Madonna, 55, stays hip & healthy by working out regularly – just look at those toned arms

If you’re nearing, or have surpassed, the grand old age of 50 years then you may be asking yourself exactly what you’re going to have to do in the future to stay hip and healthy. While you can no longer make great exertions on your body or pretend you’re still young, you can remain young at heart and prove to the world that you’ve still got it. Being 50 gives you the opportunity to explore a whole new way of living. This should be a time to relax a little more and enjoy life while still maintaining your health and the way you feel.

Here we take a look at how you can stay both hip and healthy in the coming years:

Exercise
When it comes to exercise, what you should do really depends on what you have been doing in the past. If you’re a frequent marathon runner, you’ll most likely be able to continue doing more running in a week than most young people do in a year. If you don’t currently do any form of exercise you may want to begin something that’s not too taxing on the body but gets you moving. At this age, it’s important to try and select exercises that minimise the impact on joints, so activities like yoga are perfect.

Travel
Whether it’s taking a road trip around the British Isles in your new Mercedes GLA or flying off to Borneo on an exotic, jungle trekking holiday, this is a perfect time to see a little bit more of the world. Now that you have more money saved up, fewer responsibilities and a bit more spare time, think about exactly where it is you want to see and book that dream holiday. You’ll find yourself refreshed, excited and mentally reinvigorated by the prospect of visiting new parts of the world.

Eat well
Though you may have eaten anything you fancied at a younger age, hitting 50 means that you should really start taking notice of your diet a bit more. Take a look at what you’re currently eating and then work out what you’re having too much and too little of. Common dietary changes occur because people are eating too much red meat, drinking too much alcohol, not getting enough variety in their vegetables or consuming far too much sugar. Don’t think that you have to start eating awful foods in order to make a difference, just be a little inventive and, if necessary, get a few new cookbooks!