Maintaining Heath & Wellness Over 50
Having a 10-minute wellness routine matters the most when you’re over 50.
Maintaining our health status is incredibly important for anyone at any age, though this stalwart commitment to health becomes perhaps more important as we approach menopause.
As women approach the age of 50 and menopause nears, hormone fluctuations and sexual changes occur. Women may also experience mood disturbances, and hot flashes as well.
Sound familiar?
These bodily changes can cause you to lose sleep, elicit changes to your appetite and eating habits, contribute to weight gain and the loss of estrogen can also decrease bone density and increase your risk of osteoporosis.
Additionally, the decremental loss of estrogen can also increase the risk of some cancers and metabolic alterations that may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Do not despair however, a lot can be done to increase or maintain health in the face of your changing physiology (1).
Proper nutrition, sleep and daily exercise are factors that can decrease your chances of developing the preceding conditions or to lessen the severity if you already have a diagnosis.
For our purposes, we will discuss some simple exercises you can begin now. And perform in just 10 minutes for wellness with minimal or no equipment!
Here’s how to start a 10-minute wellness routine daily
Jog or walk in place
This can be done anywhere, whether it be a stroll around the block, on a treadmill or walking/jogging in place at home.
Squats
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, keeping your torso erect, chest up and eyes looking forward, and with your glutes engaged, squat your glutes towards the ground.
If your knees are sensitive, you can always decrease your speed, do not descend as far down and perhaps use support for balance.
You can advance this move once mastered, by performing a jump upon rising and landing softly on the balls of your feet.
Alternating lunges
You can choose to perform these as forward or backward lunges, just ensure that the bent knee in front of you does not hinge over your toes as it can increase risk of knee injury.
Alternate the lunging leg and use stability if needed.
You can reduce your speed or the depth of the lunge to make it less challenging, or conversely, advance it to a jump lunge if you are feeling confident.
Pushup with rotation
Assume a pushup position on your toes or knees to modify, keep your hips level with the spine and descend your chest towards the floor.
Upon rising to a plank position, balance on one arm and rotate your chest laterally.
Make sure you alternate these rotations each time you rise out of the pushup.
Standing crunch
Stand with feet less than hip-width apart, and arms raised over head.
Then proceed to bring one leg towards your midline/chest to both descending arms so that your elbows touch or are in proximity to the bent knee.
Alternate legs.
Final Thoughts
You can perform these exercises for 20 seconds each or even a minute each depending on your individual strength and fitness level and take breaks when needed within the 10-minute period.
These exercises can be easily modified or advanced as was mentioned and can even be performed with weights or bands for extra resistance and challenge.
Just always make sure you warm up and cool down and stretch before and after exercising to prevent injury.
Exercise is beneficial to increase bone density, improve mood, mobility, strength, sleep, longevity and helps to reduce the risk of developing chronic lifestyle diseases previously mentioned.
Best of all, they can be performed in your own living room; so, what are you waiting for?!
Resources: 1. (2019) & (Mishra, Mishra, & Devanshi, 2011).
Speaker, Author, Thought-Leader… and I really like this one, vibrant living culture creator; Golden Soror of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and Michigan Women’s Commission Appointee. With more than forty years of expertise in business management and personal development, I also have the distinction of receiving the NAWBO Top Businesswoman Award and the Booker T. Washington Legacy Award.