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Fitness
I exercise less than ever but I'm still fit at 68 – here's how
Exercise has never been a chore for me. It’s how I start my day and I look forward to it, which I know some people will find hard to believe.
Just a few short years ago I had quite a weekly routine that saw me do two yoga classes, at least one long hike and between four to six gym sessions a week. These sessions would alternate between cardio and weights, each session an hour or more long.
But then came the pandemic. I was the last person left in my gym before we locked down. I vividly remember my last workout because I looked around and there was no one else there. Just me and all the machines. I thought to myself, “What if they close the gyms, what will I do?”
The next day we were in lockdown and my exercise regime has never been the same since. Even now, more than two years after the pandemic, I hardly ever go to the gym. And I feel great and just as fit as before.
How is this possible I hear you ask?
To begin with, there was no choice. We were in lockdown and that was that. I did what many people did and discovered the many workout videos available on YouTube.
I invested in some weights and tried to keep up with my previous regime. Yoga classes were by Zoom and walks in the park were still possible.
But inevitably things began to shift. I found I was using slightly lighter weights as the YouTube workouts tended to have more repetitions and therefore a lighter weight was needed. And I found most of the sessions I was doing were just thirty minutes long, half the length I was used to.
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This suited me because the pandemic turned out to be a very busy time for me. While most actors were completely unable to work, I found myself doing a lot of voiceovers, mostly narrating documentaries. I was able to do this from home and did forty documentaries in the first lockdown period alone. I also expanded my Ageless by Glynis Barber website
I had founded the website ten years previously to share my health, beauty and pro-ageing tips, after being asked constantly about what my secret was on social media. The pandemic gave me time to create an Ageless YouTube channel as well and to put Ageless on Instagram.
At the tail end of the pandemic, I got cast in Hollyoaks and so began a weekly commute to Liverpool.
I was filming five days a week most weeks with early starts and a late finish. Working out became almost impossible. And so, my already somewhat reduced routine, became almost non-existent.
I would work out on the weekends and if ever I had a morning off during the week, I would try and squeeze one in. But I was also tired. What with commuting, filming, writing Ageless articles, making YouTube videos as well as doing my voiceovers, I was run ragged. I felt like I had three full-time jobs, and something had to give.
Pushing myself too far
I’ve always been a person who pushes herself, who tries to do everything thrown at her, but it was all too much.
I felt a real shift in my thinking at this point. I decided I was going to cut myself some slack. For the first time in my adult life, I was going to give myself permission not to work out and not to feel bad about it.
INSPIRATION: I’m more energetic than ever at 61 – here’s how
I would do it whenever I could and when I felt up to it. I got into the routine of getting up ten minutes earlier on filming days and would do a ten-minute yoga routine. This gave my body a wonderful stretch and it was amazing how this short routine set me up for the day.
Listening to my body
There were also days off when I just felt so exhausted from my gruelling schedule that I felt a workout was not the right thing for me. Instead, I would take my dog for a walk. This felt good and I started really listening to my body and what it needed.
My workouts now depend on the time I have available and how I feel. I’ve found the YouTube videos at home so wonderfully convenient and wonder where I used to find the time to drive to the gym and do those long workouts.
I now go to the gym occasionally but have been too busy for it to become a regular thing. Now that I’ve finished with Hollyoaks filming, I will make more of an effort and will probably go at least once a week. But I’ve found that the thirty-minute sessions at home suit me. I no longer feel the need for longer sessions.
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The proof
Research shows that I may be onto something here. Make no mistake, we need exercise, but the latest research shows that we don’t need to do long or intense sessions. In fact, the research shows that many people, in their quest for health, are, in fact, overdoing it.
Dr. James O’Keefe, a cardiologist with the Mid-America Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, published a meta-analysis with three co-authors on the subject. Dr. O’Keefe says that the first twenty minutes of exercise give you the most benefit.
EXPERT ADVICE: Over 60? Add this strengthening exercise to your daily routine
His systematic review showed that if you move from a sedentary lifestyle to gently starting to exercise, you will have a decrease in many chronic diseases as well as mortality.
In other words, the benefits of exercising are immense. But he also found that people at the other end of the spectrum, doing a high volume of vigorous exercise, start to lose those benefits.
He goes on to say, however, that you can’t overdo moderate exercise, loosely defined as still being able to have a conversation while working out.
He classes many regular everyday activities as moderate exercise eg. gardening, walking, swimming or housework. There are more health benefits to these moderate activities than vigorous exercise.
Exercise for over 45s
He stresses that over the age of 45, exercise should be fun and more about stress reduction and less about competitiveness. And whilst strength training is important for improving muscle mass, which declines as we age, we only need 20-40 minutes of it, twice, and no more than three times, a week. He calls this the sweet spot for longevity.
The takeaway from all of this is, too much exercise can backfire, being sedentary is bad and gentle or moderate exercise is good for us.
My reduced regime
This explains why my reduced regime and thirty-minute sessions are working well for me. It also explains why, over the last couple of years when I’ve been so busy, walking was often more beneficial for me than a workout.
In fact, Dr O’Keefe talks about the many benefits of spending time in nature, something I’ve often talked about on Ageless. Being surrounded by greenery can reduce blood pressure and improves our mood. It helps alleviate anxiety, supports our immune system and can even help improve sleep.
Walking in a park, or even a tree-lined street, is a wonderful exercise in every way. And walking is one of the best exercises there is.
This new gentle way of exercising feels right for me at this moment in time. I look back on my old routine with awe. It was impressive for sure, but that was then, and this is now. The important thing is that I’m still very active, I exercise in some way whenever I can, but I’ve taken the pressure off myself and feel good for it.
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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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