A triathlete riding his bike suddenly suffers life-threatening distress. A golfer has a heart attack while golfing. A young athlete, perfectly healthy, collapses on the court. Famously, trainer Bob Harper of The Greatest Loser fame, had a massive heart attack while lifting weights and is only alive today because a doctor happened to be there to perform CPR.
These stories appear periodically in the news, or someone you know tells you about something they heard along these lines. Most often, the cause is heart-related, and generally any pre-existing heart issues were previously unknown. (Bob Harper was unaware of his genetic history of a cholesterol abnormality.)
In the last year or so, I’ve been thinking a lot more about my own potential sudden demise while working out. I mean, it could happen, right? This is a first for me. Obviously, suffering a heart-related incident is a risk of exercise of which I am well aware — in my line of work you have to assume it could happen at any time to any of your clients. I was CPR-certified for many years and kept an AED in the training facility because it is that much of a risk. There has never been an issue in all these years, for which I am so grateful!
But, until now, I’ve never worried about it for myself. It only dawned on me a few months ago that I’m now at an age where this is something that might behoove me to consider. (As an emphatic reminder, regardless of your age, if you have never worked out or done any kind of intense activity, you should always consider your heart and lung health prior to starting a workout program!)
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Why is this coming up now? I think as a normal process of aging we begin to think and feel differently about our own capabilities. Yes, I’m older, and perhaps no longer can I take for granted how much more our younger bodies can handle. Also, I’m ramping up intensity in cardio after some downtime. (Peloton is a wonderful workout but it asks a lot of your cardiovascular system!) And, in this last year I have witnessed so many who have lost loved ones to illness/incidents or have been diagnosed with random serious health issues that seemed to come out of nowhere.
Anything can happen at any time, and it does.
And then there is my own significant family history of heart issues that I remined blissfully unaware of until, five years ago, when my mother found herself in the ER in India after two days of “indigestion,” which was diagnosed as myocardial infarction — one artery fully blocked. Turns out both of her brothers and her father have had heart issues; I was subsequently informed by my cousin!
Between that and my vegetarian, teetotaling, mostly organic, non-GMO-food-eating father dying of stage four colon cancer less than two months post-diagnosis, I now think a lot differently about my own mortality! It’s not that I don’t take good care of myself, I do. But so did my parents . . . .
These experiences can make you think more about what you and your body, which we all tend to take for granted, can truly handle. Perhaps this same awareness makes you take a little better care of this precious body in which you reside, the only one you’ve got.
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Let’s review how you can best care for yourself while still allowing yourself a good and challenging workout.
1. Be not afraid. Exercise will always improve your overall health, wellness, quality of life and yes, longevity. There are risks of injury and death inherent in exercising, yes. But getting in your car every day also carries risk, and we still drive regularly. Work out smarter, not harder.
2. Exercise is inherently stressful, depending on your choice of programs. Biking will be harder on your body than gardening but will provide greater overall benefits. Lifting heavier weights provides greater muscle development and strength gains than lifting lighter weights. Any movement is good movement, regardless.
3. Get checked out by a medical professional prior to starting or restarting and exercise program, especially if you are sedentary or older (older means if you have any doubts at all about how you might react to challenging your body with exercise). It’s true they cannot completely rule out something happening at some point. But it provides a good foundation and some peace of mind.
4. Start with minimal intensity. Shorter duration of activity, less resistance, slower movement. Your body needs to understand you will be asking it to do more, but not so much that it puts you over the edge where it can’t keep up. There are so many benefits to exercise at any level of intensity, so err on the side of caution.
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5. Know and listen to yourself. If you don’t feel right, or you feel sick, or you are having trouble catching your breath, you must listen to your body. Don’t push through, or say to yourself, “I’ll just finish this workout” or ignore the signals. When in doubt, back off.
6. Take a step back if necessary. If you’ve taken a week off, or aren’t feeling 100%, or are distracted, it’s okay to do less or lift lighter or choose a different kind of activity for that occasion. Our bodies don’t function optimally all the time, and our workouts don’t need to be the most challenging or intense every time. Your physical and mental health will thank you!
7. Find an experienced coach. This works both ways — a good coach will push you but also offer objectivity in how much you should and shouldn’t challenge yourself. We can all use perspective, guidance and support.
As a natural consequence of aging, your body simply cannot function as optimally as it used to. Even if you’re in the greatest shape, you must make concessions to being older that you didn’t have to do when you were younger. Nor can you ever go wrong at any age being aware of the inherent risks of exercise and taking action to mitigate those risks.
Few of us, including me, probably need to worry about dropping dead during a workout. But if doing so makes us care for our own health and well-being more conscientiously and carefully, then a little awareness of our own mortality can be a positive force!
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— By Pritam Potts
Coach Pritam Potts is a writer and strength coach. After many years of training athletes and clients of all ages as co-owner of Edmonds-based Advanced Athlete LLC, she now lives in Dallas, Texas. She writes about health & fitness, grief & loss, love & life at www.mrsathlete.net and www.advancedathlete.com.
Ever feel like beginner-friendly workouts are anything but?
That’s how BODi Super Trainer Lacee Green felt, so she devised a three-week, entry-level program designed for genuine newcomers to exercise—or those just getting back into it.
“My beginner-only plan is for every body and everybody,” Green tells Fit&Well.
Green’s program combines low-impact cardio, strength, core and mobility workouts for a total of five sessions a week and 30 minutes a day.
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One of the routines she loves—that she says will provide a flavor of the plan—is a total-body cardio workout inspired by seven different sports.
“There is no repetition, it’s all bodyweight and super fun,” she says. “We do basketball, we do pickleball, we do soccer, and it’s really going to get your heart rate up.”
It will all count toward the CDC’s recommended 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week, while incorporating resistance training elements to strengthen your bones and muscles, she explains.
Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox.
And Green has provided the full 10-minute routine below for you to try.
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10-minute cardio workout for beginners
Press play on the video above and Green will guide you through the workout, or keep reading to see what’s in store.
Green’s 10-minute beginner-only cardio workout is inspired by seven different sports that she says will help channel your inner athlete.
Each sport links to an exercise during the routine. Follow the short warm-up, then perform each move for 40 seconds and rest for 20 seconds, for one round per sport.
In the video, another trainer demonstrates variations of each exercise so you can make it slightly more challenging as desired. The workout concludes with a short cool-down.
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Here’s a brief breakdown of each exercise.
1. Basketball catch and shoot
Step to your side, then reach up into full extension as if shooting a three-pointer. Repeat by shuffling from side to side.
2. Quick football feet
Lower into a quarter squat with your feet wide apart and alternate quick stepping onto either foot. On Green’s cues, switch the direction you face from center to left and right.
3. Skater side-step
Step side to side as if skating, hitting an imaginary hockey stick across your body.
4. Soccer kick-up
Keeping light on your feet, hop from side to side as if juggling a football with your feet.
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5. Pickleball shuffle
Lower into a half squat with your hands together in front of you. Keeping low, step or jump forward, then shuffle back to the start position.
6. Boxing jab cross
Stand side on with slightly bent knees and your guard up. Alternate throwing jabs with your left and right, switching your stance after 20 seconds.
7. Baseball squat to high plank
With your feet wide apart, lower into a deep squat with your hands up like a catcher. Place your hands on the floor and step back into a high plank, then back to the low squat.
About our expert
About our expert
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Lacee Green
Lacee Green is a BODi Super Trainer, certified personal trainer (CPT) and coach with more than 10 years of experience. She hosts a number of BODi on-demand fitness programs that are designed to challenge and motivate you while also providing a supportive and inclusive environment.
People with high cardiorespiratory fitness were 36% less likely to experience depression and 39% less likely to develop dementia than those with low cardiorespiratory fitness. Even small improvements in fitness were linked to a lower risk. Experts believe that exercise’s ability to boost blood flow to the brain, reduce bodywide inflammation, and improve stress regulation may explain the connection.
While many swear by them, most people see burpees as a form of punishment – usually dished out drill sergeant-style by overzealous bootcamp PTs. Often the final blow in an already brutal workout, burpees are designed to test cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance and mental grit. Love them or loathe them, they deliver every time.
For Max Edwards – aka Busy Dad Training on YouTube – they became a simple but highly effective way to stay fit and lean during lockdown. Once a committed powerlifter, spending upwards of 80 minutes a day in the gym, he was forced to overhaul his approach due to fatherhood, lockdown and a schedule that no longer allowed for long, structured lifting sessions.
‘Even though I was putting in hours and hours into the gym and even though my physique was pretty good, I wasn’t becoming truly excellent at any physical discipline,’ he explained in a YouTube video.
‘I loved the intentionality of training,’ says Edwards. ‘The fact that every session has a point, every rep in every set is helping you get towards a training goal, and I loved that there was a clear way of gauging progression – feeling like I was developing competence and moving towards mastery.’
Why He Walked Away From Powerlifting
Despite that structure, Edwards began to question whether powerlifting was sustainable long-term.
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‘My sessions were very taxing on my central nervous system. I was exhausted between sessions. It felt as if I needed at least nine hours of sleep each night just to function.’
He also noted that his appetite was consistently high.
But the biggest drawback was time.
‘I could not justify taking 80 minutes a day away from my family for what felt like a self-centred pursuit,’ he says.
A Simpler Approach That Stuck
‘Over the course of that year I fixed my relationship with alcohol and I developed, for the first time in my adult life, a relationship with physical training,’ says Edwards.
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With limited time and no access to equipment, he turned to burpees. Just two variations, four times a week, with each session lasting 20 minutes.
‘My approach in each workout was very simple. On a six-count training day I would do as many six-counts as I possibly could within 20 minutes. On a Navy Seal training day I would do as many Navy Seal burpees as I could within 20 minutes – then in the next workout I would simply try to beat the number I had managed previously.’
This style of training is known as AMRAP – as many reps (or rounds) as possible.
The Results
Edwards initially saw the routine as nothing more than a six-month stopgap to stay in shape. But that quickly changed.
‘I remember catching sight of myself in the mirror one morning and I was utterly baffled by the man I saw looking back at me.’
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He found himself in the best shape of his life. His energy levels improved, his resting heart rate dropped and his physique changed in ways that powerlifting hadn’t quite delivered.
‘It has been five years since I have set foot in a gym,’ he says. ‘That six-month training practice has become the defining training practice of my life – and for five years I have trained for no more than 80 minutes per week.’
The Burpee Workouts
1/ 6-Count Burpees
20-minute AMRAP, twice a week
How to do them:
Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart
Crouch down and place your hands on the floor (count 1)
Jump your feet back into a high plank (count 2)
Lower into the bottom of a push-up (count 3)
Push back up to plank (count 4)
Jump your feet forward to your hands (count 5)
Stand up straight (count 6)
20-minute AMRAP, twice a week
How to do them:
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Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart
Crouch down and place your hands on the floor
Jump your feet back into a high plank
Perform a push-up (chest to floor)
At the top, bring your right knee to your right elbow, then return
Perform another push-up
Bring your left knee to your left elbow, then return
Perform a third push-up
Jump your feet forward
Stand or jump to finish
Kate is a fitness writer for Men’s Health UK where she contributes regular workouts, training tips and nutrition guides. She has a post graduate diploma in Sports Performance Nutrition and before joining Men’s Health she was a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer with over 5k hours coaching on the gym floor. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering for animal shelters and when she isn’t lifting weights in her garden, she can be found walking her rescue dog.
