As a graduate in sports science, I have been researching and writing about fitness for 15 years. In that time I have come to realise that as the body’s composition changes with age, there is a need to address those adaptations with a more specific approach to fitness.

Exercise scientists have shown that it is not just your imagination – it really is harder to lose weight as you get older. One reason for this is that your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the efficiency with which your body burns calories, drops by 2 per cent every decade of your life. But there is no need to make huge lifestyle changes to stay fit – you just need to do the right type of exercise. Here’s how . . .

AGE 16-25

Problems

At this age, you have more lean muscle and less fat. But bone density peaks between the ages of 25 and 35 and a failure to carry out regularly weight-bearing activity – the kind that puts stress on bones and tendons positively – can leave you more prone to osteoporotic breaks and fractures as you age. Posture can also deteriorate because of carrying heavy bags or working at a computer.

Solution

Staying in shape in your twenties is easier than at any other age. You should do some aerobic exercise at least three days a week. This can be anything: a step class, a run, a stroll or a cycle. Yoga will address some of the shortfalls in posture. A great aid to fitness is a skipping rope. Skipping works all the major muscles as well as the cardiovascular system and gobbles up calories at a rate of 70 to 110 in ten minutes, and it’s very good for your bones.

AGE 26-35

Problems

Sedentary people can begin to lose muscle mass at a rate of 1 to 2 per cent a year from their mid-twenties onwards. Because muscles burn calories, the less lean muscle mass you have, the fewer calories your body will burn. Back pain can also become a problem if you do nothing to correct your posture.

Solution

A good age to focus on your core strength through Pilates, a form of muscular training that either uses equipment called a Reformer or mat-based exercises. Pilates also strengthens the pelvic-floor muscles that are weakened by childbirth and which support the pelvic organs (bladder, bowels and uterus). The exercise form lengthens and strengthens muscles all over the body.

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