Seniors can benefit from doing Hiit workouts

Fitness for the growing senior community

If you’ve been working for the last thirty years and have finally decided to call it quits – congratulations. Now starts the next phase of your life – enjoying the freedom to live a healthy and prosperous life – hopefully fulfilling your lifelong dreams. No more getting up at o’dark thirty to punch the clock.

These can be the best times of our lives but they can also be the worst times of our lives. By that I mean you can enjoy these times if you had made the time to stick to a health and fitness lifestyle while doing your daytime hustle.

If however, you are like most retired or soon to be retired people you could end up sitting on the couch watching TV all day and raiding the refrigerator between commercials. This can only lead to a disastrous outcome. It doesn’t have to be this way.

If you never took up the exercise habit or did it occasionally in your previous life now is the time to get busy with a consistent workout routine. I get very saddened when I read stories of people who worked all their lives and finally made it to retirement only to succumb to an illness that could have been avoided if they had only taken better care of themselves.

Starting today you can do something to put the odds in your favor for a quality life going forward by starting your own fitness lifestyle. Even if you are not yet retired now is a good time to start. One of the best and fastest ways to accomplish this is to do what I call Hiit weight training. This is a unique way to get fit in shortest amount of time. In fact as I mentioned in a previous post it can be done by investing as little as ten minutes per day.

Hiit weight training is combining high intensity interval training with a proper resistance workout. This is one of the best ways to prevent muscle atrophy, avoid osteoporosis, maintain bone strength, and boost your quality of life. If you have breathing problems hiit workouts will help to improve your respiration. It can also greatly improve your balance and aid in better mobility. This means improved walking or just having fun with the family.

Let common sense rule the day

There are many other benefits you can get from doing hiit weight training that applies directly to the graying community but it cannot be over-emphasized – start at a slower pace and build up over time.

Always warn up and cool down and stay hydrated before, during and after to prevent injuries.

It’s also important to have a medical checkup and if you have not done so yet – develop a good relationship with a dietician who can advise as to the best way to nourish your body for optimum health. You can find a good one in your community or go online for a virtual dietician who is qualified to practice.

Some other things to consider are pre-existing conditions such as pre-diabetes or diabetes, breathing issues, heart problems and cancer. Follow your doctor’s orders and pay close attention to how you’re feeling. If you have any of these or other medical condition I would recommend getting a workout partner.

You don’t have to join a gym facility to experience the full benefits of an exercise program. You can do hiit weight training in the comfort of your home and find a local track to walk or run on. I bet there is one at the nearby high school. In fact you may be able to join an exercise program there.

Let these be the best times of your life. Recruit friends and family members to workout with you and even plan to enter the next 5k or 10k race coming up in  a few months.