Do you avoid reading an article that mentions exercise and ‘women in their 40’s’ in the same headline? Is it because those articles all seem to start by telling you how your bones are going weaken if you don’t turn the treadmill down to basically “off?” Hey, you don’t want to hear about what you can’t do, you want to hear about what you can do.
Best exercises for Women? Read ahead!
That’s why we decided to create our “Best Exercises for Women in Their 40’s: Empowerment Edition.” Here we’re not going to focus on the negative effects of aging, but on the positive effects of working out and we’re also going to tell you the best ways you to do it. Here are a few workouts for women in their forties who could use a little sisterly support.
HIIT Workouts for Women in Their 40’s
Ready to HIIT the ground running? How about some High-Intensity Interval Training (also known as ‘the workout in which you push your body to the limit between rest periods in between that you wish were longer)?’ Although it may seem like some ancient form of torture, HIIT increases endurance, burns more fat than other types of exercises, and keeps burning them after your workout is done for a longer time.
Another wonderful thing about HIIT? It’s the ultimate exercise hack. Since you burn so many calories so quickly, you can keep the workout times to a minimum. So, while it may be the most unpleasant part of your day, you can do your HIIT workout in the amount of time you spend talking yourself into doing it. You’ll also improve your cardiovascular function, cholesterol function, and insulin sensitivity.
Swimming Workouts for Women in Their 40’s
Get out your fins and flippers; it’s time to release the mermaid within! Swimming gives you a whole-body cardiovascular workout that tones all the muscles in your body including legs, arms, and abs. (The buoyancy of the water also makes it easy on the joints.
Keep in mind though, swimming is a low impact activity, so you might want to supplement it with some cross-training or powerlifting. Combining cardio and swimming will give you a good allover workout.
TRX (Total Resistance Exercise) For Women in Their 40’s
With TRX, (Total Resistance Exercise), you can hang with the best of them! TRX training is suspension training, which means you do most of it hanging from cables suspended from the ceiling. Like pilates, it works
by using your body weight, as opposed to regular weights, to strengthen and lengthen muscles.
You can do almost any exercise on TRX, such as crunches or planks, only the force of gravity makes it a lot more challenging. TRX is also a quickie workout because of its intensity. A set of straps will run you about $200 if you have space and set up.
Pilates Workout for Women in Their 40’s
Good news! The answer to your lifelong quest for good posture is over! Your mom will be so happy. Pilates is a core strengthening exercise in which you balance your weight against itself to improve your balance. No aerobics necessary; toned muscles guaranteed.
Just make sure to work some aerobics into your routine; you’ll be doing a lot of precise moves and breathing techniques, but not too much cardio. Try putting in some time on the treadmill to get in your 30 minutes, five days a week (American Heart Association recommendation for aerobic exercise – see below for more).
Weight Training for Women in Their 40’s
When many of us think of weight training, we think, “Never gonna happen.” After all, grunting is so inappropriate, and tongs are never our best look. But no matter how unattractive the workout may seem, the results can be very appealing.
Weight training is not only good for burning fat, but it’s also great for the bones. When women use compound routines (ones that work for several muscle groups at the same time), it puts stress on the bones forcing them to become stronger. Compound movement in combination with reps is the perfect way to burn fat and maximize your fat-burning system.
Yoga Workouts for Women in Their 40’s
While it has been touted as a celebrity trend, yoga has actually been for over for 5,000 years – and there’s a good reason for that. More than just a workout fad, yoga combines strengthening and stretching poses with deep breathing and meditation or relaxation. (The stretches are only part of the path; the real goal is the meditation).
As such, yoga is a very effective stress reliever. And, while it’s not considered an aerobic exercise, yoga’s more athletic varieties can induce sweat, which makes some researchers speculate that it can be just as good as aerobic exercise when it comes to health benefits. It’s also low impact, so it goes easy on the joints.
Cardio Workouts for Women in Their 40’s
And if there’s anything that’s been around longer than yoga, it has to be cardiovascular exercise. Simply defined as a rhythmic activity that raises your heart rate into your target zone, man has been doing some form of cardio since he has been on earth – walking and running are the most basic examples.
However, if you want to get fancy with cardio, there are many options. If you have access to a gym, you can take advantage of the stationary bikes, elliptical trainers, rowing machines, and more. If you are a home exerciser, exercise videos and jumping jacks will work as well.
Either way, cardio is an essential component of any workout. It helps you burn fat, keeps your heart healthy, and reduces your risk of heart attack, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer.
Note: Start slow. As we said before, the AHA recommends 150 minutes per week to prevent heart disease. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you may have to do about 300 minutes of moderate to high-intensity exercise every week.
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