After 50, people start getting frail and helpless, and it just gets worse every year.
They don’t care about how they look. They hate to try new things.
Right?
Wrong!
We’ve all heard these persistent, damaging falsehoods forever, and we love chipping away at them every day – just like the millions of active agers around the world who are living the beautiful truth that should set you free: Exercise is the miracle drug and the key to happy longevity.
Cody Sipe, a professor and co-founder of the Functional Aging Institute, fights ageism and focuses on functional ability rather than someone’s age.
Here’s how he focuses on some of the most common myths.
- Older people should never lift weights. In fact, not only can most mature people lift weights, but they should lift weights. Strength training builds muscle mass, which we lose as we age. And it protects bone health.
- Walking is good enough. Walking and jogging are nice first steps, so to speak – but we must do more. That includes strength, cardio endurance, balance, and mobility.
- You’ll hurt yourself if you exercise. It’s more dangerous to sit around the house all day than to move your body with purpose.
Most fitness markets miss the boat, too, focusing too much on lean, muscled young people rather than the people like you – who have the time and motivation to have strength, endurance, and flexibility.
We’ll chip away at these myths together.
Holly Kouvo is a personal trainer, functional aging specialist, senior fitness specialist, brain health trainer, writer, and speaker.