Are You A Healthy ‘Boomer’?
Apr 8th, 2008 by Editor
Let’s say, you are a ‘Boomer” who wants to stay healthy and happy. You get out on a regular basis and walk quite a bit.The challenge a lot of us boomers face is lack of upper body strength. (That’s partly why you don’t hit the golf ball as far these days.)Along with strength comes flexibility. Remember, to consult your doctor before starting any new physical activity.These things ( strength &flexibility) are easy to get, if you want them. And can be done from the comfort of your home.You can go onto the internet to see what isrecommended. Some sites will have pictures you can print and use asreferences as you go along. Don’t over do it!It’s easy to think we are alot younger than we are. I speak from experience!Trying to regain my youthful physique in the first session, I could hardly move for the nexttwo days! So take it easy. You can also go to the library and do research there. Again you may be able to photocopy stuff from books.Getinto the habit of doing something. Whether it’s doing curls with full cans of soup, or standing on the bottom stairstretching your calfmuscles. Squeezing a tennis ball or nerf ball helps with your grip and works the muscles inyour forearm. It can keep the fingers flexible aswell. As we age, our range of motion decreases as does our physical strength.This is mainly because we tend to do things that are lessphysically demanding. One persons idea of exercise was -take a bath, pull the plug and fight the current!Try this, stand with your feet aboutshoulder width apart and see how far around you can twist your upper body. Twistto the left, then to the right. Do this exercise turning inboth directions several times. Be sure not to ‘bounce’, twist slowly and hold that position for a few seconds. Just don’t try to do 180degrees!When you feel the resistance, stop! As you do these exercises, your flexibility will increase. There are more gyms opening up thatare catering to those of us who are a little older. The one I go to has a lot of ‘notso young’ people there in the mornings. These gyms will behappy to arrange a routine that suits your goals and help monitoryour progress. One persons idea of exercise was – take a bath, pull the plugand fight the current!And we tend to stiffen up. Some will say its just old age so get used to it. However the human body is designed to livefor up to 125 years! So the saying “50 is the new 30” takes on a whole new meaning. Being in my 60’s I’m now about half way.I’ve got to tell you that when I stop exercising for a while I reallybegin to notice the difference. So does my wife!So okay, all you wanna be healthy boomers, get started by at least doing something. Forget the excuses,you will begin to feel better andprobably start to enjoy your life more. Feeling healthier tends to help one feel happier about ones self too.