Body functions gradually decline in middle age. The probability of becoming obese or being susceptible to hyperlipidaemia, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, etc. is much higher. Physical exercise can help prevent these diseases and enhance psychological health, thereby avoiding premature senility and maintaining a high quality of life. The current issue will introduce the key points in physical exercise in middle age.

    Many middle-aged persons attempt to conduct physical exercise as they are aware of its importance. However, in the initial stage of exercise, middle-aged persons are advised to strictly follow the principle of ‘progressive prescription’, meaning that sports intensity and degree must be less to start with. Only upon adapting to the prescribed level, exercisers can gradually increase the intensity and degree of the training. This is because middle-aged persons are usually overweight and a sudden overload of physical training can easily cause joint and muscle injuries.

    Furthermore, a sudden heavy-load exercise may induce excessive fatigue and affect appetite and sleep. This, in turn, will affect the following day’s work. Thus, middle-aged persons are advised to follow a progressive prescription according to their own capability when conducting physical exercise, improving physical strength and health after a relatively longer period of adaptation, and remaining patient to prevent possible injuries that inflict more harm than benefit.

    Middle age is an important stage of life, filled with opportunities and challenges. This is the golden period of a career, but also a vulnerable period regarding physical health. Because of the burden of work and family, middle-aged persons often feel bound by trivial daily matters and do not have enough time to schedule in regular exercise. Even though they are well aware of the importance of exercise, they can only exercise in fits and starts and are thus unable to maintain a regular exercise habit.

    However, if middle-aged persons wish to improve health through physical training, they must adhere to the ‘principle of regularity’ of sports, which is to say, they must exercise at least two or three times a week for no less than 20 to 30 minutes at a time. In terms of how to arrange a reasonable exercise schedule, it is more dependent on a person’s concept of health. If health is placed as the priority in life, it is believed that they should be able to arrange two to three hours of exercise a week. Furthermore, when exercise becomes part of everyday life, it will help relief work tiredness and psychological pressure, thereby imparting the true fun of sports. Once you are accustomed to regular exercise, you may even find yourself uncomfortable if you don’t exercise enough.