Reid - Senior Fitness: Break Free From the Chains of Aging

Senior Fitness

18 Workouts and Actionable Steps to Reclaim Energy, Strength, and Stability in Your Life

Robert Reid

Copyright 2022 by Robert Reid

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Contents

D

o you feel frustrated that your body isnt working the way it once did?

Does it seem as if old age is shackling your body and smothering your zest for living?

Are you desperate to reclaim the energy, strength and stability that you thought was gone forever?

Youre not alone.

Millions of folks in their 60s, 70s and beyond have settled for a sedentary life of restriction, pain and exasperation. As a result, their life becomes a shadow of what it once was. They end up sitting on the sidelines of life, convinced that theyve passed their use-by date.

Its hardly surprising that so many seniors live this way. After all, that is the expectation that society has been putting on them for centuries. After your 40th birthday, the downward slide sets in. Every year youre getting weaker, feebler and less mentally sharp. By the time you hit retirement age, youre ready to join the slippers and checkers brigade. Your body is progressively packing up on you so, rather than fighting it, you may as well get used to it.

If thats the future you want to live, then please put this book down and go back to what you were doing.

But, if youre ready to reject societys confining attitude toward aging, reverse the natural effects of growing older and reclaim the body, the joy of living and the freedom of movement that you deserve, then you are on the right page.

This book totally rejects the conventional wisdom about aging. There is nothing inevitable about getting weaker, less steady on your feet and more overweight as you age.

Of course, these things will happen if you do nothing to stop them. After all, age-related decline is a real thing

• You will lose muscle mass every year after the age of 40.
• Your metabolism will slow down, making it harder to keep the weight off.
• Your muscles, joints and tendons will lose their flexibility and strength.

But that doesnt mean that you cant do anything about it. Just as you take medicine to counter the effects of a disease, there is a form of medicine you can take to offset every single age-related physical decline.

It is strength training.

Yes, strength training.

Strength training and seniors havent traditionally gone together. Yet the research, and the real-life experiences of countless people, is undeniable. Strength training is the key to reclaiming the body that you thought was lost forever.

Of course, strength training is just one aspect of a total fitness program for seniors. But it is the most important. Thats why, even though this book provides you with a total fitness program that covers all areas, strength training is at the core of the program.

This book has been designed as an interactive resource to guide you into a health and fitness lifestyle that will enable you to break free from the chains of aging and live your best life. So, theres more for you to do than just read the words. You will have activities to perform that are integral to the successful implementation of the entire program. To truly benefit from this resource, please dont skip past these sections. Pause your reading and complete the activity so that you can build upon it as you develop the habits that will turn your life around.

As a certified personal trainer, Ive worked with hundreds of clients of all ages. But Ive developed a special affinity for those aged 55 and over. Ive seen their frustrations first hand and their exhilaration as they are able to reclaim their youthful strength, mobility and vigor. During several years of working in a physical therapy clinic, I developed a series of workout programs that have worked wonders for older men and women, allowing them to

• Become stronger
• Reclaim their balance
• Reduce their blood pressure
• Improve their cardiovascular fitness
• Regain their confidence

Those are the very programs presented in this book. And dont think youll have to spend all day working out to get results. The longest workout program in this book is just twelve minutes long!

Heres what youll discover in this book

• How to conquer the mental aspect of working out
• What to do to unleash the power of goal setting and visualization
• Why what you thought you knew about old people and exercise is just plain wrong
• The three-step method to cementing the exercise habit into your life
• Why walking isnt the best use of your exercise time and what is
• Why you dont need to buy expensive equipment, join a gym or pay a personal trainer to get in the shape of your life
• Why strength training is the key to reversing the effects of aging and how to ease into it at your level
• Eight stretches for unlocking total body movement
• A complete senior workout program, broken down by level to suit every senior s situation
• The essential things you need to do after your exercise sessions to supercharge your results
• And much more

Before we can start rebuilding your body, though, we need to rid ourselves of the self-defeating beliefs that are preventing so many older people from reaching out to grab hold of the sort of life they should be living. Thats why our first chapter explodes the myths surrounding seniors and fitness.

So, are you ready to reclaim the body that you thought was gone for good?

Turn the page and lets do it together.

Chapter One:

T

he reason that so many older people are suffering from illness, limited mobility, fall injuries and a general diminished quality of life isnt that they are getting older. It is because they have been led to believe that theres nothing they can do about it. As a result they simply accept their lot and constrict their lives accordingly.

Yet, all of the beliefs that underlie that type of mindset are false. They are part of the litany of myths and mistakes that are keeping so many people chained to a life of old aged conformity. Here are seven senior exercise falsehoods that we need to destroy before we can get to what really works.

1. Stop Walking So Much!

Dont get me wrong walking is a fantastic form of exercise for seniors. Getting into the daily walking habit will benefit you both physically and mentally. It will engage your metabolism so that you burn more calories for weight loss. Walking also increases blood flow to the brain, improving memory and cognition.

Regular walkers will experience better sleep, and it is a great way to unwind, revel in the joy of nature and soak up the sun s rays. Psychologist Jacqueline Schiff advises all of her patients to walk daily, saying that, The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk.