Some times you feel just plain old — like when your 12-year-old says, “Don’t move, Mom. I see a gray hair!” Or how about when your little boy says, “You have an old lady chin.” You can approach graying hair, wrinkles, and sagging skin with gracious aplomb or complete denial. But either way, the years march steadily along. There’s a third way to face aging — to proactively resist its affects, while at the same time delighting in the years.
You’re How Old?
When you’re tempted to feel old beyond your years, take a moment to assess yourself. You don’t want to feel or look older than you are. But what can you do about it?
Not only can you keep yourself looking and acting your age, but you can also keep your functional age — the ability to carry on daily activities and the energy level at which you do it — lower than your chronological age. There’s no magic pill to arrest the aging process, yet there’s plenty you can do to delay the onset of weakening muscles, loss of energy, and other less desirable signs of growing old.
Your functional age is affected by any number of lifestyle-related factors: for example how many hours of sleep you get each night, your cholesterol level, whether you smoke, and what foods you eat. There’s one activity that has a dramatic impact: exercise.
A small-scale study of women over age 60 found that those living independently and enjoying a higher level of energy were significantly more active (higher physical activity levels) than those who were in assisted care facilities. Additionally, women who were physically active reported a higher quality of life regardless of their living status.
There are numerous studies showing various health benefits for being physically active in your 60s, 70s, and beyond. So you know it’s important for you to be active when you retire. Regular physical activity is beneficial for adults of any age, and has lasting effects.
Four Ways to Be Active
The National Institute on Aging suggests that to get all of the benefits of physical activity, we need to be active using endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility exercises.
- Be sure to get at least 30 minutes of activity that makes you breathe hard on most or all days of the week. That’s called an endurance activity because it builds your energy or “staying power.” You don’t have to be active for 30 minutes all at once. Ten minutes at a time is fine. Just make sure you are active for a total of 30 minutes most days.
How hard do you need to push yourself? If you can talk without any trouble at all, you are not working hard enough. If you can’t talk at all, it’s too hard.
- Keep using your muscles. Strength exercises build muscles. When you have strong muscles, you can get up from a chair by yourself, you can lift your grandchildren, and you can walk through the park.
Keeping your muscles in shape helps prevent falls that cause problems, such as broken hips. You are less likely to fall when your leg and hip muscles are strong.
- Do things to help your balance. Try standing on one foot, then the other. If you can, don’t hold on to anything for support. Get up from a chair without using your hands or arms. Every now and then walk heel-to-toe. When you walk this way, the toes of the foot in back should almost touch the heel of the foot in front.
- Stretch. Stretching can help you be more flexible. Moving more freely will make it easier for you to reach down to tie your shoes or look over your shoulder when you back the car out of your driveway. Stretch when your muscles are warmed up. Don’t stretch so far that it hurts.
Exercise Important for 40-Somethings
A study from the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health shows that women who are out of shape in their 40s and 50s have less energy and are less able to live independently as they age.
Nearly 20,000 women aged 40 to 55, were surveyed to determine quality of life. Obesity, combined with physical problems and the inability to pay for necessities and medical care, doubles the need for assistance with daily living activities such as bathing or dressing.
Exercise improves your mood, delays the onset of disabilities and diseases, prolongs life, and helps you look and feel better. You don’t need to run marathons (but it’s OK if you want to). Even when you exercise at only moderate levels — such as walking or gardening — you can enjoy the positive effects.
It’s never too late to start exercising. Make it part of your regular routine while you’re as young as you are, and you’ll reap future benefits. |
