Women's Fitness for every decade-20's, 30's,40's, 50's and beyond

Women's Fitness at any age

Ladies, there is a big difference between how we should work out in our 20's and how we should work out when... we are no longer 20.

The best advice for maintaining youthfulness throughout the decades is EXERCISE.

Daily doses of exercise have been proven to MINIMISE a number of aging factors—stress, obesity, heart disease, diabetes—and the longer you remain physically active, the less you'll notice getting older. 

A 50-year-old's body is not the same as a 20-year-old's; you can't push it the same way you once did, nor should you if you want to keep it in working-out order. 

Some guidelines put forward by fitness trainers across the world:

In Your 20's: 
30 minutes weight training, followed by 30 minutes of cardio, 3x a week, plus 45 to 60 minutes of straight cardio 3x a week. 
One day of rest.

In your twenties, our bodies are strong and we tend to abuse it by late night outs liming with friends, maybe partying and clubbing coupled with poor eating habits.

The  big mistake many make in their 20's is simply opting for endless cardio and crunches. Cardio is great especially if you mix it up so you are really pushing the body. But it is weight training (using > 5llbs) that builds muscle definition, not to mention bone density, which will be crucial for staying active later on and preventing osteoporosis. 

If you use too light weights this will not challenge your body enough. It must be challenging enough that you feel your muscles getting fatigued.  


For great abs, we need to tackle, subcutaneous fat. Eat lean meat, lean fish, vegetables, and fruits to keep stomach fat under control. 

Sit-ups for focused core work strengthens not only the abs but also stabilizes muscles and lower back.
Another great exercise is the "plank." In a push-up position, balancing on your forearms and toes with legs stretched straight back, pull your belly button toward your spine and hold it tight, keeping your back flat enough for someone to eat off of. Work up to staying there for a full minute.

In Your 30's:
One hour of circuit training (cardio and resistance) 4x a week, plus at least one day of cardio for 45 to 60 minutes at a high intensity. Take one day off.

In your 30s, you start noticing that the weight does not come off quite as easily as it used to. This is because, after age 20, your basal metabolism drops by 1 to 2 percent every decade, and as lean muscle decreases and body fat increases, you don't need as many calories to sustain yourself. 

"Exercise is the number one form of preventive medicine," says Jillian Michaels. You won't see that big a difference between 31 and 39 if you've been living a healthy lifestyle, but if not, you'll see a huge difference in muscle tone, weight, and shape."

In this decade, experts agree, keeping fit means working harder. 

Many personal trainers favor circuit training—a series of resistance and cardio exercises done swiftly and back-to-back. 

But however you do it, Michaels advises strength training each muscle group twice a week with two days of rest between sessions. Don't stick with heavy weights/low reps or low weight/many reps, she says; switch it around to keep your body from getting used to the routine. One day of rest a week is crucial.
Now is the time to make good fitness habits a part of everyday life, such as standing instead of sitting, taking stairs instead of elevators and escalators.Work in the exercise in more practical ways. Park your car further to get in some walking.

In Your 40's: 

One hour of weight training 3 days a week if you do your whole body at once (4 days for half an hour if you split it up), plus 45 minutes of cardio five days a week (it's more than in the 20s and 30s but with less impact and intensity). Take one day off.
This is the decade of additional issues such as gravity, hormones, and yet more slowing of metabolism as lean muscle mass continues to decrease and body fat increases. 

Even women who don't put on a pound may expand. After 40 and certainly after 50, virtually all women find that they gain fat more easily in the torso—below the bra, through the triceps area, on the back, and in the belly. Ladies, you are not doing anything wrong; your body composition is changing, unfortunately.

Cardio work at least three days a week is still important for keeping weight under control, but resistance training is crucial now. 

It is advisable for women to perform more weight training. You have to find the time to do it consistently and train hard.

If you are just starting, you must learn proper form—take a class, get a personal trainer, make sure someone is there to correct you so you don't get hurt. And add intensity to everything you do, make it count ladies.

Certain body parts may call out for extra attention, such as the midsection.

Exercise is different at this age because everyone has some aches or pains. It's about precision and form, not quantity.

It is about moving the body. Ladies just keep moving...

In Your 50's: 

4 to 6 cardio sessions a week, 20 to 40 minutes each, with an intensity that lets you answer a simple question but not chat, plus half an hour of weight training twice a week, 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise, or 15 to 20 using lighter weights. Always stretch afterward.

If your metabolism feels like it's slowing to a crawl, it's not in your mind. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh studying 541 midlife women found an average gain of 12 pounds eight years after menopause. We also tend to gain a little potbelly, 'menopot'. And other places begin to droop noticeably. At this point, loss of muscle mass and tone really shows.It can actually start to change your posture. 

The classic shoulder slump from years of hunching over a desk or computer will really age you.

Try this simple exercise:
Clasp your hands behind your back at the level of your butt and squeeze your shoulder blades together, pinching your spine. Try, with straight arms, to stretch your fingertips toward the floor until you notice a tug between your ears and shoulders, then lift your hands as high as you can, feeling the stretch in your chest.

If you haven't started weight training, you must!

If you feel intimidated going to a gym, you can check out quality you tube videos to do at home. You want to hit all the major muscle groups, and you can do the whole cycle in 15 minutes if you keep some dumbbells around."

Think of adding activity/ies to your life in general.

Yoga, Tai chi, and dance are great for balance, which will become an increasingly important issue. While the physical changes this decade brings may be hard to take at first, ultimately you change what you can, and live with what you can't, accept this fact ladies.

In Your 60's: 3 days a week of challenging but not exhausting cardio, such as a slow jog, plus 3 days of weight training, using lighter weights and slower, more controlled movements combined with slow, sustained stretching. Walk whenever possible, and do daily balance exercises.
In the 60s, problems like arthritis, bad knees, and spinal stenosis (a narrowing of the spaces between bones that can put painful pressure on the spinal cord) become common. Aches and pains should not be an excuse for giving up on exercise. We now know that a decline in strength and fitness isn't entirely a natural consequence of the aging process but is also due to lack of use. We need to push ourselves physically no matter how old we are—we just may need to alter the activity.

Adapting a workout routine for the 60s sometimes means giving up aerobic exercise that jars and stresses the joints—for example, replacing long runs with jogging one or two miles, jogging in a pool, swimming, or riding a stationary bicycle. Note that women with bad backs may need to use a recumbent bicycle.

Resistance training is still important but I would not advise anyone to lift heavy weights if it aggravates the joints.

Do more stretching because if you don't stretch now by the time you reach your 80's your joints will have lost their flexibility.

A good stretching exercise is holding the head tilted earlobe to shoulder for 60 seconds

If you don't have osteoporosis, another good one, is sitting on the floor with legs straight out in front of you, feet flexed and lowering your head toward your knees.

For help with balance: rising up on the toes of one foot and trying to hold the position for a minute.

Ladies as we age,  there are issues we must face and at times accept.

EXERCISE has proven to help alleviate or improve some symptoms of an aging body.

Just keep moving, ensure you partake in some form of physical activity from decade to decade and love the body you are in.