Staying Healthy As You Age

We take a lot of measures to stay young and healthy: going to the gym, eating healthy foods, avoiding dangerous habits like smoking. But, what if the type of exercise we’re focusing on isn’t targeting one of the major problems of aging? Lung function and capacity gets worse with age and as it decreases, the health problems start to increase. In fact, what if the exercises we’re doing make the situation worse, not better?

The real secret to strength and vitality into our older years is daily exercise. It doesn’t matter the age, anyone can benefit tremendously from simply moving about. Ask yourself this question; why did I ever stop getting physical activity? Is there any real difference between young, middle-aged and older people?

The conventional aerobic exercise we’ve heard as “great for our heart” and perfect for weight loss may actually be doing more harm than good. Strenuous aerobic exercise doesn’t increase your lung capacity and it can actually cause damage to your body.

Starting out slowly is the key to preserving your health and optimism. If any pace you set begins to make you feel breathless or you have pain anywhere, stop immediately and take stock of the situation. Are you breathless or in pain? If so, you might be starting out too quickly and need to gear down a bit. Whenever you think you are ready to move ahead to a new goal, increase the distance by 10% and evaluate how you feel. Remember that getting sore or injured is the surest way to get sidetracked and stop improving your health. If you are like some folks and have pain or just hate to jog, you might be tempted to try swimming; it’s just as good for strength and endurance and the rate of injury is much lower. Many people will make the time to swim when they find excuses not to jog, perhaps because of its low impact upon the joints and muscles. Be wary, though, swimming can be so pleasant that it’s easy to do too much at first.

The best kind of exercise is the one that will rebuild your lung’s reserve capacity, not take it away. Dr. Al Sears, MD, has developed an effective program that will help you build up your lung function, even if you’ve been a smoker in the past. His PACE program stands for Progressively Accelerating Cardiopulmonary Exertion and taps into the principles that will produce amazing results.

I also enjoy cycling quite a bit. It’s more dynamic than jogging or swimming, and offers more of a change of scenery. Additionally, there are many cycling events for many age groups all over the country, so you’ll have the chance to meet like minded people. Cycling not only improves your endurance, but it can be a great way to make new friends. There are many activities you can enjoy as you age, but whichever you choose, it’s recommended that you get at least 30 minutes of exercise every day or every other day.

As with any age, it’s important to rest an average of one day a week to allow your body to heal from this accelerated activity. Once you have put in a few months of pleasant, enjoyable physical exercise, you may suddenly find you’re feeling at least 20 years younger.

Graham McKenzie in an online content syndicator for ground breaking new fitness equipment device that increases an athletes peak performance by an additional 13.8%.