Category: Senior Fitness

Today is the last day of January 2017. Tomorrow will be February 1st. This year is already flying by. I am soon to be 77 years old. I can choose to look at my age from a negative perspective, or from a positive perspective. “Oh no, in just two months, I’ll be another year older. Life has gone by so fast and it has passed me by. There’s so little time left, etc.”  Or, I can look at it like “Wow, look at me, I’m nearly 77 and I feel healthy, fit, and filled with personal energy! I feel good! I have plenty of years ahead of me and I can start tomorrow with a clean slate!” The first attitude is filled with negativism and a poor outlook on life and the future. It will result in stress, sickness and a “getting old” attitude. The second is the way of Health, Fitness and Personal Energy. It’s what I call a “Come Alive” attitude.

Any two people with the identical set of circumstances, can look at life completely differently. The person with the “getting old” attitude will have a miserable rest of their life, filled with negativism and even depression. They will find all the trappings of old age, dwell on them, and live with them. They will find other miserable people to commensurate with. They will dwell on their misery and other people’s dramas. They suck the energy from the people around them.

The person with the “come alive” attitude will live their life with a positive outlook, good health, lots of energized people around them, and will enjoy their life to the fullest. Yes, there will be bouts of sadness and negativity in their life, but they will deal with it in a positive way. they will find themselves around like minded, positive people who lift them up rather than tear them down. They will live their life filled with health, fitness and a high personal energy level.

Both will have their aches and pains. Both will have sadness and grief. But as the old adage goes: “It’s not what happens to you, it’s about how you deal with what happens to you.” Life will go on for both.

It’s been both scientifically and anecdotally demonstrated that exercise and eating healthfully, breathing deeply and getting plenty of rest and sleep, contribute in a major way to a positive attitude about life. Since it’s also been demonstrated that positive people live longer, happier and healthier lives, it would make sense to include all of the above somewhere in your daily routine.

Just a thought. Thank you for reading.

It’s nearing the end of January. I’m already seeing a drop off in people at the gym. I go early in the morning where it is about one third seniors and the rest ranging in age from early 20s to late 40s.  Most of the seniors have been there for as long as I have been going. I started going nearly ten years ago with most of my serious exercising done in the last seven years, starting at age 69.

There were very few new seniors right after the new year but a lot of younger newbies. Many of them are gone. Why? Did they get bored? It’s been twenty-five days since the beginning of the year and two things are happening. First, the newbies have hit their first plateau. They are seeing a sudden lack of progress after a quick start up spurt.

The second reason is that they started off too fast and didn’t give their bodies a chance to adapt to the new structural changes that occur when they start. They are exercising too hard in an effort to make fast progress and justify their new membership dues. And that is a huge mistake. They hurt. And they haven’t stopped hurting.

Sure, the discomfort (that’s the medical word for pain) is to be expected to some degree. But if you’re mindful and go slowly and carefully at first, the discomfort won’t last for long. Oh, sure, there will always be a little soreness every time you do something a little different, but your body’s infrastructure just needs a chance to adapt. That simply means give your ligaments and tendons a chance to get used to the new loads and stresses being put on them. Give your muscles a chance to rest. Give your joints a chance to get used to new pressures. They’ll all adapt just fine if you give them a chance.

And as for us seniors, it takes a little longer for our infrastructure to adapt. But it will adapt, just give it time.

Men and women, old and young, when you start a new exercise program, take it easy at first. If you are one of those who started out big on January first but are tempted to give up due to unexpected and unwanted pain or discomfort, give it a rest for a few days and then start over. Only start more slowly this time around.

Don’t be one of those who stops 25 days into the new year just because you feel a little discomfort or have reached one of those dreaded plateaus.  Your body is made to move. You deserve the many benefits you get when you move it. Whatever you do, don’t quit!

Thank you for reading.

A friend of mine from the gym I go to suggested I write an article about Attitude. “Good idea”, I said. But I have written about attitude before. So I found an old post from a couple of years ago, edited it, and low and behold, an article about Attitude. I don’t like to re-post old articles or even old articles that are newly edited. But he’s right, your attitude is critical. In fact . . .

It all starts with the way you’re thinking. I’ll say it again: “It all starts with the way you’re thinking.” Your health, fitness and personal energy begin with your attitude.

What is your attitude about your own health and fitness? Do you have the personal energy you want or need to get you through each day with vim and vigor? Do you have plenty of energy for more at the end of the day? Or are you just worn out from whatever it is you do during the day? Do you feel the stress of the day as if it were a burden, or do you let the stress of the day flow over your back like water? Do you plop down in front of the TV and watch . . . , or are you doing something positive and productive (at least in your mind), even after the dishes are done, or the empty, processed dinner box has been tossed in the trash?

Are you a participant in life, or are you a watcher of life? Do you like to do things or watch things, or both. Do you enjoy exercise, do you enjoy the feeling you get when you exercise? Do you dislike exercise? If you don’t like exercise, why don’t you? In short, what is your attitude about health and fitness?

It’s really your attitude that counts. Do you like feeling really good as you mature? Is it worth it to follow the principles of good health so you can feel really good?  Or is it too much of a hassle, and besides, you enjoy Dancing with the Stars too much to take the time to move yourself – you would rather watch someone else do it.

 Exercise and Fitness means different things to different people. Some like Yoga. Some like Pilates. Some like bodybuilding. Some like running. Some like calisthenics. Some like attending formal “boot camp” style programs. Some like classes at the gym. Some like to exercise in their living room. Some like to plop on the couch and watch TV. Some like to exercise with weights. Some like to exercise by lifting their forks and spoons. We are all different. We all have different preferences. One size does not fit all.

Except . . . that if we don’t move our bodies the way nature intended, we will deteriorate. Our muscles will soften and atrophy. Our blood will pool and stagnate. Our breathing will get shallow. Our joints and hinges will get rusty and creak and weaken, our bones will get brittle and break, and all sorts of other bad things will happen to our bodies. We will get old before our time. Hmm, I think I’ve said that before.

Our insides won’t function well and our systems will clog up. If we don’t fuel our bodies with the high octane fuel that nature intended for our bodies, such as air, water, good food and sunshine, we will become more susceptible to chronic illness, long lingering disease, pain and lack of the material needed to regenerate our basic cellular structure, let alone our major body systems. If we don’t get the kind of rest and sleep that nature intended for our bodies, we will reduce our mental capacities and will not recover as well as we should from not only exercise, but from the normal stresses of daily life.

And if we don’t have a good mind-set or attitude about our own health and fitness, nothing on earth will move us to move.

Remember what I said at the beginning: “It all starts with the way you’re thinking.” So give some real thought to your own attitude about your Health, Fitness and Personal Energy.

Thank you for reading.