HEALTH
How to get super fit over 50
The number of middle-aged exercisers has increased by more than a million in six years. The experts tell Peta Bee how to tailor your regimen as you get older
The most effective activity is the one that becomes a habit
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The Times
Two decades ago, the collective fitness levels of those over 50 might best be described as woeful. Fast-forward to 2023, however, and the trend has reversed in spectacular fashion.
The annual Sport England Active Lives survey, which questioned more than 177,000 people aged 16+ about their exercise habits, reveals how far the over-50s have progressed. From the data, Sport England estimates, there are almost half a million fewer active 16 to 34-year-olds than there were six years ago, but there are, it reckons, 1.3 million more active 55 to 74-year-olds and just over half a million more active people aged 75+.
“Age groups over 55 are not just back to where they were before the pandemic, but have forged ahead of that in terms of
