“Nothing will work unless you do.”
– Maya Angelou
January: Festivities, food and visits are mostly over, it’s cold with less time outdoors. For many, it’s an opportunity to take time to think about health and make efforts to get healthier.
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) points out that it’s important to group one’s health efforts into four areas: endurance, strength, balance and flexibility.
They comment, “Most people tend to focus on one type of exercise or activity and think they’re doing enough. Research has shown that it’s important to get all four types of exercise as each one has different benefits. Doing one kind also can improve your ability to do the others, and variety helps reduce boredom and risk of injury.”
It doesn’t matter your age, there are activities that meet all fitness levels and needs.
Endurance activities, or aerobic exercise, focus on breathing and heart rates. They help the overall circulatory system and can delay or prevent diabetes, colon and breast cancers and heart disease. Common exercises include brisk walking, dancing, swimming, biking, yard work or climbing stairs.
The weekly goal would be to get in 150 minutes of activity that gets you breathing hard, spread out over multiple days. Safety tips for endurance exercises include warm up activity before more intense moves, listening to your body regarding possible dizziness or chest pressure and drinking plenty of water, even if you’re not thirsty. Any concerns? Talk to your doctor about what you plan to do.
Strength exercises make everyday activities easier and improve balance to prevent falls. Common methods include lifting weights, using resistance bands or wall push-ups. There are easy suggestions for all major muscle groups. Even common chores like lifting groceries can help.
The goal would be to do sets of exercises for all major muscle groups at least two days per week, without exercising the same set two days in a row. An important safety tip is not to hold your breath, but rather breathe steadily throughout your workout.
Balance exercises help prevent falls, the leading cause of emergency room visits for the older population. Simple things can help, like standing on one foot, perhaps by a kitchen counter and timing yourself to see if you can do it longer each time. TaiChi classes are renowned for improving balance and breathing. There are several available locally.
NIA also recommends trying the heel-to-toe walk where you put one heel slowly in front of the toe of the other foot and walk in the single line, preferably next to a wall for balance. NIA has videos of this and other exercises on YouTube. They’re worth watching.
Last, flexibility mainly involves stretching. Back and leg stretches are the most common. They help both in strengthening and preventing strain. Different stretches benefit different conditions. Talk to your doctor or a physical therapist, or check the internet for suggestions. Specific conditions, like sciatica, can be helped by how you stretch and sit. Check out nia.nih.gov/health as a great source of information and countless tips.
So many things can be done at home. Every effort pays off. Nothing works unless you do.
Lynn Kellogg is former CEO of Region IV Area Agency on Aging in Southwest Michigan. Questions on age or independence services? Call the Info-Line for Aging & Disability at 800-654-2810 or visit areaagencyonaging.org. The Generations column appears each weekend in The Herald-Palladium.