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Sedentary Seniors Should Start Slowly in Their New Fitness Program
from: Pat MoauroOnce many people reach the age of 50, they may believe that they're too old or frail to exercise. But staying active as we age can directly lead to a fuller life. Most importantly, recent studies indicate that it's never too late to start taking care of you.
As you take your first step toward an exercise routine, remember you're never too old to begin. But remember to start slow with your fitness program. Even before embarking on any training program, have a complete medical check up first. Such an appointment is especially important if you've been sedentary for a period of time, or have current injuries and/or hereditary medical conditions.
Starting slow also means starting with moderate levels of exercise of short duration. A meandering, ten-minute walk is a simple form of such exercise. Depending on your fitness level, you can lengthen that walk to 15 minutes. Or, you can walk in one direction for 10 minutes, stop to rest, and return to your original starting point.
If you feel you're capable of more, resist the temptation to do too much the first time so that you don't become so sore or tired that the next day you feel you can't duplicate the walk. Taking time between such exercise also allows you to see how your body feels after some time has passed. You can always take another short walk later in the day if you still feel up to the task.
However, your goal should be thirty minutes of modest exercise. But you don't need to start there nor do you need to take the thirty minutes all at one time. If you've been inactive for a long time, you may have to spend several weeks before you feel comfortable with a thirty-minute walk at one time.
As we age, we undergo many bodily changes associated with the process. Aging leads to a decrease in muscle strength, respiratory capacity, metabolic rate, muscle flexibility and physical reaction times. Aging also brings on a higher risk of osteoporosis, especially for menopausal women.
Our inability to move our legs quickly due to shortened connective tissues leads to a reduced length of stride, as well as a decrease in stability and mobility. Also, our sense of pain sensitivity often becomes impaired, sometimes making us unaware when we exert too much pressure on a vulnerable joint.
It's believed that regular exercise can prevent as much as 50% of these possible functional declines. The benefits from physical activity come in many forms, physical and psychological. Regular physical activity slows the ageing process and increases your stamina and energy.
Consistent exercise increases the efficiency of your heart and lungs and produces improvements in muscle tone, endurance and strength. Regular activity prevents joints, tendons, and ligaments from stiffening up, leading to greater range of movement. Regular workouts decrease blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic, as well as decreasing the resting heart rate. Psychological benefits of exercise include improved self-image and confidence, along with decreased stress and tension levels.
In considering your activities, three categories to examine are flexibility, aerobic training and weight training. As you start your exercise routine, spend a great deal of time on increasing your flexibility right from the outset. In fact, for the very sedentary, any real aerobic or weight training should be preceded by a few weeks of flexibility training. Flexibility is extremely important as it keeps our muscles from becoming short and tight, which can lead to injury. Working to improve your range of movement will make it much easier for you to perform simple everyday tasks.
As you start your exercise routine, always do some warm-ups and stretching. Start with some simple mobility exercises to help lubricate your joints. Be sure to pay attention to every area of your body, starting with your feet and working your to shoulders and neck area. Avoid forcing any movements and stop if you start to feel any pain.
After you work on basic flexibility, start with some type of aerobic activity. The simplest is to take walks at a comfortable pace. At first start slowly and be sure to do your workouts in short bouts. Remind yourself that you're about to start an exercise routine that will continue for the rest of your life.
Aqua aerobics is an activity that's highly suitable for the newly motivated and much easier for overweight people. The water's buoyancy will help support your body weight all the while allowing you to perform a full range of movement and exercises. The water itself can be used as resistance to help do even some modest strength training.
As you begin your aerobic workouts, strive for activity three to five times per week, working out for 20- to 60-minute periods. However, always make sure that you're staying within your physical limits. Ultimately you should never be out of breath, but your heart and breathing rates should increase. The simplest way to determine if your pace level is appropriate is to see if you can converse normally -- if you have trouble speaking you're simply going too fast.
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