races and I found I had quite a good level for my age (never having been a cross country fan in my youth!) It's much easier to do interval training with other people than on your own.[/quote]
Were you a complete beginner or had you done things like C25K and Parkrun before?

@FlowerArranger

I started exercising seriously 2 years ago. I'm mid-60s and fitter than most women half my age. I mostly do YouTube workouts and I focus on HIIT and weights. At least one hour a day. Plus I walk everywhere.

Growingannanas for HIIT
Rebecca Louise: Best Abs, Bingo Wings, Ageless Arms
Lucy Wyndham Read: Thighs & Glutes
Bowflex 3 minute plank (I do this every day)

And once you've done the above for a while, you'll be ready for Caroline Girvan!!!! (Start with her Epic Beginners).

How long did it take?

If you don't find lifting weights fun then try standing on your head and handstands against a wall instead, it's great fun! Hill running is also fun. Make sure you only breathe through your nose and if you cannot, slow down or go back to a speed where you can. Also breathe using your diaphragm, these are ultramarathon runners top tips. Make sure you have lots of protein, veg, calcium and oily fish once a week.

I am nearly 70 and find you need to make sure your fitness levels peak the older you get.

Unfortunately nursing homes and hospitals
are full of people who ignored the warning signs.

You could well give yourself a scary and painful drawn out end if you don't look after yourself.

@Merrymouse I used to run 5k with my dog a few times a week. I never did couch to 5k just ran the 5k - I've always done a lot of walking so wasn't completely unfit. We don't have park runs here in France so that wasn't an option, otherwise I would have done.

How long did it take (to get fit)...

It's a continuum, and it depends on where you are starting from.

I was fairly slim and reasonably fit when I started.
I noticed an increase in my fitness within a couple of weeks, but I'd guess it took a few months to get fit-fit.
A year later I discovered Caroline Girvan, and I never looked back.

These days I do a Growingannanas workout and the Bowflex plank most days, plus - on alternate days:

• a CG EPIC workout
• a mix of Rebecca Louise (especially her Best Abs), Lucy W-R's Thighs & Glutes (a gamechanger!), and one of CG's shorter workouts - basically making sure I target, legs, arms and abs
• plus an active rest day once a week, i.e. brisk walking for at least an hour.

It's so worth it. I just finished a course of physio (having overdone the weights with Caroline...), and my therapist was astonished at my fitness. I also did one of those biological age calculators online..... apparently I'm 16 years younger than my real age!

People often say they don't have time to exercise, but I find it actually energises me, so I get a second wind for doing other things. Plus it definitely improves my mental outlook. So, instead of slumping on the sofa, I have enough fuel in the tank to make a healthy meal, or deal with paperwork, or read a book.

These posts are inspirational. Thank you. Im very unfit and feel defeates and embarrassed. I've started more times than I can remember never mind count. Can anyone teach me about stretching? I'm as stiff as a board.

Ashtanga yoga. game changer.

I'm in my 50's and local running club brilliant for all ages and abilities

I admire you for wanting to do something about it. I've tried and failed so many times. Before the pandemic I had actually been going to fitness classes and occasional boot camps. I'm fat and 48. I developed frozen shoulder and then a never ending hip/thigh pain issue which is the physio thinks is bursitis.
I have regular physio and I'm now doing Pilates, but it's more that I'm really unfit and having palpitations (post covid) I feel like I'll never get back on form as these issues are limiting what I can actually do.

For me I really like the group classes! I find them fun and motivating. Body Pump, etc.

Weights or some kind of resistance training is important. Plus something for core and mobility like yoga or pilates. I love Ashtanga yoga, it makes you feel amazing.

This is so encouraging. I'm 52 and have never been sporty, I had just got into a bit of cycling and an ok weight and lockdown/SEN teenager stress torpedoed it. Whenever I try to up the exercise either my knees pack up or I get raging migraines. My DM and MIL both have health problems and I'm really worried about "ignoring warning signs" as others said.