Regular
physical activity and exercises are important for both physical and mental
health. Being active will keep chronic diseases and health conditions at a bay
and provide you long-term health benefits.
The
health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore.
Everyone benefits from exercise, regardless of age, sex or physical ability. Exercise
also helps to improve mood and boosts energy. It is never too late to start
exercising, scientists claimed, as research showed adults who begin to work out
in their later years still appear to live longer and have a lower risk of
disability which aids in leading healthy and independent life.
Recently I read about a Canadian
lady who didn’t take up exercise till she was 77. At the age of 93, she was an
athletics champion with 30 world records to her name!
Scientists at the University of
Illinois, US, were keen to study her to see what late-life exercise could do
for her brain – and brains like hers. And after she died at 95 two years back,
it was found that her brain was quite different from other 90-plus people. The
white matter in the brain which carries messages from one part to another had
fewer abnormalities and the part responsible for memory, the hippocampus, was bigger.
The overall image was that her brain was younger than her age.
How come? A follow-up study on
60 to 80-year-olds showed that the more active they were, the healthier their
patterns of brain activity compared to more sedentary people. In another study
it is found that walking or cycling for just 20 minutes a day can significantly
reduce a 60-year-old man’s risk of heart failure by a fifth. The research also
found that men who were the least active were at nearly 50% higher risk of
heart failure than the average 60-year-old.
How to begin?
1. Get a checkup before a workout. A visit to
your doctor is sensible for anyone beginning an exercise program, but it's important
for the elderly or adults who have been inactive because of health problems.
2. Start slowly. Begin your workout program
slowly and gradually increase the time. Start with simple walking or cycling or
some breathing and warm up exercises. Don’t overdo it on the first day and
injure your muscles.
3. Go more often. At least exercise for 5 days
a week.
4. Don’t go alone. Take your partner or buddy
with you so that you stick to the program and take it as fun activity and not
burden.
5. Do what you love. Opt for an activity which
you enjoy doing, it can be, tennis, swimming, badminton, cycling or the
simplest old school favorite walking.
Exercise and
physical activity are a great way to feel better, boost your health and have
fun. So pull up your socks, put your shoes and squeeze in!!
References:
http://www.webmd.com
http://www.mirror.co.uk
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