The National Institute on Aging has
rereleased a new version of Publication 09-4258, Exercise & Physical
Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute on Aging at NIH.
This booklet , published in January 2013, includes interactive tools
including a DVD are available FREE at www.nia.nih.gov/Go4Life.
Older adults who exercise experience
higher levels of life satisfaction. Anyone, even people who use
wheelchairs, can exercise and this publication tells you how to do it.
Another benefit of exercise is that results are seen almost immediately!
The benefits of exercise include:
Improved
Health
Maintaining
independence
Delay
or prevent disability including arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, and
hypertension
Improved
balance
Improved
mood
Less
stress
Some
older adults are afraid to exercise, believing it will harm them. Not
so! Older adults who exercise have fewer doctor visits, take fewer
medicines, and have fewer illnesses. Sedentary older adults should always talk
to their healthcare professional before beginning an exercise program. Do
it carefully to avoid injury!
According to the Go4Life exercise
book, there are four types of exercise that improve quality of life. Endurance activities, strength training,
flexibility [stretching] training, and balance exercises help older adults
perform their daily activities. These
include vacuuming, raking leaves, playing with the grandkids, carrying baskets
of laundry upstairs/downstairs, lifting bags of mulch, tying shoes, looking
over the shoulder to back up the car, and walking up and down stairs (p. 14).
An article from the Harvard School
of Public Health authored by Amy Roeder illuminated the importance of vigorous
and moderate exercise toward successful aging.
The early research conducted by the late Dr. Ralph Paffenbarger, Jr.
found that men who exercised vigorously… defined as burning 2k calories per
week… lived longer than couch potatoes.
However, recent research has also found benefits for moderate
exercise. Adults age 40+ who exercised
75 minutes per week [11 minutes per day] lived 1.8 years longer. When moderate exercise was doubled to 150
minutes per week, they lived 3.4 years longer!
The researchers acknowledged that people who exercise have increased
quality of life, retain their independence, and avoid early
institutionalization (Roeder, 2013).
Exercise is important to retain
flexibility by regularly working muscles. Loss of flexibility may lead to
loss of independence and early institutionalization. People who are
unable to get up and down to toilet or get up and down in a chair are at risk
for institutionalization. Do you know that people get up and down about
70 times per day? If you can’t use the toilet or get in and out of a
chair, you can’t live alone.
“Yes, but I am active, isn’t that
exercise?” Well,
yes and no. Remaining physically active is related to positive
aging. For example, gardening, mowing the lawn, walking the dog, and
using the stairs are all types of physical activity. But exercise
is planned, structured, and repetitive. Examples of exercise programs
are weight training, tai chi, water aerobics, and spinning class.
Are you ever too old to
exercise? NO!
References:
Department of Health and Human
Services, National Institutes on Aging (2013, January). Go4Life
Exercise & Physical Activity
(Pamphlet No. 09-4258). Washington, DC. Retrieved from
Roeder,
A. (2013, July 11). Three generations of
HSPH researchers explore health benefits of
exercise. Harvard School of Public
Health News. Retrieved from
