Everyone hates
the word exercise, but it is a vitally important component to health and well
being. With so many people striving for
improved health, there are gyms opening up everywhere. On top of this, you’ll find countless
opportunities to do simple exercise at home.
But, when we are talking about the health and wellness of the Baby Boomer, there is much more to it than just this. In fact, it is essential that you install a plan of overall exercise that incorporates several key types of exercise and movement.
Why Does Exercise Have To Matter?
Since we were
children, we were encouraged to get outside and play. Today, the children that aren’t doing this
are unhealthy and overweight. Many have
problems with learning and attention deficit problems. Much of this can be blamed on the fact that
they don’t get out there and play.
As a Baby
Boomer, it’s important for you to realize that exercise can do many things for
your health and well being. In fact
exercise, when done correctly, will actually help you to look and feel younger.
Yes, this could
be considered the anti aging tool of a century because it can be that powerful
when done correctly.
Have you ever
been the type of person that did exercise regularly? If you ever went through a phase of going to
the gym and working out, then you know that exercising does make you feel
good. It makes you healthier too.
·
You are
stronger and therefore can accomplish more for longer periods of time.
·
Your muscles
are lean and fit, which means that they are less prone to injury or pain.
·
Your body is
working at optimal levels which help to keep the immune system working well.
·
Your heart is
working hard and therefore becoming stronger with each workout that you do.
·
You are likely
the right weight which means that you have less chance of heart attacks.
There are many
ways that exercising makes a difference in the body and the Baby Boomer can not
ignore these facts if he or she is going to improve their overall health and
well being.
Now, what do
you need to do to gain the benefits that exercise can offer to you?
There are
actually three key parts of the exercise regimen that you want to install into
your life as part of your regular program.
This is not a program that should be done only for a certain time period
but over the course of your lifetime as long as your doctor approves of it.
By
incorporating these key elements into your lifestyle, you will actually be
building a healthier body that will live a longer and healthier life.
The three
things that you must take into consideration include these:
·
Your
Heart: You need cardiovascular training
that is centered on improving your heart’s function.
·
Your
Muscles: Strength training is necessary
for you. You need to improve the
function of your muscles.
·
Your
Joints: Flexibility training increases
the range of motion and discourages the onset of conditions such as arthritis.
If you don’t
believe that it’s important to take into consideration any of these elements,
consider these very frightening facts:
When you turn
60, you can look forward to having lost at least half of the strength you used
to have. You also won’t be able to count
on not breaking a bone if you fall because your bones are much weaker. In addition, your lungs can’t pump out nearly
the amount of air as they used to.
But, if take
the time to install an exercise regimen like the one we are encouraging you can
completely wipe away these risks and improve your health and well being
considerably.
How To Do It
First and
foremost you should see your doctor before starting any type of exercise
regimen. This will insure that your body
is healthy enough to handle what you are going to do to it. Don’t worry; you won’t be hurting yourself
unless you don’t take this first step.
Once you get the all clear from your doctor, you can begin at looking for solutions to your exercise needs. First, start by working on your heart.
Improving Heart Function
To do this, you’ll want to take into consideration the aerobic exercises. If you get in an aerobic exercise program, you will help improve your heart considerably. During these workouts, you are pushing your heart to its limits. As you do that, you are also encouraging it to strengthen. Aerobic exercise improves your heart’s function.
How much
aerobics do you need to get in? For most
people, it is necessary to do an aerobic exercise at least three times a week
for at least 20 minutes per day. That’s
only one hour of your time that you are dedicating to aerobic exercise and you
will see improvement.
But, for that
improvement to happen, you do need to pay attention to what you are doing. In order to see benefits, you need to get
your heart pumping at the right speed.
To measure this, you will want to increase your exercise intensity to a
level that is no more than 65 percent of your maximum heart rate.
To determine
what that is, do this. Start with 220
and take away your age. Then, multiply
that number by .65 (you can go as high as .75 if you are physically fit.) You want to get your heart rate to that level
for at least 20 minutes three times per week.
Check out the web for ways to learn how to measure your heart rate. Or, a better solution is to ask your doctor about what your maximum heart rate target should be. When doing this level, it should be difficult to talk but not so bad that you feel exhausted.
Strength Training
While aerobic
training is important, so is that of strength training. Don’t worry; you don’t have to work out so
that you have bulging muscles. But, you
do need to have some exercise regimen that incorporates building your muscle
mass.
Strength
training is actually the use of weights and movements that will increase the
size and function of the muscles in your body.
Although some individuals only think of strength training as weight
training, the two are completely different.
You don’t want to over develop your muscle groups, but you do want to
increase them in the way of health.
Increasing your
muscle mass is important for a number of reasons. The key element will be to help you to
maintain a healthy weight. You see, lean
muscle mass, which is the type of muscle that you develop through strength
training, is actually better at burning through stored fat. It also is helpful at burning calories
faster. The combination means that they
can help you to get rid of stored fat that you have throughout your body.
In technical
terms, when you add additional muscle mass to your body, it is able to be more
metabolically active than that of the fat that is stored in your body.
By increasing
your muscle mass, you increase your metabolism as well. That means that your body remains lean and
trim, which is ideal for heart health as well as overall organ health.
But, what if
you don’t have weight to lose? Even when
you do drop to your ideal weight or if you are already there, it is still quite
important for you to take care of this aspects for other health reasons.
Lean muscle
mass is important for optimum health.
Your body, especially your muscles, are trim and they can then pump
blood easier. In addition, they are less
likely to be injured or to develop problems later in life. The longer that your muscle groups are
healthy, the longer that the rest of your body does well.
If you end up
being in a seditary lifestyle because of injuries and just lack of energy
(something else that is a benefit from strength training) you can end up with
countless health conditions that go along with it.
In addition to
all of this, strength training also aids in keeping the heart strong. With the right training, you can increase the
pumping power of the heart.
How much
strength training you do depends on your needs for weight loss and your current
muscle condition. One of the best things
to do to gain both this type of exercise as well as aerobic is to join a gym or
visit your local recreation center where you can work out weekly.
Again, with
strength training like that of aerobic training, a regimen of three times per
week is ideal for weight benefit and muscle training benefits.
Keeping each of
these functions of your body healthy is something that you absolutely need to
do. But, even with aerobic training as
well as strength training, there is more that you’ll need to tackle to complete
the entire exercise package.
Flexibility Training
Believe it or
not, you have to do your stretching.
Stretching is yet another key function of improving your health and well
being. One of the key reasons that you
need to use flexibility training is that of keeping your joints healthy.
Did you know
that the onset of arthritis can start any time after the age of 25 (even
younger sometimes)?
The arthritis
that you feel now is only going to get worse and since it is a degenerative
disease, it is likely to leave you with deformed, disabled joints. But, with the help of flexibility training
now, you can avoid these conditions all together.
Flexibility
training keeps you moving right. By
stretching, you help your muscles to stretch and therefore keep them from
getting hurt. Your muscles become lithe
and limber. You can move like you did
when you were in your 20’s, accomplishing the things that you want and need to
do. When you increase your body’s
ability to move in all directions, you feel younger and your body is actually
improving in age, too.
Stretching and toning
your muscles and joints is an important part of improving your overall
health. With this type of training, you
can keep your joints working optimally and you reduce your risk of strains,
pulls and sprains significantly.
One of the most
common complaints today from the Baby Boomer age is that of back pain. No matter what you may have done to it or
what you think is wrong with it, back pain is a very common condition that
happens more and more as you age.
But, when you
add in a strength training workout to your exercise regimen, you improve the
quality of those muscles and increase your spinal’s movement and
flexibility. You actually reduce the
pain that you may be in and even prevent further injuries from happening to
your back or hips, yet another common pain location for the Baby Boomers today.
A flexibility
training regimen should be done at least 3 times per week for 20 minutes at a
time. If you want to see rapid
improvement here, you should try to do some form of stretching each morning and
each evening. Just a few minutes of
doing this will increase your body’s tone and flexibility and it’s a great way
to start and end the day!
Pulling It All Together
Now, does all
of that sound like it is just too much to do?
It doesn’t have to be.
In fact, really
all you need is just 1 hour three times per week. Or, you can break apart these workouts to
give yourself less of a lump of time commitment. You need:
·
20 minutes of
aerobic training for heart health three times per week.
·
20 minutes of
strength training for muscle improvement three times per week.
·
20 minutes of
flexibility training for movement and joint improvement, three times per week.
A great way to
gain these benefits is to invest in a membership to a gym. To help you to get started, work with a
personal trainer, telling them what your goals are. You don’t have to continue working with them
but after a month or so of training, you’ll be able to do your workout routine
on your own. Just don’t falter from it
or you’ll have to start all over again.
For flexibility
training, consider taking in a yoga class or another type of easy movement
training. This too is something that you
can learn and then do on your own if you would like to.
When you do
these things, you get to transform your life in so many ways. Consider the people that you know that are
over the age of 60. When you meet John
and he shakes your hand, do you feel how weak and frail it is? Do you feel his bones and realize that this
once very large and tough man is now frail and very weak. You may even feel like you could break his
hand if you hold onto it too hard.
Is that the
type of handshake that you want to give?
Or, do you want to be able to firmly grasp someone’s hand and feel the
strength coming through? When you
incorporate an exercise regimen like this, you can gain those benefits and so
much more.
In addition to
this, exercise can actually help to improve your age. Aerobic training as well as strength training
helps to stimulate your body to produce growth hormone. This hormone is a key ingredient to improving
the health of your individual cells. If
you remember, improving each of your cells is important in keeping yourself
healthy longer.
Therefore, when
your body produces more growth hormone, it can actually reverse the aging that
your body has already gone through.
That’s because growth hormone actually can restore the health and the
youth of each of your cells.
One important
thing to realize from this is that through exercising, you can improve much if
not all of the damage that you’ve done to your body over the years. You can restore your youth to a degree and
then maintain it for some time to come.
Exercise simply
must be a part of your life. The Baby
Boomer requires this type of movement for benefits that come later on in life,
too.
