Fitness at Your Fingertips: Why Technology Like Flip50™ May Be Your Ally in Improving Health & Fitness After 50 by 30Seconds Mom

French author Victor Hugo is credited with saying, “Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.” In other words, hitting the big 5-0 can be quite a wake-up call for those of us who have always felt young at heart and in years.

Nearly everything you see in pop culture, social media, television and music seems to cater to people who are much younger than the 50-plus generation. And the data backs it up. According to a survey by Girlpower Marketing, more than half of Baby Boomer women feel that they are overlooked by product advertisers and marketers. 

Despite the fact that most women (and men) want to look their best, the reality is that there comes a point where the concern is less about getting the perfect beach bod (that’s so 1990s!) and more about improving overall nutrition, fitness and well-being. 

The focus is on staying strong and healthy so we can enter our golden years rocking and rolling, and not just rocking away in a chair. That means getting smart about protecting joints, eating well to avoid heart disease and diabetes, and maintaining a healthy weight for the years ahead. 

How to make that happen? After decades of hearing about the “no pain, no gain” approach to fitness, life after 50 means taking a kinder, gentler approach to self-care. Fitness that’s easier on the joints, focused on flexibility and strength, and pays attention to the fact that it takes longer to recover from physical activity than in years past. 

Using this new mindset, one of the first things to do is figure out if you’re on the right track to reach your fitness goals, or if there’s something more you can do to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

That brings us to an exciting new website and app that target people who are 50+. It features a personalized program with a variety of tools and benefits specifically for those in this age group, to help them achieve health, wellness and balance.

It’s called flip50™, and it offers everything from fitness routines to stress reduction tips and tons of healthy recipes, all in one place. Here’s how you can check flip50 out. Downloading the app makes it even easier to fit in a workout and incorporate healthy activities into your daily routine, with custom-guided activities like meditation, recipes and daily workouts. 

The important difference between flip50 and other health and fitness apps is that it’s geared toward those who are 50-plus and it understands what’s important at this life stage.

The app covers the healthy living pillars of fitness, nutrition and rest/relaxation. It offers a balance of healthy activities for each day of the week, and these activities are adjustable and customizable. If you don’t feel like doing one activity, just flip it and find another one that works for you. And rather than go it alone, you can share your daily achievements via text or with your social network. Or else, use the “Invite a Friend” function to encourage others to join you.

In addition to having fitness motivation in the palm of your hand, the flip50 app has an additional unique feature: the cost of a monthly subscription to the app includes a national gym membership! So, by signing up, you literally gain access to the thousands of nationally-recognized gyms throughout the country that are participating in flip50. Simply use the app to help you find a gym near your home or office. When you travel, the app can find a participating gym near you to help you stick to your fitness routine while on the go.

While that’s a fantastic feature, one of the biggest challenges many in the 50-plus age group face is motivation and literally just getting themselves to the gym, especially when you have a full-time job. That’s why, if you can’t make it to the gym, the app offers a variety of choreographed fitness routines – anything from a 10-minute morning stretch (complete with a little animated figure showing you the right way to do the moves) to a more intense 60-minute walking workout or even a CrossFit or yoga routine.

You can do these activities anywhere, in your own time, so there’s no reason to feel guilty if you can’t hit the gym. It’s totally up to you! But the gym is always available when you have more time, which is a win-win. Learn more by visiting MyFlip50.com and myflip50 on Facebook.

This post is sponsored by flip50™. All opinions are my own.