Quick Note
Now I want to say right from the very start we aren’t health experts here at Above All Home Care. However, we are caring people and want the best for those around us here in Western Oklahoma. So with anything health-related, always consult with your primary care doctor before trying any stressful exercise. I will try to explain why folks need to take the advice given by their doctor.
How do you stay healthy for as long as possible? That is the big question. Many people want to know how they can live as long as possible. The hinky in the question though is that many people want to stay as inactive as possible. Sadly this is one of the least effective ways to being able to stay healthy. If you want to live long and be healthy you have better odds of doing so by actually exercising. The CDC states that seniors actually need to have about 150 hours per week of moderate-intensity physical activity.
Why Exercise
Why do you need to exercise now? This is often asked by people who are used to having a fairly sedentary lifestyle. “I Have made it this far, Why start now?” Well, I can’t answer that. You have to have the decision as to why now. If you find a good enough why to start exercising yourself it will be easier for it to become ingrained. I do believe that the following reasons and thoughts that I put into this post will help you understand.
Health benefits
The biggest reason we want to exercise is for the health benefits that come our way. Some health benefits allow us to live a more comfortable life while others benefits allow us to have the opportunity to experience a longer life. Because would it be worth living longer if you can’t walk because your knees are eaten up with arthritis?
Better Bone density
Our bodies are examples of use it or lose it. One problem many older people struggle with as they age is their bone density. This is where osteoporosis comes in. The back has some of the most used joints in our bodies and as we age we lose calcium. This lack of calcium causes us to develop scoliosis and that scoliosis then turns into osteoporosis. Soon a 6-foot-tall man turns into a 5′ 11″ man. It is hard to reverse the damage when it happens yet you can counter the effects and slow its progressions with exercise.
The effects of picking your feet up and putting them down on the concrete and hard dirt send shock waves through your body and up your spine. All this movement causes your muscles to pull against your bones. So the stronger you are the stronger your bones have to be. So as you are walking or doing yoga you are giving your body a reason to keep the calcium where it needs to be, in your bones.
More Oxygen
As you walk and work out You start breathing deeper. The deeper you breathe the more oxygen you are placing in your blood. This is so that your muscles have the needed elements to work at their best. Your blood is saturated with oxygen and it doesn’t just flow to your muscles. It also goes to your brain. That added flow of highly oxygenated blood helps with your ability to think more clearly. This is why so many people use exercise as a means to brainstorm.
Clearer thoughts
That blood allows for you to produce better thoughts and can helpyou to actually have clearer thinking. So you are able to improve the amount of blood flowing through your body that includes your brain. Being able to clear out the brain fog.
All That Glorious Vitamin D
Then add the vitamin D complex that you receive while out in the sun and your brain health becomes even better. Vitamin D is actually a hormone that your body produces from cholesterol when Ultraviolet light directly hits your skin. Your body needs vitamin D to absorb Calcium and phosphates better for stronger bones. Vitamin D also helps with your immune system. This is why so many people who are shut in have so many health problems because they are lacking Vitamin D.
Vitamin D also helps people with their mental health, so getting out into the sun is all-around beneficial, from your bones to your attitude. The Sunshine vitamin is important for your overall well-being.
The stress can be good
The act of walking outdoors causes some stress on your body. Your joints take a beating. your heart gets worked. Your muscles also improve. However, go uphill and that stress makes your workout even better. But this is also why you want to talk to your doctor. That added stress may be too much for your heart which isn’t used to working that hard. So your doctor may tell you to stake it slow. It’s not that you are able to handle it but your capitularies at your extremities may have atrophied and so they can’t handle the added flow of blood. That is when your problems may crop up.
Stress can be good if you can handle it. If you cant then approach that zone with caution and under your doctor’s supervision.
Keeps Your Joints Limbered UP
Do you know how I said that your bodies are the best example of use it or lose it? Well, another example of if you don’t walk a lot then your knees don’t produce enough of the needed lubrication your joints need to operate efficiently. So you get painful joints because you aren’t stressing them as often as you need to. Your connective tissues like ligaments and tendons start to degrade also.
When you start to walk you give your body a reason to apply more resources to your needs and back so that they stay stronger.
Improves Your Immune system
As mentioned before vitamin D helps you out with your bone health, and immune system. Walking also raises your heart rate so your blood is able to circulate more and it can get the blood to the parts of your body that have foreign invaders.
Your body also gets the chance to work on its defenses as they are exposed to the germs that you are also exposed to outdoors.
Fights Common Diseases
Because you are working your body more you are also decreasing the risk you will have a common age-related illness.
How do you start an exercise regimen?
You start by doing. YOu know what you need to do. What keeps many people from taking action is the fact that they have thoughts that it will be too hard to get up and going. The thought that they may be sore in the morning often is a bigger deterrent to exercise than the thought that they may die due to a lack of exercise. So what if you have decided you don’t want to die of diabetes or experience the pain of a heart attack? What do you need to do?
Talk to a Doctor
The first person you need to talk to is your doctor. He will know if you have any problems that may keep you from doing a strenuous bit of work. So what questions do you need to ask when talking to your doctor?
- What Kind of Exercise Is the Best Fit for Me?
- How Much Exercise Should I Aim For?
- Will Exercise Affect My Medications?
- Is It Safe for Me to Exercise Regularly With This New Plan?
start slow
Once you have been cleared by your doctor don’t take off on a half marathon. When I say take it slow I mean take it slow. Maxwell Maltz the author of Psycho-Cybernetics talks about why you want to take exercise slowly. He mentions that you are having to stretch the capillaries that are in the extremities of your hands and feet. These capillaries are where all the pressure your heart has to push against comes from.
So if you haven’t gone walking for a long time you may want to start just going to the end of your driveway and back for the first week. From there to the end of your block to go around two curves of your block. for another week or two. Then go all the way around the block. Keep that up till you can go around the block 4 times from there walk till you hit a mile. And keep expanding. It takes slow work to get your body used to the work. However, if you are willing to take your time the results will be awesome.
Now if you are severely overweight you may have to start working from home. There is nothing wrong with exercising from your house. There are stories of people who start by just waving their arms. Then working on standing up, just to then sit down
Get a trainer
Finally, if your doctor cleared you for more strenuous exercise then get a trainer. Someone who can push you to be even better.