Fitness over 50: Elasticity is the key to youth

Embrace Jumping. Think about it. As a kid you happily jumped, bounced and bobbed along like you were made of rubber. When you fell you bounced right back.

As we get older, we become less physically active and as a result are more likely to injure ourselves when performing activities of daily living or during the occasional active weekend. When that happens, well-meaning friends and sometimes even doctors tell us we shouldn’t be doing “those things” at our age. Instead of accepting the status quo, adopt a resilient mindset. Stop believing the myths that prevent you from living a full life. You can train in the gym for power, strength, joint stability and resiliency to regain much of the elasticity of your youth.

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Let me gradually introduce you to exercises that build strength and confidence. I incorporate squats, leg band exercises, body combat, spinning and weight training to create greater strength and stability around your joint and gradually introduce hopping or jumping to increase elasticity enabling your body to handle life’s bumps, slips, trips and falls with more ease by being better able to react to them. This is done by being strong in the joints and adopting a program that eases into these jumping-type exercises so as not to overload your joints. Many shy away from these types of movements but the reality is they doing them makes you better at doing them.

Imagine you are walking along and your right foot hits a bump in the sidewalk. You need to immediately shift your weight and quite literally “jump” to the left foot. Practicing this in a controlled setting in the gym by doing reactive type exercises such as jump squats makes you better able to handle that circumstance making it less likely that you fall.

If you want to regain confidence in your physicality and develop a sense of ease in your body, meet me at my brand new 7000 sq ft gym at 120 Country Club Gate Ctr, Pacific Grove, California. One-on-one coaching and group classes are available everyday from 4am-10pm. Call or text me today to get started (831)236-6199.