As you grow older, integrating a variety of exercises into your wellness routine will be one of the best ways to keep your workouts fresh and exciting to maintain your fitness. However, there will always be some exercises that are better for your body than others, and cardio is essential for increasing your lung capacity and strength of your heart to enhance your quality of life at any age. Not sure which form of cardio will be ideal for helping you reach your health goals and allowing you to feel like your best self?
We spoke with Joy Puleo, M.A., PMA-CPT, PT, ACSM certified Pilates guru for her advice on the best sweat session for maintaining fitness as you age, and with her guidance it will be easier than ever to tailor your workout plan to your unique needs.
For Fat Loss
If your goal for working out is to lose fat throughout your body, Puleo suggests focusing on varying your cardio formats to achieve the best results. Alongside a strength training routine, integrating three to five cardio sessions each week will promote the best success in shredding fat and increasing calorie burn, and switching between exercises with varying intensity will function to keep your body on its toes.
“Fat stores in [the arms, legs, and stomach] can be stubborn and resistant to change as they are related to the presence of estrogen and the balance of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Even as we lose estrogen during menopausal years, the relationship of these three hormones can get wonky and, in that tumult, we see shifts in how we store and utilize fat,” explains Puleo.
To target this issue, switching up your workouts reduces the amount of fat your body clings to while also allowing you to never get bored. “Estrogen loves fat and is water soluble. Flush it out with longer duration, moderate cardio,” suggests Puleo. “What is moderate cardio? On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being head hanging, sweaty exhaustion and 5 being a brisk walk with the dog, aim for 7. You can keep a steady pace, but you have an elevated heart rate.” For this, walking, jogging or biking are all great options she suggests that can help to increase fat burn and create the results you’re aiming for.
However, alongside this moderate intensity cardio, Puleo also recommends doing higher intensity training in intervals to boost your heart rate as well. “By pushing the threshold in these short bursts, you are actively working on increasing your cardio-respiratory fitness. You are also putting greater demand on working muscles and building strength,” she says. For these cardio days, trying out a HIIT style class or a spin or cycling activity will work to elevate your heart rate and increase your lung capacity and overall wellness down the line.
For Defining Your Waist
Puleo explains that if your goals fall less into fat loss and more into defining your waist, you’ll want to tailor your cardio plan to help lower cortisol levels within the body. “Cortisol is a stress hormone that often gets out of balance after age 50. Since it is a stress hormone, the best way to deal with it is to disarm it,” she explains. “Slow, steady and breath focused work can be helpful here.”
While yoga and pilates are certainly less strenuous than running or cycling, they can help to lower stress levels and boost heart health which will in turn provide visible changes within your body without overexerting yourself. Keeping in mind that balancing strength training with cardio will provide the most significant results, choosing the proper form of cardio for your goals can help to optimize your exercise routine and improve your quality of life.
