Exercise, gender, and different life stages

Everybody needs regular exercise. We can all benefit from it. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female, pregnant or not, young or old, and healthy or sick. However, things naturally vary between each of these factors. The level of fitness, endurance, benefits, and exercise goals all vary.

A pregnant woman, a 22-year-old male, or a 64-year-old woman will have totally different fitness goals. Even the kind of exercises that they can safely perform will be different. These are the things you need to consider when building your exercise habit.

Since I don’t know a lot about you, I will try to provide an umbrella classification in three different categories of people. These include “kids to teenagers,” “adults,” and “the old, sick, or pregnant.” It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a start.

·       Exercise for kids and teenagers: At this stage in life, the body and brain are still developing. If they get the necessary help to develop into healthy adults, this can reduce the risk of health problems later in life. However, since they are still growing, it also means that there is only so much that the body can take. It’s important to consider these things when planning exercises for kids and teenagers. It’s better to start with low to moderate-impact exercises like walking, dancing, skipping, and running. As the child develops and grows stronger, you can increase the intensity to include jump roping, biking, and non-contact sports. In the teenage years and early adulthood, the individual will be much stronger and ready for the various moderate to high-impact exercises that require more skill, endurance, and agility.

·       Exercise for adults: Depending on physical condition, gender, and age, adults have a lot more options at their disposal. At this stage in life, most people have already stopped growing. So exercise goals are primarily about keeping the body healthy through muscle building, endurance training, improving the immune system, and managing weight, stress, blood sugar levels, and cholesterol.

·       Exercise for the elderly, sick, or pregnant: Most exercises for people in these conditions should be low intensity to avoid complications and overworking the body. The benefit is mostly to prevent regeneration and fight the effects of aging on muscles, brain cells, and bones. The most appropriate exercises are mood-boosting and flexibility activities.

This article is an excerpt from the book “Start Your Exercise Routine and Keep the Motivation Forever.”