Stay active!

But remember, you're not as young as you once were...













Matthew Schultz, reporting for NCC News
3/19/2008

Stay Active
As we continue to discover the importance of exercise in maintaining a longer, more fulfilling life, many in the baby boomer generation are starting to experiment with workout routines. "The goal is to get people to be active," said exercise physiologist Carol Sames, "and if people don't want to do regular physical activity, how about mowing the lawn, gardening; just getting people to be active is huge."But many baby boomers hear "active" and think "running". "A lot of people see running as mount Everest, you know, it's the thing to attain," said Sames,"...but you can be very cardio-vascularly fit without ever having run." Activity is the key.

Benefits of Exercise
"It's not just something that you see physically," said personal trainer John Henneberg, "but emotionally there are benefits. There is also just a good feeling; an overall well being. Health and fitness are so important for you. It is a lifestyle change, and you will reap the benefits, not only for yourself, but all the people around you."

Exercise Carefully
Of course, a regular workout routine is one great way to get your much-needed activity. But many older people forget that they aren't 20 anymore. "Despite the fact that there were many things we did when we were teenagers, or in our early twenties, we just don't have the physical capacity to do that at the same level as we could back then," said Dr. Glenn Axelrod. "Given the aging process is going to occur, the best thing you can do is to stay fit and active as it's occurring, because you can't stop it." Age is only a contributing factor. Anyone starting a workout routine should be careful. It is just ever more dire that we take it easy as we get older, because injuries are much easier to cause, and much harder to recover from. Running is hard on the joints, and is likely a poor choice for someone who is just starting a workout routine, accoding to Carol Sames. The main things to remember are to stretch, take it easy, and do exercises that you enjoy.

Don't forget to have fun!
Advice from Personal Trainer John Henneberg:
"Start out slow, and just listen to [your] bodies. If [your] bodies start to hurt, then you need to back off or slow down just a little bit. I would say, as far as anything else [goes], just [do] what you like to do."