Most of what I have written involves the importance of exercise and making sure you get enough of it to grow and function as you get older.
It’s true. You need a lot of exercise of various types and amounts to really get the most from your body, no matter what your age. Physical movement is critical in providing the personal energy you need to remain independent.
BUT . . .
Can you do too much exercise? You bet you can. You can overtrain your body by doing too much, by repeating your sessions too soon or too often, and by not giving your body enough time to recover. What happens then?
You can overtrain your body.
OK. So what. What will happen to my body if I exercise too much and overtrain? Your muscles, joints and system become overly fatigued. Your energy level goes way down. You become more susceptible to injuries and infections. Your immune response declines.
As a senior who is new to exercise, or is planning to get back to exercise on January 1, there is a greater chance you will do too much, too often at too high an intensity. That’s natural. So why is that a bad thing? Because your body takes longer to recover the older you get. With sensible exercise, your body is far better prepared for an occasional overtraining response. But age, genetics, your current fitness level and what you eat will determine what your body can handle.
That’s also why seniors are encouraged to start slowly without heavy resistance to allow your body to slowly increase the capacity for exercise. Any good training program will have scaled intensity levels built into it to prevent doing too much, too often. That same program will also provide for adequate recovery time for your body to adapt.
So, as we approach the season of “new intentions” for fitness and weight loss, by all means get started with a good, solid exercise program. Just be careful at the beginning not to overdo it. That’s one of the main reasons people stop exercising after a month or two into a new year.
Thank you for reading.