Exercises to avoid doing For Women Over 50 (And What To Do Instead)

Regular exercise is essential for healthy ageing. Not only will it help you look and feel younger for longer, but it also does wonders for your overall health!

Exercise increases bone density, helps to regulate hormones, soothes menopausal symptoms, and combats age-related muscle mass.

However, exercise does carry with it some inherent risks and if you are prone to injury while exercising, there are some specific exercises that women over 50 should avoid. Let’s take a closer look!

Sit-Ups

If you want tight abs without all that flab, then skip sit-ups. Focusing on a small area of your muscles isn’t enough – especially most women over 50 tend to rely on momentum and their neck and back muscles, rather than their abdominal muscles.

To avoid injuring yourself without seeing results, you first need to focus on cardio and nutrition to burn fat. Then, concentrate on exercises that specifically strengthen your core, such as planking.

Standing Side Bends

Although ‘renowned’ as a simple way to get rid of fat, standing side bends are more effort than they’re worth. It’s incredibly easy to strain your back, as you’re likely to bend too far.

Russian twists are an excellent way to isolate and target your obliques. Start with a light weight, even a water ball, to add some resistance. Then, you can intensify it by using a medicine ball.

Donkey Kicks

Donkey kicks may seem like a simple, effective booty-building exercise for women over 50. However, they’re incredibly easy to do incorrectly and injure yourself. We tend to rely on momentum from our lower back muscles – which in this exercise, are unsupported as it is. You’ll likely notice that your lower back is taking all the strain, while your glutes are ignored.

Rather, try step-ups instead. Although you will be stepping up to a step various times on each leg, you can adjust the height to avoid knee strain.

If you avoid these exercises, you’ll be able to tighten up and reveal your inner goddess without hurting yourself or wasting time on ineffective exercises.

In fact, I have delved into years of research and self-experimentation to find out which exercises work best for women over 50. Not only fitness, but I’ve also learned incredible beauty, health and nutrition, fashion, and lifestyle secrets along the way that I share with women like you.

If you’d like to learn how to love yourself in all your fifty-something glory, visit Fabulous50s today!

Related Tag: Cardio for Women Over 50