Exercising when older - how to do it?

Question

Hi - I am pretty fit for my age but find that my body is aching after eating certain acidic foods and also after exercising e.g. gardening. Can anyone tell me how to strengthen my muscles (I believe this takes the strain off joints)? Throughout my life I have been very strong compared with other girls and been able to e.g. open jars, lift heavy objects etc. I am trying to avoid such foods/drinks as tomatoes, oranges, wine, sugar, acidic foods, salicylates etc. I also make up alkalising water to drink throughout the day. I am quite active but am VERY disappointed to find my body just deteriorating!! I tried exercising on the floor a couple of days ago but ended up feeling sore and stiff 2 days later. HELP if you can, please. I am willing to put quite a bit of work into this but also want to be careful. I am a trained nurse and in the past have enjoyed such sports as squash, aerobics, jazz ballet but mainly only walking recently. Thanks.

Answer 1

All of those activities you list are high impact sports that play havok on your joints.

Good low impact exercises are treadmill, exercise bike and orbital stepper. These give you aerobic fitness with low impact... so reducing stress on joints but still giving your ticker the workout it requires.

Muscle soreness is something that occurs when you exercise. It comes with the territory. Make sure you stretch properly after exercise. Better still, enlist yourself into a pilates class or a little bit of yoga... these tone your muscles and stretch them at the same time.

You think you are dissapointed. I got all enthusiastic about exercise.. then while doing push ups I injured my shoulder.. only to be told my shoulder is riddled with arthritis and I need a plastic shoulder reconstruction! I'm just a baby.. lol !