The types of workouts that the TV gurus recommend seem to change on a weekly basis, but if you ask any fitness trainer they’ll always tell you that if you want total fitness then the cardio exercises are the best.
Cardio offers the advantage of burning lots of calories, increasing lung and heart health, and helps with weight loss as well. It can be low impact if joints are a problem, it can be done inside and out of doors, plus, most of the time no extra equipment is needed either.
That removes all of the excuses of time, cost, space, and health prerequisites, there aren’t any real reasons why every single person can’t get daily cardio exercise.
Some age groups should go easy at first and work their way up to longer sessions, here are some of the best cardio workouts for older men.
How Much Exercise Do You Really Need?
If you search online you’ll get lots of answers, most of them are very similar, or at least within a certain range. They are all basically correct, and any exercise you get is better than none, which is what most people get per week.
You’ll see recommended amounts of about 30 minutes per day, five days per week, or, 20 minutes of vigorous exercise 3 days per week.
Then, if you need to lose weight, which about 70% of all Americans, you should plan on increasing that to 60 to 90 minutes 5 days a week of moderate intensity.
If you’ve been a couch potato, like a huge number of the population are, then you should plan on working your way up from just a few minutes per day all the way to your desired goal.
You can also take breaks during your workouts that give your heart and lungs a chance to catch up, then go for another 5 or 10 minutes and rest again. This method will get you into shape faster than just short minutes every single day.
Sometimes The Best Workout Is The One You Don’t Notice
If you have a very sedentary job, and then go home to a sedentary lifestyle, then you are at risk for gaining weight, becoming obese, losing muscle tone, getting high blood pressure, having high cholesterol, your bones will weaken, and eventually have a stroke or heart attack.
On the other hand, if you can find two or three small walks that you can do every single day, you could stave off all of these diseases without even noticing your workouts.
One thing to realize is that, a 10 minute walk in the morning, plus a 15 minute walk for lunch, and then finally a 15 minute walk in the evening will all add up to 40 minutes per day of cardio.
You’ll never miss these small amounts of time spread throughout the day, but your body will reward you will a longer, more healthy life.
Here Are Some Of The Best Cardio Workouts For Older Men Or Women
Walking is by far the easiest, most available, and least harmful activity that you can do for better health (source: https://flexmastergeneral.com). All you really need are some decent shoes and you’re good to go.
If you encounter rain, a rain coat would be good to have to eliminate any excuses. If you have a dog, your dog will love you for taking them on a walk.
If it’s been awhile since you’ve been on an extended walk, start out by just going around one block, take a rest every 5 minutes if you need to. You’ll find that your body will get more in shape in just one or two days.
You’ll be able to walk farther, with fewer rests, in less than one week. If you want, take your workouts and spread them out in three different sets per day to get the most benefits with the least amount of strain.
Swimming, is the cardio with the least impact on the joints. You can’t hardly damage a joint when you’re in the water.
If you can, get into a water aerobics class, they’re offered for free in most public swimming pools and they are excellent for your whole body. You can also mix and match your cardios, walk three days per week, do water aerobics another day, and then find something else for another day to keep things interesting.
You Don’t Have To Call It Exercise
One of the problems with people not wanting to exercise is that it can be boring. You can combat some of that by getting a small mp3 music player with headphones to keep your mind occupied. Some people like to listen to music, while others enjoy books on tape, but there are millions of great things to listen to.
Another way to get yourself moving and not realize that you’re exercising is to start some activities like bowling, gardening, shuffleboard, golf, croquet, miniature golf, or even volunteering at the local food bank or other charity.
These activities are meant to keep you on your feet moving around and not sitting. Human bodies are made to be moving a good portion of every day.
Some other good cardios for older men, or women, would be things like a rowing machine, bicycling, stationary bike, stair climber, or a treadmill.
These are all great to have on hand, but they do tend to end up collecting dust in lots of spare bedrooms.
It’s really hard to get the motivation to use some of those machines. On the other hand, getting outside, talking to some of your neighbor friends, meeting people at the doggy park, or going bowling are all fun, adventuresome, and different every time you do them.
There is anticipation when you think about talking to some of your friends.
Final Thoughts
The bottom line is, if you think your cardio workout is boring and tedious, you’re less likely to keep it up. If, on the other hand, you have a daily inspiration, whether it’s an interesting neighbor, a bowling score to settle, or a great book to listen to, you’re not going to realize that you’re actually exercising. You’ll do it more often and for longer stretches because you enjoy it, and that’s really the whole idea.
