Stretching

I was on the tennis court the other day, waiting for my partner to get ready, watching him stretch by touching his toes without any advance warm up. As he stood up he was holding his back saying that it always hurts to stretch. This gave me a chance to tell him my experience in stretching. Any stretch should begin with an aerobic activity, usually light jogging. The idea is to raise the body temperature so that muscles are looser. This aerobic warm up should only take 5 to 10 minutes.

Then go in to whatever stretch you feel is necessary for whatever sport you playing.

Willingness

There are so many things in our life we have no control over but we do have control over the amount of exercise we do each day and the type of food we eat. It just take a willingness to want to steer your life in a healthy way.

It's cheaper to be healthy than unhealthy

The cost of health care in the US is constantly raising with all the emphasis on the cost of insurance, hospitals, doctors, etc. Rarely in the debate is prevention included, meaning exercise and proper eating habits. Also we have not made an assault on the food industry who deliver us the food that is profitable for them but in so many cases unhealthy for the consumer.

Read all the ingredients on the food labels, if you don't know what an ingredient is DON'T BUY IT!! If the salt or sugar content is high DON"T BUY IT!!

Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun

My experience, as a 74 year old, in having a successful exercise program is to keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun. Not every one likes to run but most of us don't mind a brisk walk every morning of at least 45 minutes and all you have to do is just walk out the door. Now that is simple, right.

If you're more like me you'll want to jog or run for a minimum of 1/2 hour but preferably 45 minutes to an hour. What brisk walking, jogging or running will do for us is it builds endurance, stamina and staying power that helps us to withstand wear and tear of aging. All these are important as we pass the magic marker of 50 years old. Remember all studies show that, "Exercise alters the course of aging," a very good reason to keep your exercise program "Consistent."

From this point on there is a steady slide downhill but the rate of that slide is what counts, which can be minimal if we are consistent in our exercising.

Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun

Aging is a natural process in the human species. Since it is natural lets deal with it in a natural way. So the most natural movement for the human body is walking for which it is perfectly designed, a continuos motion one foot in front of the other. To run is only one foot in front of the other, only faster. Brisk walking or jogging builds endurance, vitally important as we age.

The best part of this exercise is one can do it any time any place, all you have to do is go out the door. You don't need a team to get started only a willingness to get into shape. Don't depend on others for maintaining your health. Simple, huh.

Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun

Remember to do some physical exercise everyday even if it's only a half hour. Let your body get used to the idea that exercising is part of your daily routine as is brushing your teeth. As the years pass you'll begin to feel new aches and pains that you've never felt before. Welcome to getting older, it's what happens to all of us. The question is how do we deal with it and continue to have a healthy life style that you enjoyed in the past.

As 74 year old my experience says good eating habits and exercise is the answer to healthy aging.

Free healthcare

Healthy living does not come from insurance companies or your doctors office, it comes from exercise and good eating habits. Exercise still remains one of the best health treatments we have. It's about small everyday choices--walk or ride your bike instead of driving when possible--the quantity and types of food we eat daily. Most important is being consistent. As we age, and we all do at exactly the same pace, good health becomes vital. Tomorrow I'll elaborate in more detail.

A path to a successful exercise program is to keep it simple, consistent and fun.