This is not one of those annual "the holidays are over, we all indulged, now we have to start the new year with a strict diet and strenuous exercise program" messages. Draconian approaches are often discouraging and discarded before any health benefits occur. Yes, I speak from personal experience.
No, this is a "fitness is forever and it's never too late to start" message specially aimed at older adults. Again, I speak from experience as an older adult who began exercising regularly about 10 years ago.
While this isn't a new message, the frequency with which it's repeated means that many older individuals find it daunting to begin an exercise program.
Why is that? One reason is that all too often fitness programs are a "one size fits all" approach. Older adults who might just be starting to exercise, or who are returning to exercise, might want information about beginning and building an exercise program tailored for them. Having this information could be very useful in knowing what questions to ask when assessing a particular fitness program or fitness club.
Where to find this kind of information? As a starting place, older adults can find health and exercise information geared specifically to them on the websites of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (two federal government agencies).
Very briefly, here are a few representative examples of information in each site:
1. NIHSenior Health (www.nihseniorhealth.gov): A general site with multiple topics. Under the heading "Healthy Aging", there are 23 separate topics with the following four addressing exercise programs:
Exercise: Benefits of Exercise;
Exercise: Exercises to Try;
Exercise: How to Get Started; and
Exercise: How to Stay Active
The NIHSeniorHealth articles provide concrete steps on getting started and reminders that even every day activities (e.g., housework, raking leaves, gardening) are productive forms of exercise. The latter ideas are particularly useful so older adults can see that their daily lives already incorporate strength and aerobic activities.
2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov). The CDC website has information on an array of relevant health topics for older adults. For example, the article Physical Activity is Essential to Health Aging outlines three combinations of weekly aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities calibrated to an older adult's physical condition. Each combination is geared for a different aerobic level (e.g., moderate or vigorous) and provides suggestions for the types of, and duration times for, exercises for each category.
While the above articles are instructive, I thought it would be useful to provide the first-hand perspective of a certified professional trainer.
So I asked Tal Cottey, with whom I've been training for over six years, for his input. Mr. Cottey has been a certified personal trainer for 21 years, with the last 10 as a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. He has worked with clients of all ages and physical abilities throughout his career. Mr. Cottey works with his older clients to help increase the progression of their aerobic and strength training workouts.
Mr. Cottey appreciates that weight training may seem intimidating for older adults. He strives to explain to older clients the multiple benefits that an individualized strength and aerobic exercise program can provide. Why? Because Mr. Cottey notes that an exercise program with carefully increasing levels of strength and aerobic training is, as he dubs it, the "closest thing we have to a Fountain of Youth." This type of exercise program enables older adults to do activities that they might never thought were possible so, in effect, it enables older adults to function at an age that's physically younger than their actual age.
Not everyone will want, or is able, to use a personal trainer. However, Mr. Cottey notes there are benefits from even a single session with a certified personal trainer who can develop an initial exercise program geared specifically to an older adult who can then follow it herself.
The tools are available so older adults can create their own "fitness is forever" exercise program and begin enjoying the positive and lasting results.