Movement Is The Key!!!
Getting old is not something that we can avoid! It has been happening to mankind since Adam and Eve first walked in the garden. It is an inevitability and a reality of our world. You and I will grow older, make no mistake about it. However, we do not have to like it, or sit idly by and let it happen.
“Research shows that exercise promotes health and youth on the mental, physical, and even cellular (cell) level” (Humpal Physical Therapy, 2018) I have watched many an officer over my thirty-year career that retired and then just seemed to go downhill physically. Many were gone from this plane of existence within just a few years! The human body is not meant to be sedentary! It was designed to move, to work, and to play! Without this movement, ancient man would not have been the hunter/gatherer that he was.
You and I are not much different! We need to get up off of the couch and to move to keep ourselves pushing forward. Basic exercise has been shown to activate the autonomic nervous system, improve lymphatic flow, strengthen your heart, and increase your joint health. (Burley, 2023) These benefits are expounded for the aging person. It makes the later years of our lives better, more enjoyable, and longer!
Getting started is as simple as placing one foot in front of the other. Go for a walk around the neighborhood. Do that a few times per week to start and pick it up from there. Joining a gym is a great idea to work out, meet new social structures, and get better tips from personal trainers. Working with a trainer is also beneficial as they can aid you in developing a program that you will like, find enjoyable to do, and keep you motivated. There are tons of programs that you can do at home as well. Full body workouts, daily splits, 5×5 training, and many others can be done in a relatively small space using dumbbells, resistance bands, sandbags, or just your own bodyweight. Gym equipment can often be purchased fairly inexpensively from places like social media marketplaces, secondhand stores, yard sales, or local advertisements.
Getting older may be a requirement of life, but it does not have to be the end of it! Get up, get moving and pushing forward! Working out and resistance training in any capacity is better than sitting on the couch and slowly dying of complacency. But I will warn you of two things. Number one, it isn’t always easy. And number two, it can be addictive! I look forward to seeing in the gym, on the training floor, on the hiking trials, or walking the neighborhood!
References
Burley, G. (2023, January 11). Keep moving to stay young. IMPACT Magazine. Retrieved
March 6, 2023, from https://impactmagazine.ca/health/keep-moving-to-stay-young/
Humpal Physical Therapy, . (2018). How exercise keeps us young. Humpal Physical
Therapy & Sports Medicine Centers. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from
https://www.humpalphysicaltherapy.com/Newsletters/Full-Articles/How-Exercise-Keeps-
Us-Young/a~10460/article.html