"Healthy Aging - Feeling Fit for Life"

Exercise helps keep you young, healthy, active and most of all-independent!

Muscle mass and muscle strength tend to decline with aging, making older people vulnerable to falls and immobility. Falls are a major cause of fear, injury, disability, dependence, and even death among older adults.

Regular exercise tones, firms, and strengthens muscles, helping to improve confidence, reduce the risk of falling, and minimize the risk of injury should a fall occur.

A person spending energy on physical activity can afford to eat more food and with it, more nutrients. People who are committed to an ongoing fitness program can maintain their body weight and have higher energy and nutrient intakes than more sedentary people.

The facts about exercise:

• Exercise can help older people feel better and enjoy life more, even those who think they're too old or too out of shape.
• Most older adults don't get enough physical activity.
• Lack of physical activity and poor diet, taken together, are the second largest underlying cause of death in the United States. (Smoking is the #1 cause.)
• Regular exercise can improve some diseases and disabilities in older people who already have them. It can improve mood and relieve depression, too.
• Staying physically active on a regular, permanent basis may help prevent or delay certain diseases (like some types of cancer, heart disease, or diabetes) and disabilities as people grow older.

Walking is one of the best exercise options a senior can choose. Walking is inexpensive, can be done almost anywhere and can help strengthen bones. All you need is a pair of comfortable shoes.

Walking will:

• Give you more energy
• Make you feel good
• Help you to relax
• Reduce stress
• Help you sleep better
• Help control your appetite
• Increase the number of calories your body uses

Repetition is the key to building a habit. Making a schedule and tracking it is essential to a walking program.

How often to walk? A minimum should be 3-4 times per week (every other day). Aim for a half-hour of physical activity every day.

When to walk? You must find the time of day that best suits your schedule and lifestyle.

• Many people find walking first thing in the morning to be best - they don't procrastinate or get too busy and just skip it as they do later in the day.
• Others incorporate a walking workout into their workday by walking at breaks or lunches or right after work.
• Still others walk in the afternoon or evening and clear their mind after a hard day at work or at home.

Find a partner. One of the best ways to make and keep a schedule is to do it with a walking partner. One of the best motivators to get out the door is to have somebody waiting for you.

• Walking partners can be found through walking clubs or weight loss groups.
• Don't limit yourself to humans - dogs are some of the best and most motivating partners.