Exercise

Use It or Lose It

I use to work out when I was younger.  Not in a gym but I was very active.  I enjoyed roller blading, bicycle riding, running, and most of all ballet. As time passed, for one reason or another, I stopped doing the things I enjoyed the most. I would always come up with excuses and eventually started to say and believe that I just didn't have time any longer.  As my husband would say, "this was only an excuse to not do anything, you could make the time if you really wanted to exercise".  He was so right.

Nothing is more destructive to a person than the loss of passion.  As many people age, the enthusiasm decreases and they start to withdraw from society.  I have experienced this and trust me when I say we need to stop this mentality of "because we grow older our life stops".  It should be the contrary, as we grow older we should live life with more passion than when we were younger.  With age comes wisdom.

Let's take a couple of minutes - think, contemplate and we come to realize that our life and mostly everything connected to it, slips away much faster than we anticipate. We should never take health for granted or assume that our aches and pains are normal.  We need to reevaluate and renew our motivation.
 

Combating Physiological Factors of Aging

Muscular strength is the most important factor of physical fitness and the aging process.

According to extensive research conducted in this area there are ten physiological factors associated with aging:

• muscle mass 
• strength
• basal metabolic rate
• body fat percentage
• aerobic capacity
• blood-sugar tolerance 
• cholesterol/ HDL ratio
• blood pressure
• bone density
• the body's ability to regulate its internal temperature

Health and fitness experts suggest that with resistance based training, all the factors mentioned above could be improved. As we age, our bodies' muscle mass, strength, and oxygen capacity decreases. All of these factors contribute to a slower metabolism, weight gain, and consequently, physical and medical conditions triggered by the extra pounds: i.e., hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol. The experts also agree that we do not have to train as to compete in the Olympics or run a full marathon in order to improve our health and fitness. The key is to get off the couch, stop making excuses, and get the body moving. They recommend three to four cardiovascular activities per week for at least thirty minutes and some kind of strength training the same number of times a week. 

My husband and I don't belong to a gym or have expensive exercise equipment in our home. What we have found are fitness videos that we enjoy doing together and for strength training, we use inexpensive resistance bands and low-weight dumbbells. We work out to these videos, which combine cardiovascular and strength training exercises, between four and five times a week and ride our bicycles another three or four times a week. Believe me; it doesn't take us more than one hour to exercise even on the days when we do both, workout videos and cycling; but the good feeling lasts throughout the day. 

What I recommend is for you to find something you like, kicking, dancing, bicycling, punching, stepping, yoga,or low impact exercise using weights, including balance balls and videos; then make the decision to start and commit to it. If you're a lucky woman your husband will join you and provide a little comedy while he tries to master dance moves or completing one push up; if he doesn't join you, don't be discouraged, remember you're doing this for self-improvement. Likewise, don't be discouraged if you don't see results as fast as you would like; as long as you are doing physical activity that you were not doing before, your body will benefit.  Also enjoy the mental clarity and the overall good feeling that usually follows a good exercise session. If you have never exercised, it is never too late; as a matter of fact during menopause which also means a life change, why not change your life and begin an exercise routine. Keep in mind to wear proper shoes for your fitness routines. These items would make great valentine day gifts!

 

Allow yourself to be the one in charge in determining how your life is going to change, do not let menopause dictate the changes.