Sunday, November 16, 2008

Seniors: GET MOVING !!

Exercise is an activity that can make our senior years much more enjoyable. And it is so easy!!! And you don't need to join a gym or buy a lot of equipment. Exercising for endurance can be as simple as walking and you don't need to go out and buy a fancy treadmill. You can, if you're a real gadget lover, but save the money! Here in Willow Glen, our weather is so good most of the time that walking around your neighborhood is a great way to get some endurance exercise and get reacquainted with your neighbors.

AARP earlier this year got a lot of people started on a walking program "Step Up to Better Health" and passed out pedometers to all participants. See a summary of benefits of walking at http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/walking/a2004-06-17-walking-numerousbenefits.html

And a few little hand weights is all you'll need to get started on a good strength program.

Following are website locations for National Institute on Aging and National Institutes of Health that provide a lot of great information on the benefits of exercising.
http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/exercise.htm
http://nihseniorhealth.gov/exercise/toc.html

Exercise, in addition to just making you feel better, will also prevent or delay diseases like diabetes, heart and vascular problems, and many diseases associated with being overweight.

While virtually everyone can benefit from exercise, it is a good idea to check with your doctor before the start of an active exercise program. If you think you want to have the help of a personal trainer to get started, let me know an I can pass along a couple of names.

My daughter Katie, who is a doctor, tells me the story of interviewing a patient and asking him if he gets any exercise. He said "Sure; every time I want a cigarette, I need to walk downstairs, go outside, smoke my cigarette, walk back in and walk up the stairs!!!" That's not what I'm suggesting!!!

So GET MOVING!!!

Regards
Tom

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Tom! This is great! You might also mention resistance bands, which provide great strength training and are easy to store and take with you. Resistance is also really great for bone density which we have a tendency to lose as we get older. Please keep in touch! Check out my new website if you have some time
www.getfitwillowglen.com

In Health,

Jody Walker, CPT

Maren said...

Great post Tom!

Strength training has so many benefits. You can check out a couple of my articles here:
http://www.healthfitonline.com/resources/tips/strength.html
and here:
http://www.healthfitonline.com/resources/articles/ageslowly.html

And there are many beneficial exercises you can do with NO equipment other than your own body!

Check out the hip abduction exercises (to prevent falls and hips breaking), and prone iso ab, lower ab stability and quadruped exercises (to keep your backs healthy and pain free) here:
http://www.healthfitonline.com/resources/exercises.html

Committed to your health,
Maren
Medical Exercise Specialist and owner of HealthFIT Personal Training