Fitness for Every Decade: What Every Woman Should Know

Regular physical activity is key to achieving optimal health at any age. May is Women’s Health Month. Read on to learn how exercise impacts women’s health during each stage of life.

Adolescence

Goal: Focus on enjoyable physical activities to boost mood and confidence.

Only 27% of high school students get the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity on all 7 days of the week. Apart from improving physical fitness, regular physical activity can positively impact emotional health in adolescents. Anxiety disorders affect more than 40 million North Americans annually and are most prevalent among 13- to 17-year-olds.

Girls are disproportionately impacted during the teenage years. Regular physical activity enhances self-esteem, improves mood, and promotes healthy body image in adolescent females. Parents and caregivers of teenage girls should encourage activities that are enjoyable and that are self-selected. Furthermore, physical activity in this stage of life should emphasize wellness and healthy lifestyle behaviors over weight loss.

Fitness in Your 20s

Goal: Focus on developing healthy habits to lower your risk for cardiovascular disease later in life.

The young adult years are a time for both personal and professional growth. The demands of perhaps finishing a degree, establishing a career, and managing evolving personal relationships can make it difficult to eat well and exercise regularly. Researchers found that participants 18-30 years old with high physical-activity scores combined with other healthy behaviors, such as no to moderate alcohol consumption, a healthy eating and never smoking, had significantly lower cardiovascular disease risk profiles by middle age.

Fitness in Your 30s

Goal: Focus on regular physical activity to promote bone health.

While osteoporosis is typically not diagnosed until the 50 or 60s (when symptoms start to appear), bone loss and disease progression begins much sooner. Women in their 30s should include physical activities that promote bone health. When it comes to exercise selection, load is paramount in building and maintaining healthy bones.

• Include resistance-training workouts i.e., Heavier weights, rather than lighter, are better for bone health.

• When selecting aerobic activities, be sure to include weight-bearing activities such as stair climbing and dancing several days per week. Low-impact activities such as indoor cycling and swimming are great for improving fitness, but they will not help you build stronger bones to the same extent as weight-bearing exercise. If possible, include high-impact aerobic exercises such as jogging and tennis.

• Apply the principle of progressive overload for further protection. Overtime, increase the load and intensity of your workouts to continue to improve both bone health and muscular fitness.

Fitness in Your 40s

Goal: Avoid age-related muscle loss by performing resistance exercise.

Decreased muscle mass which begins around age 40 and declines at a rate of 5 pounds per decade can reduce functional capacity, lead to unwanted weight gain and often precipitates muscle imbalances associated with lower-back pain and other musculoskeletal anomalies.

A cross-sectional study of recreational athletes ages 40 to 81 years who trained four (4) to five (5) days per week found no significant decrease in strength with age and no loss in total muscle mass. This study was among the first to demonstrate that losses in muscle mass previously attributed to aging may be the result of lack of use.

It appears that the old adage—use it or lose it—is true in this case!

Fitness in Your 50s

Goal: Exercise to maintain optimal health through menopause.

After menopause a woman’s risk for developing heart disease and having a heart attack dramatically increases. Researchers are not exactly sure why this occurs but believe it is related to a decrease in estrogen levels.

Many women reduce their activity levels upon entering menopause, but maintaining an active lifestyle can help women to achieve optimal health during this stage of life. In addition to providing protection from cardiovascular disease, exercise can help to ease menopause-related symptoms.

Fitness in Your 60s

Goal: Keep moving to prevent falls.

One (1) out of four (4) people over the age of 65 experience a fall each year, more women than men. As we age, the systems that help us to maintain our balance lose some of their functionality. As well, our reaction time slows, so when we trip, we have a harder time catching ourselves and preventing a fall. Taking care of our eyes, proper footwear and keeping our homes clear of tripping hazards are all important measures to take to prevent falls.

Balance training should be incorporated into all exercise programs for people over the age of 65 to reduce the risk of falls.

Fitness in Your 70s, 80s and Beyond

Goal: It’s never too late to start exercising.

It’s never too late to start exercising. For people in their 70s and 80s, exercise can help to attenuate a decline in functional capacity. The disability threshold, which is the point at which individuals begin to have trouble with their daily living activities such as bathing and dressing themselves, is often reached as we reach our late 70s and early 80s.

However, this can be delayed by maintaining an active lifestyle. Exercise programs incorporating movement patterns that mimic activities of daily living should be prioritized in this season of life.

Exercise positively impacts one’s health during each stage of life. So, whether you’re 19 or 99, be sure to make exercise a priority.

*Credit to: Jennifer Turpin Stanfield, M.A., ACSM EP-C, a professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

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