What kind of exercise should we — and shouldn’t we — be doing after we enter our 5th decade?
Alicia Jones, founder of Alicia Jones Healthy Living has the answers and 15 years of experience transforming the health and lives of women over 50 through fitness and weight loss strategies. All backed up with lots of credentials in many different fitness modalities and kinesiology.
One reason I’m hosting Alicia is her realistic — and safe — approach to fitness for busy women really of any age but her specialty is the midlife woman.
Our conversation focused mainly on the importance of strength training and what that means, especially if you are also in the throws of the perimenopause hormone roller coaster.
We discussed beginner exercise to build muscle and strength—chair squats and arm rows—nothing crazy there.
Walking, of course, and if you are a walker and can add a bit more to a walk, find some hills, speed it up a bit.
High intensity interval training for those that can add some in. If you’re not familiar with this type of exercise, this article explains it all. An often ignored benefit of HIIT is that it shortens the time needed to get max benefits.
Although not specifically about exercise Alicia echoed something I’ve talked about many times; finding a doc or practitioner that will listen to you and work with you to resolve symptoms whether from hormone fluctuations or lifestyle choices. Don’t let anyone dismiss you with “Tough it out, this will pass.” It might but why should you suffer in the meantime?
Alicia loves plank. So do I. Why? Because it uses all of the core muscles as well as leg and arm muscles in one easy to learn—not so easy to hold—exercise.
With sore wrists of late I’ve had to mix my full arm plank with forearm plank. Just as effective and a bit harder.
When I asked Alicia if we women should work out every day, work out harder to keep the pounds at bay, or work out when we are tired, she answered loudly, “NO!”
“Let your body rest and heal. And imagine that is literally when your body is repairing to a new level of strength.”
Other things we talked about
How stress impacts our health and our weight loss efforts
How sit ups might be contributing to that sneeze-leak thing you’re experiencing
Losing weight realistically and for health vs fitting into some those old jeans
How fluid fluctuations can impact the number on the scale and why you need to let it go
Why we hate the BMI as a measure of health—and why it’s dangerous
Alicia’s website
She has a number of programs, learn about them here. She’s got a free challenge on that page if you are just getting started or want to figure out how to start and get motivated.
You can find her on Insta and Facebook.
I would check out Alicia’s programs if you want to improve your strength and or lose weight safely and for the long haul. She’s got a great energy and will meet you where you are.
