With age, joints and tendons get lazy, and moreover, painful and annoying bone diseases can occur. To avoid trouble, simply do your exercises program every day to feel as young as in your 20’s. The best part is that you do not need any elliptical exercise equipment or God knows what else fancy exercise equipment. You just need some simple maintenance exercises.

Your metabolism will be strengthened and you will be able to avoid any cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Worldwide experts advise people that already passed over their second youth to exercise their knees, arms and back and to avoid any fast weight loss diets because this can strain their already brittle metabolism. This can leave them with permanent damage to their internal organs. A healthy diet should suffice to ensure fabulous health.

Here are some simple exercises you can give a try:

Sit on the floor and supports your head off a soft cushion. Keep your shoulders straight and sit back while keeping your arms at shoulders level while resting on the floor. Stay in this position for 15 seconds and then get up. Repeat five times.

Continue with exercising your leg muscles. Sit upright and support your arms on a wall. They must be fully stretched. Eyes forward, flex your legs backward without sitting on your toes. Hold for few seconds and return to the original position. Flex both knees for several seconds. Repeat this procedure three or five times, but rest up after each set.

These are light exercises for your joints and ligaments. Some may consider them too easy and useless but they do make a difference. Start with them and as time passes you can add more difficult exercises.

One way to keep yourself fit when you are over 50 is to take up walking. You may not have to walk far or for long to begin with but before you know it you will be covering great distances in no time. You could take some music to listen to or you could walk with a friend (the time passes a lot quicker when you are chatting). Another good way to keep fit is to join some exercise classes. There are special over 50 classes that do things a bit slower and have more of a low impact range rather than high. Thirdly you could always take up golf. It will make you new friends and will also be a great excuse for a few drinks afterwards!

But if you feel like these options make you old before your time and you want an over 40 exercise that will push you to the limits then why not give bodybuilding a go? It is fun, energetic and will definitely not make you feel old. Plenty of over 50′s are doing it and they can be found in gyms across the whole country. Why not try something a bit more challenging while you still can and save those older style sports for when you really are old.

Seniors are advised to check with a doctor before starting any fitness routines. If you suffer from joint pain, chest pain, breathing problems or illness then a doctor can advise how much exercise you can safely undertake.

Yoga Works for Almost Everyone
A good choice of low impact exercise is yoga. Many people do not consider yoga to be a form of exercise however it is. It can help ease arthritis symptoms and prevent bone and muscle conditions. Yoga helps with flexibility and also benefits the mind by reducing stress and encouraging relaxation. Breathing and meditation are important parts of yoga.

Hatha yoga is a popular form of yoga as it uses physical motion and breathing exercises to improve strength and balance. There are many other types of yoga so finding the right one for you is important. There are yoga classes you can take, or videos you can watch and learn how it all works. Understanding the basics of yoga puts you on course to enjoy this relaxing form of exercise for the rest of your life. The best part is that you don’t even have to leave the home to do yoga.

Water Exercises Feel Great
Another great exercise type for seniors is water fitness routines. Water encourages muscle relaxation as well as cardiovascular exercise. There are a surprising number of exercises that can be done in the water besides swimming. Many swimming pool clubs offer classes for water exercises, some targeted at seniors only.

There are a good selection of water equipment devices that can be used to assist in exercise routines. These include foam weights, balls, kick boards and noodles. These might look like fun, but they also serve an important fitness and health purpose by encouraging the exercise of particular body parts. Water aerobics is becoming more popular and preferable for many people compared with aerobics in the gym which can take a heavier toll on the body. In a pool, the water takes the weight of your body so you are not likely to get knee or other injuries.

There are many other low impact exercises that are enjoyable and good for seniors like walking, dancing, and biking. Find one that you like and do it regularly for better health and spirits.

Perhaps you never heard of circuit training until recently, it’s definitely not the exercise routines that were popular in your youth. When you were young, seniors were encouraged to be couch potatoes. Ladies were not supposed to break a sweat. Those days are long gone. More and more seniors want to lead active interesting lives and that requires stamina and pretty good physical conditioning.

Circuit training is all about variety, timing, and repetitions at a level that challenges but does not harm the participant. Seniors should start circuit training at a mild intensity level in order to let their body become accustomed to the new movements. Intensity can gradually increase with time. Circuit training, unlike weight training, involves working out for a certain period of time on each exercise, rather than focusing on the weight as in weight training. There is usually not much rest in between the different circuit exercises so it is not unusual to feel a little puffed the first few times as your body gets used to this new form of exercise.

Circuit training always includes warm up and cool down stretches. This ensures the muscles are not pulled and that circulation is flowing. New circuit training members will generally have slightly longer breaks in between exercises and often a dedicated break half way through the session. As people improve their fitness, breaks become shorter and workouts increase in intensity.

Circuit training can include exercise like step climbing, light weights, treadmill walking and jogging, stretches, cycling, sit ups, push ups and even skipping or jumping jacks. Your instructor will let you know which exercises are included in your routine.

Seniors should join a circuit training program that fits their level of physical fitness. For example, some active seniors enjoy spinning (on a bike), while others get out of breath just thinking about it. Many of the more advanced exercise routines are simply too intense for older seniors, but may be just right for boomers. Seniors do not want to injure themselves by doing exercises which are too strenuous on the body and heart. Ideally the circuit trainer should have a very good idea of what sort of exercises will benefit seniors, and as such be able to formulate a training routine that incorporates all activities that seniors can undertake.

Circuit training is affordable. Many health insurance plans will pay for membership at a local YMCA/YWCA or gym. If the idea of walking on a treadmill or using a Cybex machine is terrifying, you might want to start with the Silver Sneakers programs that are geared to older retirees.

Seniors can benefit from circuit training in many ways including improving the heart, assisting the muscles and bones by keeping them active, meeting new people, and reducing stress. Circuit training is an inexpensive and fun way to keep up your fitness levels whilst enjoying the company of other seniors at the same time.

In a study comparing people who did Tai Chi and those that didn’t, improvements were seen in those completing the exercises after just three months of participation. After six months, significant health benefits could be noticed. This proves that the longer one participates in Tai Chi, the more health benefits there are to be acquired. This is very good news that results can be seen even after a short time.

Once Tai Chi is an established part of a senior’s life, they have the added ability to undertake more vigorous exercise. Tai Chi also has a much lower drop out rate compared with regular exercise programs which many seniors find too intensive and unenjoyable. Tai Chi is becoming a more attractive form of fitness for aging people. Not only are there physical benefits, but people noted a great increase in mental energy whilst feeling more relaxed and at ease with life in general.

Another study involved senior citizens who were prone to falling. Half the group performed Tai Chi three times per week for 12 weeks whilst the other half did not exercise. The Tai Chi group proved increased physical fitness after a short time particularly in the ankle and knees. Flexibility was also improved as was balance which is important to prevent falling. The Tai Chi group could even walk faster after the Tai Chi program ended.

Compared with the 50% fall rate of the group who did no fitness, the Tai Chi group experienced a 31% fall rate. This proves that exercise like Tai Chi can provide many health and mental benefits for seniors. It can help older people avoid falls as it helps develop balance and strength muscles as well as improve flexibility. It can also, as mentioned, assist in avoiding bone fractures that result from weak, brittle bones.

This low impact exercise is enjoyable and only moderately strenuous so is likely to be something that seniors can keep up on a regular basis without feeling fatigued or overloaded. Of course, Tai Chi is a good exercise to start at any age. If you are still a few years from retirement, you may find that Tai Chi or yoga would be great exercises to start doing.