It is never too late to improve your health. Research strongly suggests that exercise helps to restore and maintain your strength, endurance, flexibility and balance. But the best part of all is that those who exercise regularly not only look great but feel better than they ever have in their entire lives! And this applies to even those folks who have had inactive lifestyles – just ask your friends who have recently changed their lifestyles! I meet them every day in our fitness center.

Baby boomers are falling apart – developing tendonitis, bursitis, arthritis and fix-me-itis, the idea that modern medicine can fix anything. It’s much better to prevent things than to have to try to fix them. (Dr. Nicholas A. DiNubile, orthopedic surgeon, University of Pennsylvania) And to be perfectly honest, a thirty minute walk on most days is just not enough to ward off the inevitable effects of an aging posture . . . a combination of stretching, cardiovascular endurance and strength training with a focus on balance is what works!

As we age, muscles tighten and weaken, decrease in size and number while oxygen to these same muscles diminishes. Flexibility declines as connective tissue throughout the body becomes less elastic often leading to a deterioration in balance which can culminate in all kinds of injuries. Nothing sets you back more than a broken bone or a strained/sprained muscle! According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), hospitals have 300,000 admissions for broken hips each year, many of them seniors, and falling is often the cause of those fractures. So . . . the ideal situation is in preventing these catastrophies from occurring in the first place. Need more convincing?

Do you feel stiff first thing in the morning or after sitting for long periods? Does walking a distance take longer than in the past? Is walking up a flight of stairs a strain? Have you noticed that your balance just isn’t what it used to be? Are you standing as tall as you once did or are you a little hunched now? How about bending over to tie your shoes? What about backing up the car and having to look over your shoulders? How was your last bone density test? not that great? Are the scales tipping out of favor?

Your solution? Exercise, exercise and more exercise!

Next month we will look at the many other benefits of regular exercise; so stay tuned!

(Judit Rajhathy, Change of Pace Fitness Center & author of Canadian best seller Free to Fly: a journey toward wellness)