Fitness For Seniors 50, 60 and Beyond: 80 easy-to-follow illustrated home exercises to improve strength, balance and energy

David O'Connor has written a book that may well suit younger people but is not tailored, as its title suggests it means to be, for the more senior citizen (whom he defines, it seems, as anyone over 50).He is plainly an experienced and enthusiastic health fitness evangelist and he makes all the right noises, including chapters on diet and other preliminaries. When it comes to the exercises themselves he is less sure-footed. I counted 19 suggested stretching exercises here (for both warm-up before exercise and cooling down afterward) and a further 56 exercises that are divided into four categories: strength training, core or upper body exercises, lower body exercises, and cardio exercises. Sadly, the illustrations for these are poor (and very small) and the instructions are not always as clear as they might be. Some look less suitable for older people than others, and his text does not really deal with those who have severely limited mobility, though in fairness he does repeatedly advise people to consult their physician or doctor before undertaking exercise (presumably that is easier in California than it now is in the UK).It is a good idea to provide, as he does, a few tables of exercise regimes for an initial eight-week period. Less happily, he lists the exercises under different categories (and once or twice different names) than he has used in the main text, so that the reader is left to dodge about the book trying to locate them (there is no index). I was also bemused by his suggestion that each exercise session should take about 6 to 7 minutes and should be repeated twice daily (I assume he means repeated once, making two sessions in all?). Along with the warm-up and cooling-down stretches this means a full exercise bout for the day would take about half an hour, rather than the implied 15 minutes or so.There are nuggets of useful information and exercise material here but don't expect an easy-to-follow programme. Oh, and the paperback version - printed by Amazon - is hardly a joy in itself, printed throughout in a pale and dark grey text that is far from easy on the eye.Incidentally, the free bonus fitness material that comes via his website amounts to little more than PDF versions of the workout plans already included in the book, plus a plan for warm-up exercises that has been (accidentally, I imagine) omitted from the book itself.

I am in my mid-60's and have been looking for a fitness guide that is appropriate to my age group.I've always stayed in shape but have found that age-related limitations (muscle elasticity, joint soreness, etc) have forced me to adapt my workouts to prevent injury.This wonderful guide enabled me to once again push my limits, such as they are, and helped me once again exercise to my full potential.It is clear, concise and effective.I highly recommend it.

My husband has a disability and I thought that this book might have some exercises that could help his gain some muscle strength. I think that the book had some great exercise ideas that would be helpful. But my husband was not interested in trying any of them. And I get my exercise from walking. So this book was not a good fit for us.

I’m at that age where I thought I could still do what I did in my 30’s. Reality hit and now here I am learning how to limber up without hurting myself.

If you want an easy read book with plenty of illustrations on exercises for the elderly, maybe choose a different book…