“Exercising regularly, every day if possible, is the single most important thing you can do for your health. In the short term, exercise helps to control appetite, boost mood, and improve sleep. In the long term, it reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, depression, and many cancers.”  ~ Harvard Medical

Getting and staying in shape is just as important for seniors as it is for younger people.

Regular physical activity or exercise helps maintain a healthy blood pressure, keeps harmful plaque from building up in your arteries, reduces inflammation, improves blood sugar levels, strengthens bones, and helps stave off depression, according to Harvard Medical. In addition, a regular exercise program can make your sex life better, lead to better quality sleep, reduce your risk of some cancers, and is linked to longer life.

Seniors stayIng physically active throughout the day by taking the stairs, doing yard work, and playing with your grandkids is vitally important.Hundreds of studies conducted over the past 50 years demonstrate that exercise and staying physically active helps you feel better and live longer.

To change the way you experience exercise, you can follow these tips to make workouts more enjoyable.

1. Mix it up. Change the activities you’re doing and the amount of time spent on each. Sign up for a Pilates class or try tai chi. Even a change of scenery can keep you motivated and active. For example, try a long weekend hike in the woods instead of some shorter neighborhood walks during the week. Choose combinations and activities that appeal to you. Whatever you choose, it’s best to be active at least three to six days a week.

2. Keep moving. Look for ways to add activity and recreational exercise to scheduled activity time—an extra lap around the mall when you’re shopping, some stair climbing, or a Saturday morning bike ride.

3. Wear a pedometer and heart rate monitor. A step-counter can up the ante on exercise, according to a 2018 review of six studies. Over all, those who wore a pedometer raised their physical activity by up to 3,000 steps a day compared with those not using a pedometer. In a classic review of 26 studies, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, in addition to taking more steps a day, pedometer wearers lowered their systolic blood pressure by 3.8 points and lost weight compared with nonwearers. Setting a step goal counted for a lot. Those who did so significantly increased activity; those who didn’t generally remained at baseline.

A heart rate monitor (HRM) can help you exercise more effectively and efficiently. Heart rate monitors measure your heart rate while working out, which can help you reach your target rate safely and efficiently without exceeding your maximum heart rate. Exercise has dramatically different effects on the body depending on how high you push your heart rate and for how long. Training intelligently means using heart rate data to guide your workouts. Sometimes you might want to keep your heart rate relatively low to burn fat or pace yourself for a longer workout, but other times you might want to push it higher to build stamina. Heart rate monitors help you learn more about your level of fitness, train more effectively, and track your progress.

4. Plug in. Turn on your computer and power up with the great range of individual exercises and workouts from these organizations:

• The American Council on Exercise offers an extensive library of exercises sorted by ability level, muscles targeted, or equipment needed, at www.acefitness. org/exerciselibrary. You can also view selected exercises in motion.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posts video clips describing intensity levels as well as aerobic and strength exercises for home and gym. Easier variations on strength exercises are included. Go to www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/ everyone/videos.
• Collage Video sells a wide range of exercise videos. Find them at www.collagevideo.com.

5. Rise to the challenge. If your workouts aren’t challenging or interesting enough, expand your horizons by focusing on both exercise and healthy eating. The Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, at www.health.harvard.edu/PALA, encourages you to meet minimum physical activity requirements and also set healthy eating goals over the course of eight weeks, because it takes both to lead a healthy lifestyle.

References:

1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/exercise-and-fitness
2. https://www.health.harvard.edu/exercise-and-fitness/starting-to-exercise#excerpt