Extending your health into the golden years is a goal you should strive for. Being passive about fitness and wellness can bring on illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease or stroke that will interfere with your quality of life or can result in frequent hospitalizations or long term care. By optimizing your level of fitness and wellness, you can increase your chances of being independent, and do the things you want to during your retirement years like travel, enjoy time with your grandchildren or even start a second career or pursue a lifelong dream.
Significance
The Director of The National Library of Medicine, Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D. states that "good information is the best medicine for older adults." Becoming aware of how to prevent various diseases can be life altering. For example, increasing age is a risk factor for heart disease, and it affects 83 percent of people who are over age 65 according to the American Heart Association.
Because increasing age is an uncontrollable risk factor, you need to eliminate the other controllable risk factors such as excess weight, smoking, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Preventing diabetes is necessary as people with diabetes have a higher risk of developing heart disease. By exercising and practicing healthy eating habits, you can possibly decrease weight, and improve blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugars and thereby decrease risk for diabetes and heart disease.
Types of Fitness
The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that elderly persons engage in 30 minutes of aerobic exercise like walking, swimming or bicycling most days of the week, as well as strength training exercises such as lifting weights or weight bearing exercises two times per week. They also suggest warming up before exercise and cooling down afterward by stretching or walking slowly. You can also be involved in moderately intense activities like gardening, housework, yard work or dancing which the American Heart Association reports can also have long term health benefits if they are done daily. Aerobic exercise can help cardiovascular fitness and make your heart stronger. Strength training helps build muscle, and can preserve or improve bone density to help prevent osteoporosis.
The American Geriatrics Society also suggests exercises such as yoga or tai chi to help improve balance. Improving balance is helpful to prevent falls. According to American Geriatrics Society, each year, almost one third of elderly people have a fall. Having a major fall can result in broken bones, distressing pain, possible surgery or hospitalization.
Maintaining Wellness
Wellness involves a realm of features. For example, wellness involves continuous screening of all types of health, such as vision, hearing, dental, mental health, emotional health, neurological health (such as memory and mental agility), and nutritional health.
Keeping up with wellness involves organization and keen memory skills. You can increase your mental sharpness by making a spreadsheet on the computer or paper to track each area of your personal wellness on a monthly basis. The Mayo Clinic suggests doing crossword puzzles, reading parts of newspapers you usually would skip, learning a musical instrument, taking different routes to get places, or volunteering to help improve memory skills.
Prevention/Solution
Loneliness, depression, anxiety, financial difficulties, and other overwhelming circumstances can inhibit the intent to maximize wellness. Feeling sad or lonely from time to time is normal. However, The American Geriatrics Society suggests that if you feel any kind of long term sadness or changes in mood or personality you should consult your physician, since depression can interfere with other aspects of health, and needs to be treated. Take advantage of local senior centers or senior organizations such as American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), to find socialization, exercise activities and advice on finances and long term health care decisions.
These organizations offer expert advice on finances, health care and many other topics through written articles or inviting speakers. They also focus on social activities such as dances, dinners, fun group outings and travel. Having a strong support system can help prevent isolation, and concerns or fears that involve aging.
Warning
If you are elderly, it is best to consult with your physician about starting and/or making any changes to a fitness regimen. Some seniors may think that having a health condition might prohibit exercise, and others might believe that you should exercise only if you are in good shape already. The American Geriatrics Society has an article that goes over important questions you can ask your physician regarding exercise, such as what type of exercise to do, how much, how exercise might benefit your current health condition, and if there are any exercises you should refrain from.
References
- The American Geriatrics Society: Aging Public Education Resources
- Mayo Clinic: Memory loss: 7 tips to improve your memory
- The American Geriatrics Society: Physical Activity - What to Ask?
- American Academy of Family Physicians: Exercise and Seniors
- American Heart Association: Exercise (Physical Activity) for Older People and Those With Disabilities
