Everyone knows that they should do some exercise, but getting motivated to do it is often the hardest part. One motivator could be a FREE Membership! The Canton Fitness Center is now affiliated with both Silver and Fit and Silver Sneakers programs. These are programs are available through several medicare eligible health care plans. Some companies include Aetna, Humana, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of PA, and others. If you are over 65, or medicare eligible, check with your insurance company to see if either of these programs are part of your insurance coverage. These programs qualify you for a FREE basic fitness center membership at the Canton Fitness Center. What a better motivator to get you started?
What other benefits are there for older adults to exercise? The list is HUGE! Study after study prove that exercise is the key to living a longer, more independent life. Studies are now showing that sitting and being sedentary can have as great a negative impact on health as smoking! That is a scary thought!
If we tried to cover all the reasons adults over 65 should exercise, I could fill volumes, so I will just try to highlight a few. Amazingly, the benefits of exercise are often a ripple effect in a positive way, just as illness and medication are in a negative way. When you exercise, one positive benefit can create a cascade of other benefits. For example, if you exercise regularly you may feel lose weight. If you lose weight, your blood pressure and blood sugar may improve and your joints won’t have so much stress. If that happens, you may be able to reduce medication, etc. This is just one example of this positive chain of events. Studies show that exercise improves mood, improves cognitive function, helps with balance and mobility, aids in weight control, slows bone loss, helps retain muscle mass, reduces osteoarthritis pain, improves insulin sensitivity, reduces blood pressure, reduces medical visits, and helps improve lung and heart function.
Many people, though, approach aging with a negative attitude. They figure they are going to get old and sick anyway, why fight it. "There's a powerful myth that getting older means getting decrepit," says Chhanga Dutta, PhD and chief of the Clinical Gerontology Branch at the National Institute on Aging. "It's not true. Some people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s are out there running marathons and becoming body-builders." “A lot of the symptoms that we associate with old age -- such as weakness and loss of balance -- are actually symptoms of inactivity, not age”, says Alicia I. Arbaje, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Geriatrics and Gerontology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore (WebMD). It’s never too late to start exercising, the key is to start slowly if you haven’t exercised in a while.
Many older people are leery of starting to exercise because they are afraid it will exacerbate some of their current, chronic health conditions. On the contrary, if you have a chronic health problem -- such as arthritis, diabetes, or heart disease -- exercise is almost certainly a good idea. Check with a doctor first, but exercise will probably help. "Exercise is almost like a silver bullet for lots of health problems," says Arbaje. "For many people, exercise can do as much if not more good than the 5 to 10 medications they take every day." (WebMD) As noted before, being sedentary poses greater health risks than most perceived risks associated with exercise.
There are many excuses that seem valid when trying to avoid exercise, but know this, that the less you move the harder life becomes. Joints stiffen, muscles atrophy and weaken, weight increases, balance declines, energy levels decrease, heart and lung function slow, and every day activities become more of a burden. So, if you are over 65 and still in relatively good health, start exercising to keep that going into old age. If you aren’t in such good health now, don’t make that an excuse not to exercise. By slowly adding exercise into your daily routine, your health can improve.
If you have questions about any of the information from this article, please feel free to call the Canton Fitness Center at 570-673-5813. Leave a message if someone is not available when you call. Remember, Believe in Your Health. We Do! I hope to see you soon.