Keeping fit is probably an aspect of all our daily routines which we need to improve upon if we are all honest with ourselves. The trouble I find is motivation – how do we get motivated?
Well there are various things which could be a pay off for taking 20 – 30 minutes a day doing some form of exercise and no that doesn’t include the trips to the fridge to see what can be nibbled!
You do realise that when you go upstairs to get something then forget what you went up for is in fact natures way of making you take more exercise. You have to go back downstairs to remember what you went up for in the first place. – Clever bunny mother nature! Actually I seem to recall some gentleman loosing quite a bit of weight and becoming very fit by going up and down stairs as an exercise regime!
Whatever you do remember giving up doesn’t matter it’s the Not Trying that will kill you.
Keeping fit does have its benefits it can help you:-
Reduce your stiffness
Increase your energy levels
Mentally improve – you get the feel good factor
Sleep better
Make new friends
Get out of the house
Reduce your cholesterol
Loose weight
Lower blood pressure
Improve your heart
Improve bone density
Improve your resistance to infections
With all those benefits as motivation you then need to look at what you would like to do when keeping fit?
Would you like to meet like minded people?
What exercises would you like to do? – Enjoyment will help you to keep going back
Do you like to join exercise groups to help with motivation or do you prefer to work on your own?
Dancing, rambling, cycling clubs in fact any group activity can help with the return factor
Try not to do the same form of exercise everyday as it may become monotonous
It doesn’t matter if you do give up on one form of exercise – try something different until you find one you do enjoy
So once you’ve decided that you want to take up some form of keeping fit it’s a good idea to get checked out by your doctor especially if you haven’t exercised for some time. If you have health problems it would be a good idea to have chosen a form of exercises prior to going along to enable your doctor to assess if your chosen exercises form may cause problems for you.
Then you need to set some goals, sensible achievable goals perhaps start off by saying that you will walk around the block three times this week. Just start off lightly with a clear aim of what you would like to achieve, maybe it is to get round! Or maybe you would like to do it by a certain time this can be revised as you become fitter and improve. I like to have motivational rewards too – whatever you fancy – working towards something is always a bonus.
Charity sponsorship is a great way for getting motivated there are loads of walks and runs which are regularly held and if you make sure you give yourself plenty of time to prepare you will be able to not only help yourself but raise money for a worthy cause as well as awareness of the condition.
How about aquarobics? This is a gentle introduction to exercise which isn’t too strenuous on your muscles and joints, but gives you a whole body workout.
Once you feel confident that you have improved your fitness level you may decide to enrol in a group activity to add variety.
Changes can be made in your daily routine which can begin to alter your fitness without you making huge changes. “No pain no gain” is NOT the way to go work your way into your new life
- Taking items upstairs one at a time rather than waiting for a pile!
- Walk down to the shops rather than take the car
- Get off the bus the stop before you need to
- Take the stairs rather than the lift
- A short burst of 10 minutes exercises 3 times in a day is as affective as 30 minutes none stop session. Raising your heart rate is the aim.
- One of probably, what might seem as a bit daft thing I do is while the kettle is boiling I do step ups on the bottom stair until it’s boiled! It all adds up
- Try to go out regularly for a long walks, think about cycling
- Take a trip and become one of our roving reporters, tell us about a trip you’ve been on add photo’s if you like and send it on in.
All kinds of research has been done which endorses regular activities to keeping fit in the Plus Fifty age group with findings such as reducing your chances of developing Alzheimer’s amongst many of the more obvious benefits. The old adage “you’re as young as you feel” is true, exercise can be of huge benefit even if you haven’t done it for years you can add years to your life by being stronger and fitter.
A Cautionary Word
- If you haven’t exercised for a long time go for a check up with your doctor
- If during your exercise routine you experience any of the following:-
pain or pressure causing tightness in your chest
shortness of breath, wheezing or difficulty with breathing
light headed or faint
nauseated
STOP exercising and relax if your symptoms persist you will need to contact your GP –
You are bound to become slightly out of breath and experience an increase in your heart rate whilst you are exercising. However both your breathing and heart rate should return to your usual resting rate after 10 minutes. If in doubt measure your pulse and respiration rate prior to starting your exercise routine.
Make sure you warm up and stretch your muscles before your routine and cool down afterwards – we have all done it – straight into a routine pull every known muscle known to man and take a week or more to get over it! And I know it feels like you’ve done your whole routine by the time you’ve warmed which usually takes 10 minutes but do persevere.
What exercises?
Pilates
– is a complimentary exercise regime which gently builds up long neglected core muscles to help to increase your mobility and flexibility.
Aerobics
- This form of exercise significantly increases the blood flow to the larger muscles groups for an extended period of time.
Aquarobics
- is a water fitness program which uses the buoyancy and resistance of water to promote quicker muscle tone with less body and joint impact than on-land exercise.