Rather than keeping you in suspense for too long…..the answer is a resounding YES.
Now read on to find out all the WHY’S…….and how you can easily change your life for the better.
When we think about exercise and fitness, it’s very easy to think about, and concentrate on, the weight loss aspect.
So, if you don’t have any excess weight to lose, why should you bother wasting your time in the gym and working out?
Because, we all need to understand one very important fact……..Why Strength Training is so Important as You Start Ageing.
There are many hidden bonuses to regular exercise.
Check out these 5 Easy Habits to Adopt for Healthy Ageing and Living Longer.
Staying fit comes with a huge variety of health benefits, especially when it comes to longevity and quality of life in your latter years.
Take it from me, pills and potions will only mask your problems – you can’t cure with a pill what you have created with a lifestyle without the help of a regular exercise program and a lifestyle change. And that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself any more.
It is now a well proven fact that regular exercise changes your body……but it also changes your mind, your mood and your attitude. So why wouldn’t you want to do it?
Just find an activity you can enjoy for the rest of your life…..because that’s how long you’ll need it. I find diversity helps keep you at it.
Active Ageing isn’t about holding onto your youth — it’s about maximizing the opportunities of ageing and maintaining your independence.
And that is of paramount importance in your retirement years.
Increase your metabolism as you age
Staying fit and active stops your metabolism from decreasing too much during the course of your lifetime.
This will help you to avoid becoming one of those people who gains a lot of weight as they reach their 40s and 50s.
Middle-aged people don’t necessarily start eating junk foods or skipping the gym, but their metabolisms don’t work as hard as it used to.
This means more calories are being stored as fat rather than being burnt – hence the old bug-bare for most of us – the dreaded middle age spread.
Seniors need to strengthen their bones and muscles (especially women).
Coming away from the aspect of weight loss and metabolism entirely, regular exercise will also strengthen your bones and muscles.
This means that as you age, you won’t be at as much risk of getting the debilitating aches and pains that so many older people suffer from.
In fact, it has been medically proven that with regular exercise, you can reverse many of your ills and ailments. I have proven this on my own body as well as many of my friends who have followed my programs.
Exercise will also help to prevent osteoporosis, which is a common disease of the bones that ends up crippling many people as they enter their retirement years.
The one thing that nobody seems to talk about and most people have no idea what it means is sarcopenia.
In short, sarcopenia is loss of muscle mass and it happens to everyone as they age.
Fortunately you CAN do something about it but again, it all comes back to regular exercise and your lifestyle.
Around 30% of women over sixty and 10% of men in the same age group have sarcopenia so the question becomes, are our bodies in good enough shape to enjoy the extra years science now tells us we are going to have because of all the improvements in medical science?
Read my article on sarcopenia to get the full story and what you can do to keep it at bay: Sarcopenia Symptoms – and Why Exercise is so Vital as We Age.
How Seniors can have less back pain.
As you age we are all prone to getting back pain, besides other aches and pains, particularly if you work in an office or a sedentary job where you are sitting down for most of the day.
Even if you think you have good posture, many people are not sitting properly when they are working in an office, or even at home for that matter, which means over the years you could develop severe back pain.
This could eventually cause you to have to leave the workforce…..and it could have been avoided.
Some people have also been known to spend the rest of their lives in a wheelchair and worse still, there are plenty of examples of people dying from the effects of blood clots in their legs from too much sitting.
Just another of the life threatening outcomes caused through lack of movement, so be sure to read my story about Sitting, Exercise and Premature Death – How to Make Sure You are Not One of the Statistics.
Clearer veins and arteries for baby boomers
Many health professionals are constantly talking about the benefits of exercise when it comes to overall heart health, and it’s true, regular exercise will help you to keep your heart in better condition.
With an unhealthy heart, you are at risk of developing heart disease and having heart attacks, which can obviously lead to premature death.
If you are overweight or obese, the risk of having heart problems will increase dramatically, so the combination of exercising regularly and also losing weight, will ensure that your heart stays as healthy as possible.
In closing, here’s a thought about mindful eating I am sure you will find interesting and helpful: Mindful eating: “You can take control of your health if you take control of your lifestyle.” – Sandra Aamodt – from her TED Talk “Why Dieting Doesn’t Usually Work”.
You might also like to check out what I researched and wrote in this article about why Diets Don’t Work.
Cheers – John – your Active Ageing Mentor and Coach.
P.S. Help a friend – like and share. Thanks.
Leave a Reply