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Senior Exercise

Ten Ideas to Help Senior Citizens Get out of Bed and Exercise

Tracey Cousineau, LSW-C, Outreach Manager

05/10/2007

Seniors know that exercise is extremely beneficial in building and maintaining healthy bodies and minds. Yet, most fail to do it and just getting started may be the biggest hurdle. The key to longevity after genetics is simple: Get out of bed and make exercise an important part of their daily routine. Rick Smith, M.D., medical director of the Los Angeles Jewish Home recommends these ten easy steps to get older people moving:

  1. Showing up is half the battle.

  2. Have an exercise buddy.

  3. Start slow. It's the effort that counts.

  4. Give yourself physical activity "homework assignments," and look for ways to     build physical activity into your daily routine.

  5. Think of exercise sessions as "appointments" that you must keep.

  6. When you can't keep your "appointment," don't be too hard on yourself.

  7. Keep a record of what you do and your progress. It's fun to chart victories.

  8. If you stop exercising for several weeks and then return, start out at about half the effort you were putting into it when you stopped.

  9. Wear supportive, comfortable shoes.

  10. Build a routine around stretching, walking and strength training.

Older inactive adults lose ground in four areas that are important to staying healthy and independent - endurance, strength, balance and flexibility. Muscle strength declines 15 percent per decade after age 50 and 30 percent per decade after age 70 but resistance training can result in 25 to 100 percent strength gains in older adults. Exercise also reduces the risk of depression and the severity of depressive symptoms. Physical activity can be good medicine but check with a doctor before starting any exercise program.

If you would like to learn more about senior exercise Health Access Network employees will be demonstrating resistance training exercises at the Millinocket Regional Health Fair on May 5th at Stearns High school. You can also attend Healthy Habits on Mondays in Lincoln or Thursdays in Millinocket.   For more information about HAN, please contact Tracey at 794-6700, or toll free at 1-888-426-4584.