Paige Waehner - Strength Training for Seniors - Increase your Balance, Stability, and Stamina to Rewind the Aging Process

Day 7: Flexibility

SIDE BAND SQUAT WITH BICEPS CURLS

Loop the band under the feet, holding handles in each hand. Step out to the right into a squat while curling the handles up to shoulder level in a biceps curl. Step back and repeat, alternating sides.

1 x 16 reps

DEADLIFT WITH UPRIGHT ROW

Hold weights in front of the thighs and tip from the hips, back flat, lowering the weights towards the floor. Squeeze the glutes to stand and then pull the elbows up to shoulder level in an upright row. Lower the weights and repeat. Suggested weights: medium to heavy.

1 x 12 reps

SQUATS WITH OVERHEAD PRESS

Begin standing holding weights just over the shoulders. Lower into a squat, sending the hips back while keeping the abs in. Press into the heels and, as you stand, press the weights overhead. Lower the weights and repeat. Suggested weights: medium.

1 x 12 reps

REVERSE LUNGE WITH LATERAL RAISES

Start with feet together and weights at your sides. Step back into a reverse with the right foot. At the same time, lift the arms out to the sides to shoulder level. Lower the weight as you step back in and repeat, alternating sides. Suggested weights: light.

1 x 16 reps

STEP BACK WITH ROWS

Start with feet together and weights at your sides. Step back with the right foot, bending the left leg and tipping from the hips with the back flat. As you step back, pull the elbows up into a double arm row. Lower the weights, step back, and repeat, alternating sides. Suggested weights: heavy.

1 x 16 reps

SLIDE REVERSE LUNGES WITH REAR BAND FLIES

Begin with the feet together, right foot on a sliding device and holding a resistance band straight out at chest level. Keep the weight in the left foot as you slide the right leg back. At the same time, open the arms out to the sides, squeezing the shoulder blades together. Return to start and repeat all reps before switching sides.

1 x 12 reps

WOOD CHOPS

Hold a weight at chest level and step out to the right into a side lunge, sweeping the weight across your body and bringing towards the right wall. Step back while sweeping the weight diagonally up to the left. Repeat for all reps before switching sides. Suggested weight: light.

1 x 12 reps

PUSH-UPS TO CHILD’S POSE

On the hands and knees with the back straight, lower into a push-up as low as you can. Press back as far as you can, stretching through the chest and back. Repeat, alternating a push-up and child’s pose.

1 x 12 reps

TRICEPS CORE KICKBACKS

On the hands and knees, hold a weight in the right hand. Pull the elbow up to torso level and contract the abs to keep your body stable. Straighten the right arm, taking the weight behind you and squeezing the back of the arm. Lower and repeat for all reps before switching sides. Suggested weight: medium.

1 x 12 reps

CHEST FLIES KNEES UP

Lie on the floor holding weights straight up over the chest, palms in. Take the knees up in the air, contracting the abs. Keeping the knees up, open the arms out to the sides, a slight bend in the elbows. Take the arms out to the side until the elbows touch the floor and then the arms back up over the chest. Suggested weights: light to medium.

1 x 12 reps

However far you made it with the 12-week program, whether you got in every workout or not, the first thing you should do is to celebrate your success. Changing your daily habits and working your body are not easy things to do... if they were, everyone would do it, right?

Just some ideas include:

✓ A weekend getaway

✓ A night out

✓ A spa treatment like a massage

✓ Time reading your favorite book or listening to music

✓ Splurging on some new workout clothes

Celebrating is the way you mark what you’ve done as something worthwhile in your life. Something you’ve stuck with and something that made a difference.

Celebrating should be something that happens throughout the process, whether it’s a small goal or a larger one.

But the real key to using exercise to your advantage involves two things: consistency and momentum.

You may hear people talk about staying motivated, but motivation usually isn’t the first ingredient in the exercise mix. Being consistent with your workouts makes you more disciplined. Your body starts to expect that workout at 7:00 each morning and, as a result, it gets easier to do it.

That discipline adds to the next important ingredient which is momentum. Momentum builds as you increase that consistency and you get on a healthy lifestyle path that makes it easier to stick with.

So, what happens when you get to the end of this program? That doesn’t mean you stop exercising! You have 12 weeks of practice that will help carry you into the future and maintain everything that you’ve gained over time.

First, it helps to get a broad view of the basic principles of strength training so you know exactly how to change your workouts when you’re on your own.

MANIPULATING THE PRINCIPLES OF STRENGTH TRAINING

The underlying principles of strength training are what guide us in choosing every aspect of our workouts, from the exercises we do to the number of reps and sets we choose.

Once you have a broad view of these principles, you can use them to manipulate different elements of your workouts so you can keep making progress and keep things interesting, something you’ll tackle on your own at this point.

THE OVERLOAD PRINCIPLE

You’ve learned that the only way to build strength and get better at something is to give your muscles more than they’re used to handling.

This is important because the more your muscles do, the more they are capable of doing. That’s why our bodies get sore when we change something; they have to adapt to those new challenges.

That means that, once you’ve built a basic foundation and mastered each exercise, as you did in this program, it’s time to shift your focus to elevating your goals.