Feeling Fit at 50 - The Workout

Lifestyle sometimes stops us from working out.  Shortly after my husband and I married we found that we had put on quite a bit of weight.  We were in our late 20’s and really had never had a weight issue or needed to exercise.  Married life, bigger meals and desk jobs all contributed to our expanding waistlines.  If you want to hear more about how we shaped up and how I am the most fit I’ve ever been, now, over the age of 50…Please keep reading.  This is not a paid or sponsored post.  I am sharing with you what has worked for me.  

Frustrated, my husband and I  turned to a personal trainer and nutritionist.  It was this best money spent.  During this time we learned how to exercise and strength train.  We learned the foods to eat and avoid.   This trainer taught us a gym routine and a home routine.  He helped us acquire economical equipment and even taught us what to do if we had no equipment available.  We worked out with our trainer for several years and were in terrific shape.  After having children in our 30’s we stopped going to the trainer and fell into life.  I am now in my 50’s and have been through lots of health ups and downs.  

In 2019 I resumed a workout routine at home.  I did not want to go back to a gym.  I wanted something that I could do every day or when the mood struck.  I had noticed a huge shift in my energy levels and started experiencing the onset of menopause.  I noticed rapid weigh gain and fatigue.  I was determined not to let hormones wreck havoc.  To top it off I went through some health issues requiring me to take Tamoxifen ( a drug that blocks estrogen),  this coupled with my hypothyroidism really scared me on the health and fitness front.  I knew if I didn’t act fast the weight gain and muscle loss could spiral out of control.  It’s always easier to get out of shape than into shape.  

This workout  routine is what I did to get myself back into shape a few years ago and is  what I go back to as a simple routine to keep me in shape in my 50’s. I am now 105 to 110 pounds, (at one point I was up to 130 pounds).  I am  5 feet and 2 inches and lean muscle,  Not only has this workout helped me it has helped my daughter who had thyroid surgery and now has hypothyroidism as well.  She lost 17 pounds and is now the most fit, active and healthy she’s ever been  This workout is doable at any age.  I have helped countless friends and family start this routine and maintain it.  Even my doctor who is the same age and stature as me has asked about my routine and eating habits and has incorporated some of it as well.   That said, I am not a doctor or personal trainer and I am not a nutritionist.  I have worked with numerous professionals to improve my health and today, I will share with you what is working for me.  

One of the best things you can do when embarking on a fitness plan is start tracking your daily food and water intake.  I use the free app My Fitness Pal.  This works great for maintaining healthy eating habits.  If you don’t use an app you can apply the same concept by writing everything down on paper.  If tracking on paper you would need to log each food and the calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein and fiber.   The great thing about My Fitness Pal is that you input your weight and height and goals.  You also input your level of exercise and the app will calculate how many calories, along with the macros that  you should consume daily to achieve these goals.   Additionally, tracking these things, will help you stop before eating, think, and list everything.  This is extremely important early  in a fitness plan.  It forces you to stop and think about what you are consuming or as my daughter says, “think about the worth of what you are consuming.  Another words, is this food worth the calories it contains or is the a better option.  The app has the option to type in a food and most are already there with all nutritional information.  You can so scan labels and the nutritional information populates.   To start, I don’t recommend trying to diet.  Simply, track everything you consume in a day and monitor this over a week or two.  It’s eye opening to track it all.  

Once you are set for tracking your food intake and logging your water consumption you’re ready to work out.  My Fitness Pal also has a place to log exercise and it  takes this into account with the calories you can consume.  I will tell you more about the food I eat in a later blog post.  I started my first week of exercise doing a 30 second plank, followed by 20 squats.  I did this every day for a week.  By the end of the week I was feeling stronger and confident that I could do more.  Also, by the end of the first week I was putting a lot more thought into what I was eating everyday.  I think for most people making any change in life is about breaking bad habits and the best way to do that is first to interrupt that habit and shift your thoughts and second to replace it with something better.  

Now you’ve made it through your first week of doing the plank and squats, it’s time to up the workout a little.  Add on just a little cardio.  Walk 10 minutes, ride a bike 10 minutes, if you have stairs walk up and down for 10 minutes.  You will be amazed at how quickly this little bit of cardio just prior to your strength training will do.  Also, this does not need to be intense.  Just move..  That is key.  Immediately after your 10 minute warmup, do your plank for 1 minute if you can, and 2 sets of 20 squats.  Next:
1.  Using a 10 pound dumbbell or a resistance band do bicep curls.  Do as many as you can on each arm.  My routine started with 10 on each side.  I worked up to 2 sets of 10 on each side.   
2.  Now using a chair or bench do tricep dips.  Start out doing as many as you can comfortably, aim for 10.  I now maintain   doing 30.
3.  Next lay on your side and bend the bottom leg to a 90 degree angle.  Keep the top leg straight and slightly point the toe.  Do leg lifts with this top leg.  Start with 25 on each side and work your way up.  I now do 100 on each side to maintain. 
4.  Flat on your back do leg lifts.  10 on each leg..
5.  Do scissor kicks where your legs are slightly off the floor and you move them back and forth like a scissor.  
6.  Do 10 crunches at the side angle, 10 at the middle and 10 at the other side angle.  
7.  Lay on your stomach and do 50 kicks at the knees, bringing you feet toward you bottom.  
8.  End with some push-ups, try to start with 5 - 10 and work your way up.  i break up my pushups now into 20 and do 100 total throughout the day.   

You can see a demo of my workout routine on my YouTube channel.  I also, post workouts and food and nutrition info on my instagram. 
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This entire workout can be completed in less than 30 minutes once you are used to the routine.  That makes i much easier to stick with.   My daughter says the floor exercises make it easier too.    There’s multiple benefits here.  Not only will you improve your fitness level and health, You may lose unwanted weight and notice that you feel better and more confident as a result.  energy levels will increase.  Not only all of this but strength training is so important for us as we age.  Using some amount of weight or resistance ensures that our bones stay healthy and our mobility in tact for longevity.   

Don’t let life get in the way of your fitness and health.  Incorporate something you don’t mind doing and in a time frame that you can live with.  You will be amazed with how it really does work.    Please comment and let me know how your journey to fitness and health is going.  I love engaging with others in similar circumstances. 

Keep following my blog for more workout and food inspiration.  You can also find me on social media @SheDo50Too where I post videos and links for workouts and food.  Subscribe to my newsletter for even more inspiration, information, resources and product deals.  

​Wishing you health in all things and success in your fitness endeavors!!! 

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