Exercise is important in all phases of life, but as you hit this decade, regular physical activity is essential for maintaining good health in an effort to avoid conditions such as high cholesterol, heart disease, or arthritis. If you experience any chronic medical conditions, make sure you work with your health care provider to identify the most appropriate types of exercise for your needs. That said, you can continue doing your favorite activities as long as they don’t cause you any severe physical discomfort.
In this decade, changing exercise is important not only to keep your muscles working differently but to engage your brain. Make sure to include at least 1 or 2 hard metabolic conditioning workouts a week because exercise that elevates levels of GH can also elevate levels of BDNF, the neurotransmitter responsible for producing new brain cells and improving cognitive function.
Learning new sports or activities can be another way to develop your brain; using your muscles differently can create new neural pathways in your brain, helping improve overall cognitive function. If your kids are out of the house and you have more free time, you can use it to learn a new sport or start a new hobby like dancing or martial arts, which provides essential mental and physical development.
Hopefully your 50s is also when you will have a little more free time and disposable income to take vacations and visit parts of the world you’ve always wanted to experience. Having the financial freedom to enjoy vacations such as hiking to Machu Picchu, taking a bicycle tour across France, kayaking in New Zealand, or skiing in Switzerland is one thing, but you also want to be fit enough to enjoy those vacations. Even if you cannot afford exotic destinations, you can start cycling and hiking the parks and trails in your area.
Identify and participate in any physical activities that you can perform on a frequent basis. Make sure to include at least 1 high-intensity core strength training and metabolic conditioning workout a week for optimal neuroendocrine stimulation.