Don’t Punish Yourself in the Gym
So you’re getting older—40, 50, or 60-plus. You’re still active. You still make exercise a priority, and you’ve come to accept that a painful workout is just part of getting older. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Not at all. In fact, there shouldn’t be any pain while you go through the various movements of your exercise routine.
The goal is to make exercise for older adults accessible, practical and most importantly pain free. It’s about finding the best workout that maximizes comfort, while providing results.
PAIN DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUAL GAIN
“No pain, no gain.” That’s the time-honored saying of gym rats and exercise enthusiasts. But that just isn’t the case, especially for older adults.
Think about it. Who would continue doing an activity that causes ongoing pain and discomfort? Let’s face it, you’re less likely to stick with a workout or activity if it’s an unpleasant experience. The focus has to be on finding something you’re going to maintain. If you’re always hurting before, during and after a workout, you’re not going to stick with it.
What that means is finding solutions that keep older adults comfortable while in motion and avoids lingering pain after the activity. One possibility is finding ways to work the muscles without working the joints. That may be improving form, posture or running gait. It could also mean assessing a person’s pain-free range of motion and beginning exercises within that range.
The key is creating individualized therapies and exercises that meet the client where they are—not where they used to be or where they want to be—and helping them progress toward a goal of pain-free fitness.
FORM AND FUNCTION
Regardless of age, exercise should always include a combination of strength training and cardiovascular exercise. The difference when working with older adults is thoroughly evaluating their fitness level based on factors including overall health, past or present injuries and chronic conditions like arthritis or osteoporosis. Then you have to consider their current level of activity: Do they exercise regularly, a few days a week or rarely. How vigorously do they workout? Do they lift weights?
Once you’ve outlined those factors, then you can begin to assess the best exercises based on where they are and where they want to be. Exercises may include developing functional movement strategies and techniques for targeting daily pain or mobility issues such as knee pain from getting up and down in a chair.
Form and mobility are the first things to focus on before moving on to more rigorous cardio or adding weights to strength training. Taking a step-by-step approach (and perfecting functional movements first) will ensure a more comfortable and effective workout.
What that means is instead of loading up on weight quickly, strength training for someone in their 50s or 60s may challenge them with more reps while focusing on form, before increasing weight. In terms of cardio, if someone has unstable hips or balance issues, running may not be for them. You’ve got to start off slowly and increase rigor over time to prevent injury.
The most important thing to think about in terms of exercise as we get older is the function of movement: picking something up off the floor and putting it on the shelf or walking with the grandchildren. Making exercise functional will keep older adults active and able to do the things they enjoy for longer.