Fitness
Fitness face-off – Harvard Health
What’s in style? The question doesn’t just relate to fashion. Indeed, even exercise styles go in and out of vogue, echoing trends fueled by social media and other cultural drivers.
Case in point: high-intensity bursts of exercise have grabbed headlines over the past couple of years, with scientists generating an array of studies examining the health benefits of short spurts of movement lasting from one to three minutes. That might consist of jumping jacks, lunges, running in place, jumping rope, air boxing, running up stairs, or any other high-intensity activity.
Meanwhile, plenty of research continues to focus on the health advantages of moderate-intensity, continuous movement. Mainstay choices for these sessions include brisk walking, cycling, jogging, and elliptical and treadmill use.
Given the swings in popularity between the differently paced alternatives, perhaps the most pressing question is which one is better for us. It might seem certain exercise patterns might prove superior to others, but we should resist the temptation to believe that, says Dr. Meagan Wasfy, a sports cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
“There are always trends, and each one claims to be the latest and best way to move your body,” Dr. Wasfy says.
Breaking down the data
What health benefits does each approach offer? A sampling of recent studies and official health guidance weighs in.
Evidence supporting exercise bursts includes the following:
- A 2022 analysis of data collected on more than 25,200 people who didn’t otherwise exercise (average age 62, 56% women) published in Nature Medicine found that those who routinely did brief bursts of vigorous activity — defined as three bouts, each lasting a minute or two — had significantly lower odds of dying or developing cardiovascular disease over the following seven years than participants who didn’t.
- A 2023 analysis in JAMA Oncology of more than 22,000 people who didn’t exercise (average age 62, 55% women) suggested that even short, intermittent periods of intense movement — a minute at a time, three or four times a day — was linked with 18% lower cancer risk over the following 6.7 years, especially for cancers of the breast, uterus, or colon.
Evidence supporting longer, moderate-intensity exercise includes the following:
- Adults who do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous exercise derive health benefits, including reducing their risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer, according to the CDC.
- A 2022 analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine involving 78,000 people (average age 61, 55% women) found their risk of heart disease, cancer, and premature death dropped by 10% over the following seven years for every 2,000 steps they logged each day, with the benefit peaking at 10,000 steps.
Sense a theme from the findings? Regardless of intensity, it’s apparent that any movement is good for your health.
“No one comes out ahead with regards to the long-term outcomes,” Dr. Wasfy says. “What matters most is moving your body and doing more of it. The sum of movement, over the course of a year or decades of your life, is what matters.”
Exercise caveats
One clear advantage to exercise bursts — or its cousin, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) — is that any high-intensity activity enables you to fulfill recommended exercise guidelines in less time. Health organizations advise adults to get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise (or some equivalent combination of the two) per week. For an HIIT workout, you alternate vigorous, short sprints with brief periods of rest or lower-intensity movement.
“It’s a time-efficient way to get your recommended exercise dose in less time,” Dr. Wasfy says.
High-intensity exercise does pose a few drawbacks, however. These include a greater risk of injuries and inflammation to joints and muscles. Additionally, for people with heart disease or its risk factors, sudden bursts of exercise could be more likely to bring on new cardiac symptoms.
“If you’re writing an exercise prescription not knowing anything about someone’s health history, you’d write it for moderate-intensity, continuous exercise,” Dr. Wasfy says.
If you’d like to increase your exercise intensity but have existing heart disease — or symptoms such as chest pain with vigorous movement — talk to your doctor in advance. Older adults who’ve noticed their ability to exercise has declined should also speak up.
Ultimately, Dr. Wasfy says, you should choose a style of exercise you really like — and will do consistently — and disregard fitness trends. “If you’re healthy,” she says, “it’s really your choice.”
Image: © Luis Alvarez/Getty Images
I like a challenge when I work out and over the years I’ve enjoyed trying different types of exercise. It doesn’t matter how long the routine is (ideally under an hour), as long as someone tells me what to do and I feel the burn.
So when I got the opportunity to work out with Jennifer Aniston’s trainer, Pvolve VP of Training Dani Coleman, and do the actor’s 10-minute arm workout, I jumped on it. I’m fairly active and do about 3-4 workout classes a week, including HIIT, circuit training and Pilates. However, I do feel like I have room for improvement when it comes to my upper-body strength.
“The Morning Show” star uses just one simple fitness tool to get her enviably toned arms. What I didn’t expect was how mine would feel like noodles instantly — and for days after!
The Basics: Cost and Equipment
Pvolve can be practiced at home through a membership that starts at $24.99 a month or $224.91 a year.
For this specific routine, we used the P.band, a resistance banded glove that helps strengthen the arms, back and shoulders. It costs $44 and comes with a 14-day free membership.
“This is one of (Aniston’s) favorite pieces to take with her when she’s on set or on the go. It’s a fun travel piece,” Coleman tells TODAY.com.
While I tried a specific 10-minute workout, members can get access to Jen’s Express Series: Arms & Abs — a collection of the actor’s six new on-demand workouts led by Coleman that are all under 15 minutes.
Additionally, Jen’s Arms & Abs Bundle (priced at $204) includes the P.band, P.ball, P.3 Trainer, plus one month of streaming with access to over 1,700 workouts.
Jennifer Aniston’s 10-Minute Arm Workout
For those who don’t have the P.band, Coleman suggests substituting any type of resistance band. The workout consists of performing 10-12 reps for most movements, with 5-8 reps for combo sets.
Movement 1: Band Pull-Apart at Hip Level
- Keeping your elbows glued to your sides, bend the elbow at a 90-degree angle so that your forearms are reaching straight out in front of you. Making sure there is resistance on the band. Keeping your elbows tight to your sides, open both arms out to the side, hold and come in nice and slow. Repeat.
- End with arms wide with 1-inch pulses reaching back.
Movement 2: Band Pull-Apart at Chest Level
- Start with both arms straight out in front of your chest, making sure there is resistance on the band. Open both arms wide to the sides, hold and bring it in nice and slow. Repeat.
Movement 3: Up and Down Flutters
- Start with both arms out straight in front of your chest, making sure there is resistance on the band. Begin pulling the band in pulses as you move your arms up four counts to the hairline, and bring it back down for four counts. Repeat about 5-6 times.
Movement 4: Right-Left, Combo
- Hold both arms straight above your head. Pull the right arm down toward your hip, keeping your left hand still. Lift back up.
- Pull the left arm down toward your hip, keeping the right hand still. Lift back up.
- Pull both arms down toward your hips. Lift back up.
Movement 5: Tricep Kickbacks With Pulses
- Stand with feet hip-width apart and hinge at the hips until your torso is at a 45-degree angle with the floor. Bend your left arm up toward your chest and hold here, with your elbow glued to your side. Start with the right elbow bent and your bicep glued to your side. Straighten the arm straight back moving only at the elbow. Hold for a beat and return to start.
- End with a round of pulses with right arm back, bending just an inch or two.
Movement 6: Punch Up
- Hold both arms at shoulder height, with some slack in the band. Your right arm should be bent at a 90-degree angle and your left arm will stay straight.Keeping the bend in your right arm, punch up toward the ceiling. At the same time, move the left arm down toward the floor. Bring both arms back to center and repeat.
Repeat Movement 5 and 6 for Left Arm
Movement 7: Plank Finisher
- Start in a plank position with your feet wide. Open up to the right side, pulling the right elbow toward the sky. Lower back down. Open up to the left side back down, pulling the left elbow toward the sky. Lower back down. Continue alternating. To modify, come down onto the knees.
- Finish with at least a 1-minute plank hold to get to the 10-minute mark for the workout.
My Experience Trying Jennifer Aniston’s Arm Workout
I’m not going to lie, I underestimated the workout. I would consider my arms to be a weak point, but I was not expecting to feel the burn right away. I would say the P.band is a medium resistance and it’s important to keep tension in it throughout the workout.
As I was completing the pulse portion in the first movement, I could already see myself using my breath to make it through the hard parts.
Coleman was great at reminding me to keep my shoulders down and stand up straight. As someone who sits for a lot of their work day, pulling my arms apart at chest level and the flutters were where I started to fatigue — and I was only 2:30 minutes in.
I could already feel it in my shoulders and back, noticing how my arms would struggle to pull apart the band. My breath really kept me steady when I needed an extra push.
I noticed my arms getting weaker when we did the right-left, combo movement. At this point, Coleman mentioned how this exercise helps target the back muscles that “typically, most of us are a little weaker in” because we’re on our phone, computer or driving.
Giving them “extra love,” I persisted through the fire that was now consistently burning — even though we were only 4 minutes in.
When it came to the tricep kickbacks, Coleman gave me a modification of gripping the arm in front toward me instead of having it straight out with knuckles facing away.
“Nice and relaxed,” she reminded me, though I was anything but that.
I continued to power through, there were no big rests in between movements — and this, in my opinion, helped to keep things moving forward.
During the plank portion, Coleman said to perform the move in 1-minute increments, or as long as you can hold each one, to complete reach the 10-minute workout total. The fatigue was really setting in. I had to put a knee down to hold myself up. Determined to complete the workout, I quickly pushed myself back up and completed them as best as I could — but I was wiped out!
Overall, the movements were simple enough (despite me feeling weak) and her guidance helped me keep my form in check.
My arms instantly felt sore, and that same feeling continued throughout the day and into the next. I could tell that I had worked different muscles that I did not regularly use when using weights.
Exercise is revered time and again as one of the best ways to keep your body fit and agile. It helps prevent many lifestyle diseases. It is recommended to stay active and do some basic exercises regularly to maintain your fitness.
ALSO READ: Pain in knees when you walk? Cult Fit founder shares 5 exercises to strengthen joints
But beyond physical health, your brain also reaps rewards. Skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, reasoning, and especially memory are strengthened from staying active.
When talking about exercise, the intensity also matters. There are different levels, from light activities to moderate and vigorous workouts. Each of them has its own advantageous but some offer slightly greater benefits than others.
For today’s tips, let’s see which exercise can help improve your memory.
Tip of the day: Do HIIT exercise
Exercise offers protective benefits for your brain health, improving cognitive functions. According to a study published in Ageing and Disease, researchers identified a particular type of exercise that helps strengthen memory and learning, especially in older adults. Higher-intensity training (HIIT) was found to be the most beneficial.
In the study, the researchers followed participants aged 65-85, divided into three groups based on exercise intensity: low-intensity training, medium-intensity training, and high-intensity training. The participants performed these exercises for six months. The results showed that those who did HIIT experienced improvements in hippocampal function.
How often should you do HIIT exercise?
HIIT is a form of intense exercise performed in short bursts, including sprints, skipping rope, jump squats, and mountain climbers. It works by helping brain cells grow and develop connections. In fact, the benefits can last up to five years. The researchers also recommended that just three HIIT sessions per week for six months could improve your brain health.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
Feeling strong and capable after 50 is about much more than just looking fit—it’s about building resilience that keeps you active and independent for years to come. Building muscle after 50 requires a more intentional approach than it did in our younger years, which we have nature to thank for.
After age 30, both men and women begin to experience an involuntary loss of muscle—approximately 3 to 5% of lean mass per decade—called sarcopenia, says Nikki Ternay, CPT, a health and fitness coach and founder of MavenHeart, an empowerment program for women. However, for women, changing estrogen levels during perimenopause and menopause can accelerate this process, especially as you go into your 50s. Building muscle after 50 takes a concerted effort, but one thing is for certain: your future self will never regret it.
Muscle is the fountain of youth—the connection between muscle mass and staying healthy is well-documented. Strength training is particularly effective in offsetting sarcopenia, as it stimulates muscle growth and helps maintain bone density, mobility, and overall health, says Ternay. For women over 50, embracing weightlifting can help counteract some of the accelerated muscle loss caused by age and hormonal changes.
Lean muscle mass can contribute to legit disease prevention, too. The higher your muscle to fat mass ratio is, the less likely diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity are to occur, according to Ternay. Muscle burns a lot of energy and helps keep your blood sugar stable, which can even lower your chances of developing type 2 diabetes, she adds.
Check out these strategies from experts on how to build and maintain muscle after 50:
Meet the expert: Nikki Ternay, CPT, a health and fitness coach and founder of MavenHeart, an empowerment program for women over 40.
Lean into lifting weights.
Progress can be made with a three-day-per-week resistance training routine. “Building muscle is possible at any age, but as we go through menopause, the body needs more stimulus to achieve the results we want,” says Ternay.
Here’s a few tips to consider to hit that goal:
- Aim for three resistance training days per week.
- Focus on key muscle groups like legs, back, and core as you build up your routine.
- Target each muscle group with at least 2 to 3 exercises per session.
- To build muscle, perform 6 to 12 reps of 3 to 5 sets per exercise with 60 to 90 seconds rest between sets.
- Beginners can start with fewer sets per muscle group per week and gradually increase over time.
- Choose a weight that makes the last one to two reps of each set feel challenging but still doable with proper form.
Sample Week Plan
- Day 1: Full-body workout (legs, back, core)
- Day 2: Rest or low-impact light movement/active recovery (think: walking, biking, swimming, or stretching)
- Day 3: Full-body workout (chest, shoulders, arms, core)
- Day 4: Rest or low-impact light movement/active recovery (think: walking, biking, swimming, or stretching)
- Day 5: Full-body workout (legs, back, chest, core)
- Day 6: Rest and active recovery (think: light movement like walking, stretching, biking)
- Day 7: Rest
Each day would include 2 to 3 exercises for the major muscle groups being targeted, with at least 3 sets per exercise. The difficulty of exercises or number of sets can be tweaked as needed, depending on your fitness level and relative to your progress.
Warming up is worthwhile (and so is the cool-down).
As you get older, it takes a little longer to get your muscles warmed up and ready for a workout. Warming up prior to a strength sesh prepares your body to do the work by increasing circulation, ultimately resulting in decreased risk of injury. Pretty good deal, huh?
The ideal time frame for a warmup is 15 to 20 minutes, performing movements that increase your heart rate at a slow and steady rate, advises Ternay. Gentle walking is a great warmup choice to do anywhere, or jump on a stationary bike if you’re in the gym. Bodyweight moves like planks and squats work well for priming the body ahead of a workout, too. (Check out more great warmup exercises for any workout.)
Just like you ease into your workout, you should ease out of it as well. As Ternay explains, the cool-down allows the body to return to its regular temperature and brings the heart rate back down a little slower—a safer approach than just stopping your workout abruptly.
A good cool-down could include gentle stretching, light walking, or using a foam roller (or even a massage gun) to release any muscle tension. Spend 10 to 15 minutes on your cool-down to give your body time to adjust and reduce post-workout soreness.
Learn proper form first.
Before you start lifting weights, it’s important to learn how to perform exercises with proper form. This ensures you’re working the correct muscles and avoiding injury. If you are new to lifting weights, Ternay recommends seeking guidance from a reputable trainer, in person or virtually, to make sure your technique is correct and personalize a program that is appropriate for your age and fitness level.
But learning proper form doesn’t have to feel overwhelming—start by focusing on bodyweight exercises like squats, lunges, and pushups to understand how your body moves, what feels good, and what feels challenging to you. From there, you can gradually incorporate weights and resistance exercises.
Don’t skip the stretching.
Focusing on flexibility becomes even more important—not only for workouts but for everyday activities—as we age. Better mobility means you’ll be able to reach and bend with greater ease, with less strain and risk of injury. In your workouts, specifically, you’ll be able to get in the proper position to perform your exercises safely and for maximum benefits. Not to mention, a good base of mobility helps loading and unloading weights feel a little more manageable.
Ternay recommends picking three to five dynamic stretches (a.k.a. moving stretches) and moving through each for 30 to 60 seconds, for a total of at least five minutes of post-workout mobility work. Dynamic stretches like leg swings or arm circles prepare your muscles for movement by increasing mobility. Follow dynamic stretching with about 10 minutes of static stretching, such as holding a hamstring or quad stretch for 20 to 30 seconds, which helps increase flexibility and reduce tension.
Get your mind right.
Getting in the “right” frame of mind when it comes to exercise means approaching your workouts as a way to celebrate your body, not punish it. For women over 50, this mindset shift can be especially powerful. Rather than focusing on burning calories or “undoing” something you ate, viewing exercise as a long-term investment in your health, energy levels, and independence surrounding building foundational strength and movement can help shift your attitude and actions in a major way. “Exercising is a way of taking care of your body and giving you a better chance at a long life of living independently,” Ternay says.
The more muscle mass you have, the better you’ll feel and function, meaning greater independence in how you can move your body and live your life. Focusing on strength-building helps build security for your future health to live life on your terms, whether that means being able to travel, take care of your family, or simply move around comfortably as you age.
Best Muscle-Building Workouts For Women Over 50
Here are some excellent muscle-building workouts that beginners and avid exercisers over 50 alike can incorporate into their routine. These workouts build a strong foundation to support everyday activities and healthy aging, starting with bodyweight exercises and moving into more advanced moves as you progress.
If you’re bored with your workouts or simply don’t know what to do in the gym, check out these programs. They’ll add variety and motivation as you challenge your body in ways you never thought possible.
How much protein do I need to eat?
A science-backed approach to exercise is essential for building muscle after 50, but so is proper nutrition. Protein helps rebuild your muscle post-workout, allowing for strength gains. Without adequate protein intake, you won’t be able to get ahead of age-related muscle loss, regardless of your workouts. Aim to get 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal, especially if you’re eating three meals a day. This is a good target for supporting muscle maintenance and growth.
The general consensus of research is that when you eat your protein throughout the day is not as important as simply ingesting enough protein overall. Check out our guidelines for getting in protein all day long for more details about how to hit daily protein goals.
Nicole Clancy has been a freelance writer and Certified Fitness Trainer in Santa Barbara California since 1990. Nicole’s articles have been internationally syndicated in Vogue, Glamour and Easy Living.
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