Midlife Movement
Movement can support many aspects of health, especially in midlife. Moving regularly helps fuel our metabolic fire and also helps to build more lean muscle. This is important as our metabolic rate decreases with age and we start to lose lean body mass from age 35, so it’s a good idea to try to find practical and sustainable ways to maintain this. Not only can movement prevent injury, it can also improve mood, boost endorphins and re-set from stress. Things I know I often need to benefit from!
Walking is a fantastic way to move our bodies, especially outside as being in nature can also be soothing for the nervous system. Rather than trying to find time for a long walk each day, it can be easier to pop out for a number of short walks. Try varying up the pace from time to time, from walking comfortably to not being able to talk comfortably. Walking after breakfast and lunch can also have a positive impact on our digestion and managing our blood sugar levels.
Getting out into daylight in the morning also helps to align our circadian rhythm and provides a fantastic vitamin D boost if you have some skin exposed. Being in daylight before 12pm effectively tells our command centre that it’s morning and to suppress melatonin which helps us to fall asleep in the evening.
However, in reality, whatever time of day you are able to get outside for a walk, you’ll still be reaping many health benefits! And if you can’t get out, running up and down the stairs, hoovering, throwing some air punches, dancing to a song that comes on the radio, jogging on the spot etc are all great ways to keep moving. Often 25% of the energy we burn is from the small movements we make throughout the day.
It can also be really beneficial to incorporate some strength or resistance exercises into your week once we hit midlife. However! Life can be really busy and fitting in a long session at the gym or at home can feel impossible. When time is limited, a really effective way to still remain metabolically active and burn off excess energy is something called exercise snacking.
Whether it’s doing some squats while waiting for the kettle to boil, some press ups against the bathroom wall while waiting for the shower to heat up or as many lunges as you can do walking around your home (or office!). If you fancy something a bit more energetic, a few minutes of star jumps or running on the spot are great ways to help our bodies handle glucose, flush out stress hormones and increase our metabolic rate. Even better, do these just before a meal for optimal metabolic health. (Just be sure to chat this through with a fitness professional if you’re new to exercising). It can sound rather random, but it’s a great way of stacking a habit on top of another to keep that muscle mass engaged.