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Fitness workouts - key to staying healthy and
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Walking By Karen Dobe, DPM
Young at heart and enthusiastic
Fitness workouts - key to staying healthy and independent
Exercise is beneficial to almost every organ and system in the body. Workouts don’t have to be physically punishing to be effective. The key is to do some sort of physical activity for an accumulated 30 minutes each day. The desired intensity is somewhere between a stroll and a jog - walking with a purpose. You should be exercising at a rate where you are able to carry on a conversation.
Endurance comes from aerobic activity - anything that increases your breathing and heart rate. Walking, swimming, dancing, cycling, and jogging all build endurance. They improve your stamina while reducing risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. Aerobic exercise also pumps additional blood to the brain, bringing with it oxygen, both of which are crucial to brain function.
Strength training builds muscles, strengthens bones, and helps prevent osteoporosis. It also gives your metabolism a boost, which, in turn, keeps your weight and blood sugar level in check. Strength training can include weightlifting, hiking, and any activity that puts weight on your bones and muscles and involves weight resistance.
Flexibility helps you move more freely. Stretching exercises don’t burn calories the way activities do, but they help prevent injuries and improve posture. People with weak backs, arthritis or other joint pain often find stretching to be extremely beneficial.
Balance can deteriorate with age, but you can improve it through exercise. Good balance will help prevent falls and will keep you, literally, on your feet and moving about. Exercises to improve balance also strengthen leg muscles.
This article was excerpted from the Savoy Seniors Monthly with material drawn from UMass Extension, US Department of Agriculture.