OK, you’re an older adult who hasn’t done anything in a long time that is more strenuous than ride the golf cart.
But the health nags have convinced you that you need to get started. Having made a decision to begin exercising, how to go about it is the next hurdle.
“That is a mind thing,” says Joanne Schneider, assistant professor of nursing at St. Louis University School of Medicine. “It’s going to be individualized.”
Some people don’t like the idea of working out with a group or even with one other person. “Exercise time is their quiet time,” Schneider points out.
But that doesn’t mean that you have to soldier on alone, she emphasizes. In fact, an “exercise buddy” could be just the ticket to keep your feet on the exercise straight and narrow.
“Make some sort of a deal that your exercise buddy drags you out of the house if you want to wimp out,” Schneider advises.
If you have any sort of chronic health problem, especially heart or breathing problems, a check with your doctor before deciding to begin exercising is probably advisable, Schneider says. But as a general rule, she asserts, there are few pre-existing conditions that would preclude an older person from exercising.
Certainly problems with arthritis might mean that exercising in a swimming pool would work better than mall walking she says. But most people can find an exercise regimen that works for them, she says.
Schneider has some tips to help you get past the first six months after starting a workout program. (Half of all new exercisers drop out in the first six months, Schneider says).
Be organized about it. Plan exercise into your day, she says. That way it finds a place in your time management.
Find a way to make it fun. “Make your mind recognize the positives in exercising,” Schneider advises.
Find a good, comfortable place to exercise. “Lots of malls open their doors early so you can exercise,” Schneider says.
Mall walking and other forms of group exercising can help improve socialization and help keep the exercise experience positive, Schneider says.
If you’d rather work in a proper gym, look for places such as a local JCC or YMCA, which often cater to older exercisers. Some commercial gyms also offer special times and charges for seniors.
“Remember,” says Schneider, “You don’t need fancy equipment to get a good workout, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.”
Add weight training to the aerobics exercises. Many studies have shown that adding weight training to a workout program helps keep older people healthier. And lifting a small amount of weight on a regular basis may help older people avoid some of the pitfalls of gradually losing muscle mass, something that happens when people don’t do enough weight-bearing exercises, Schneider says.
Again, she emphasizes, you don’t need to buy anything expensive to do this. Lifting cans of soup or jugs of water can be just as effective as working out at a fancy machine, she says.
“Or even standing on the edge of a bottom step and standing on the ball of your foot with the heel half hanging over (the) lip, then standing on the toes as a calf strengthening exercise can work wonders,” Schneider says.
For another exercise, “sit in a chair and rise halfway without using your hands. That works the big muscle in your thigh,” she says.
Any exercise you do should be done vigorously enough to leave you slightly out of breath. If it doesn’t, she says, boost the intensity of the exercise just a bit.
“Know your own limitations,” she advises. “You decide; you can read your own body.”
A good rule of thumb, says Schneider, “is start slowly and advance gently, and you should be OK.”