Benefits of Stretching for Seniors

The First Step to Healthier Lifestyle

Sofia Karlson

© Copyright 2021 - All rights reserved.

The content contained within this book may not be reproduced, duplicated or transmitted without direct written permission from the author or the publisher.

Under no circumstances will any blame or legal responsibility be held against the publisher, or author, for any damages, reparation, or monetary loss due to the information contained within this book, either directly or indirectly.

Legal Notice:

This book is copyright protected. It is only for personal use. You cannot amend, distribute, sell, use, quote or paraphrase any part, or the content within this book, without the consent of the author or publisher.

Disclaimer Notice:

Please note the information contained within this document is for educational and entertainment purposes only. All effort has been executed to present accurate, up to date, reliable, complete information. No warranties of any kind are declared or implied. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaged in the rendering of legal, financial, medical or professional advice. The content within this book has been derived from various sources. Please consult a licensed professional before attempting any techniques outlined in this book.

By reading this document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances is the author responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, that are incurred as a result of the use of the information contained within this document, including, but not limited to, errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1:  PSYCHOLOGY - ATTITUDE AND LONGEVITY

A HEALTHY MIND IN A HEALTHY BODY

THINKING ABOUT YOUR AGE

FACING MORTALITY

CHAPTER 2:  PHYSIOLOGY - WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BODY OVER TIME

BASIC ANATOMY

HOW THE BODY CHANGES WITH AGE

EFFECTS OF EXERCISE

CHAPTER 3:  PRACTICAL EXERCISES BASIC STRETCHING

BREATHING

BASIC EXERCISES

CHAPTER 4:  GOING BEYOND THE BASICS - CARDIO AND STRENGTH TRAINING

CARDIO

STRENGTH TRAINING

CHAPTER 5:  FUN SOCIAL STRETCHING

YOGA

PACING YOURSELF

JOINING A CLASS

FLEXIBILITY EXERCISES YOU CAN DO ALONE

CHAPTER 6:  LEVELLING UP - MARTIAL ARTS AND TAI CHI

CHOOSING YOUR DISCIPLINE

FINDING A CLASS

ADJUSTING TO YOUR LIMITS

CHAPTER 7:  CREATING A SCHEDULE THAT WORKS FOR YOU

ACTIVITY LEVELS AND TIMES OF DAY

FITNESS LEVELS AND EXERCISE CHOICES

SETTING YOUR OWN PACE

CHAPTER 8:  DIET AND NUTRITION

BUILDING A HEALTHY BODY FROM THE INSIDE

DAILY NUTRITIONAL NEEDS

EATING SENSIBLY VS FAD DIETS

CHAPTER 9:  FINDING PEACE

CREATING YOUR WORLD

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

BEING HAPPY WITH YOUR DAILY LIFE

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

Introduction

Reading this book will not change your life. Using the information in this book to take appropriate action will change your experience of every day for the rest of your life. You can start right now by reading more actively. Choose a form of note taking and make sure you have access to it whenever you pick up this book. I prefer a good old fashioned notebook and coloured pens. You may be more comfortable with a phone or computer. We will refer to this as your journal. Keep track of everything that makes an impression. If something triggers a memory, describe the memory in your notes. Keep a record of everything that feels relevant. There will also be places where I ask you to make notes. The impact this book makes in your life depends purely on the amount of effort you put in. Make the most of it.

The main aim of this book is to provide you with the tools to create a personal plan to manage the process of aging in a way that allows you to let go of the fear and enjoy the journey. Yes I know, if you wanted a text book you would have looked in the science section not self help but please bear with me for a bit. We do need to discuss some of the concepts of this field of study because they are relevant to understanding the context in which the benefits of stretching become meaningful to us.

This book could be considered a part of the science of Gerontology. What does that actually mean?

According to The Encyclopedia Britannica:

Gerontology can be defined as the science of the finitude of life as expressed in the three aspects of longevity , aging, and death, examined in both evolutionary and individual (ontogenetic) perspectives. Longevity is the span of life of an organism. Aging is the sequential or progressive change in an organism that leads to an increased risk of debility, disease, and death. Senescence consists of these manifestations of the aging process.

In other words, we’re looking at the limitations of human life in terms of how long we live as well as the process of how our bodies change in ways that make us more susceptible to injury or disease and ultimately results in death. Senescence (which will be our main focus) is about how the body deteriorates with age.

The theories about aging can be divided into three major categories:

The first theories of aging were Disengagement theories. These describe how people withdraw from social activities as they get older and what effect the withdrawal has on the aging process. We have a definite age for retirement, usually 65. This is when most people leave the workplace. Something that occupied them for 40 hours a week is suddenly no longer a part of their lives. Withdrawal from other social interactions can also be caused by physical illness. Somebody with gout or arthritis may not be able to play sports anymore. This affects the relationships with their friends who can still participate in those sports.

Activity theory is a response to disengagement. It looks at how continuing to participate in the world affects people’s rate of aging. It seems we can live healthier, happier and longer lives if we keep forming and maintaining relationships and remain involved in social activities.

Continuity theory expands on activity theory to investigate how we try to hold on to our roles and activities from when we were younger. Our self concept and personality tend to remain consistent regardless of changes in our health and abilities. When we are no longer capable of performing specific functions, we find similar activities to replace them.

Start thinking about where you fit into these theories and how to work towards finding balance. For now you can just list the basic ideas and the relevance of each of them in your life. Make notes of things you do or have stopped doing at different ages. Look at your relationships with family, friends and coworkers.

Your observations about this will change as you work through the book. be sure to leave a lot of space under each heading to fill in more details later.

We start dying from the moment we are born. Every breath we take is one step closer to death. The average length of time between birth and death is our lifespan. Life expectancy refers to the average lifespan and can differ according to demographics while longevity is a longer than average life span. Life expectancy has grown by as much as 30 years in some countries in the last century. We generally become more aware of our mortality as we reach the end of each decade after we celebrate adulthood at 21. This may happen because we feel our bodies deteriorate with the passage of time and the accumulated effects of the way we have treated our bodies.

I have taken reasonably good care of my body, doing yoga and running 10k races for more than 25 years now. People always told me that my metabolism would change at some point. First they said it would happen when I had a child. I returned to my pre-pregnancy weight and activity levels within two months of childbirth. Then it was going to happen when I turned 30. It didn’t. At 40 I was still the same weight and had the same energy levels. Just as I was starting to accept that I was immune to this process of aging, it hit me hard and fast. I put on about 20 pounds in six weeks. That was the point at which I started researching this book.

I noticed that my physical and mental abilities were starting to slip. Losing weight was suddenly an effort. My lung capacity wasn’t as great as it used to be. I started forgetting little things, like I’d get to the store and realize that I’d left my shopping list at home so I started my lists on my phone so that I would have it with me all the time.

Now I'm looking at what the future might hold so I can be prepared to handle things like losing my hearing, getting cataracts, macular degeneration and all the other common elements of aging. These are realistic possibilities for the future but there’s no way to predict when or even if they will actually manifest. Continuing with the yoga and adding other stretching exercises could help me to delay or maybe even prevent the onset of gout and arthritis.

Stretching helps to maintain healthy joints, ligaments and tendons. Combining this with strength training to build muscle mass, and good nutrition to manage calorie intake can help us to preserve mental and physical functions and maybe even reverse some of the deterioration that has already begun. As we grow older it is also important to be careful of factors like alcohol consumption, use of tobacco products, recreational and prescription drugs that can influence our psychological, mental and physical condition.

In this book we look at physical activity, especially stretching, in the context of the general effects of aging.

In chapter one we discuss theories about how society and our psychology influence the aging process, how we think about our age and the reality of our mortality.

Chapter two deals with the physical aspects of aging, how the basic anatomy changes over time and how stretching can slow down negative effects of the aging process.

Chapter three looks at where you are now in terms of basic physical fitness. We’ll assess your current ability and help you build your flexibility, strength and stamina to where you want it to be.

Chapters four, five, and six provide information and guidelines to add to your basic stretching routines. Choose the kinds of extra work that will allow you to not only improve your physical capacity but also give you opportunities to meet like minded people and grow your social networks as well.

Chapter seven gives you the tools to put together a routine that combines the information and guidance from this book in a way that fits into your current lifestyle with minimum disruption.

Chapter eight looks at healthy eating habits and guides you towards drawing up a personal diet.

Chapter nine brings it all together with some helpful advice on how to move forward with all of the new information and practices provided in this book.

Please remember that all of the advice that I offer is based on my own experience and interactions with people in the fitness industry over 25 years. Read through the book and make all the notes you need, but please see a medical professional to discuss any lifestyle changes before you start putting them into practice.

I wish you only the best on this journey.

Chapter 1:

Psychology - Attitude and Longevity

There was a time when elders were revered for their wisdom and treated with great respect. That has changed dramatically. For centuries now, the focus has been on the beauty of youth and the negative qualities of aging. Anti-aging campaigns focus on the superficial, aesthetic qualities like hiding grey hair or slowing down the formation of wrinkles. There is increasing pressure on older people to remain youthful in appearance. Parents and grandparents in movies and TV series appear far younger than their real life counterparts. Older characters are also given stereotypical personalities that are often exaggerated for dramatic effect.

This could be a result of the rapid increase in life expectancy due to medical advances in recent history. It was a lot easier to be reverent when only a small percentage of people survived beyond the age of 60. Now that the average life expectancy is in the 70s, we tend to take the idea of old age for granted. This is a relatively new concept in western civilization so we’re still dealing with the novelty of having such a high population of elderly people. The concept of state sponsored pensions and forced retirement are just over a century old.

Our role models for aging have become people like Jennifer Aniston, Madonna and Tom Cruise. All we see is how physically and mentally capable they are into their 50s and 60s while Maggie Smith, Anthony Hopkins and Clint Eastward have held onto their careers and influence even longer.

We don’t stop to consider their access to an entire crew of personal trainers, dieticians and image consultants. We just compare ourselves to them and feel worse about our bodies. Don’t even get me started on instagrans and hot grandads.

This is what shapes our childhood perceptions of aging and the elderly. Mass media can sometimes have as great an impact on our understanding as real life interactions with our parents, grandparents and teachers. Our early conditioning and later attitudes towards our own aging process depend on a combination of these influences.

There is so much unrealistic pressure to keep looking good, that people tend to forget about what actually makes us human. With age comes wisdom, compassion, and a search for something deeper, a philosophical or spiritual quest. Yes we still need to take care of our bodies, but now staying fit is more about functionality than aesthetics.

Turning 40 is quite the milestone. It was when I started to think about how I want to live the rest of my life. It doesn’t matter when or how I die. I just want to do what I can to improve the quality of life of every day that I have left.

I want to be able to breathe after climbing a flight of stairs more than I want perfect abs. I watch what I eat to avoid diabetes and heart disease because I know my metabolism has changed. I practice meditation and yoga so that I will have enough energy to run around with my grandkids one day.

The irony is that doing all of these things, for my own reasons, has the side effect of making me appear younger. People think they are complimenting me when they say I look a decade younger. They’re not. Why would anyone think that I am flattered by the thought of denying even a minute of my life experience. I have loved and learned and worked hard to get to where I am. I’m proud of being an old lady.

Tennis pro, Martina Navratilova who won Wimbledon at the age of 46, was asked how she maintained her physique, focus and sharp game into her 40s. Her answer was, “The ball doesn’t know how old I am.”

The profound simplicity of that answer is typical of people who have a healthy outlook on aging.

Research from a 2019 study proved that a positive outlook can increase lifespan by 11-15%. People who look forward to aging instead of dreading it do actually live longer. I wonder if this is because a generally positive outlook on life would also indicate a greater will to live which would in turn lead to healthier lifestyles that prolong lifespan.

The reverse was also proved true. Self doubt and negative self image tends to have a negative effect on life expectancy. This could have something to do with the difficulty in maintaining social interaction and physical activity as we lose sensory perception and mobility as part of the aging process.

Psychologists who focus on the mental and cognitive aspects of aging have found that there is almost always a difference between subjective age and chronological age. That means people generally feel either younger or older than the number of birthdays that they have actually had. This perceptual difference influences the rate of physical aging. In other words, people who feel older than they are age faster than people who feel younger than their chronological age; up to a point. When the difference is too great it can also have negative effects on the aging process.

A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body

In medical circles the mental processes and the way the brain works is called cognitive function. There are many diseases associated with old age that affect our nervous systems and our ability to think clearly. Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are the most commonly known diseases caused by damage to nerve and brain tissue.

Normal aging however doesn’t change the physical structure of cells. They remain healthy and whole but gradually function less efficiently over time. It is important to consult a medical professional if you are unsure whether your symptoms are age related or linked to a serious illness.

These are the six most common ways that cognitive function changes with age:

Processing speed refers to how quickly the brain processes information to produce a reaction. It peaks at around thirty and then starts to decrease at a steady rate. Older adults may find complex tasks such as driving more difficult because they require a quick succession of responses to immediate stimuli.

Memory is a complicated process that has many sub categories. They all involve both storage and retrieval of information. Older adults find it easier to access information that had already been stored than to create new memories. It is still possible but the process slows considerably with age, as does the ability to retrieve stored information.

Attention involves focusing on specific input in order to process relevant information. As we age we become more easily distracted and find it more difficult to multitask or switch quickly from one task to another.

Language skills refer to the ability to communicate either orally or in writing. While vocabulary remains constant, receiving and producing communication declines with age. This can be related to loss of hearing, sight and memory functions. It can be seen in longer and more frequent pauses during speech.

Executive functioning includes problem solving, planning, decision making, or adapting to new situations. While this remains possible as we get older, it does require more effort and take longer. It becomes particularly noticeable after 70.

Emotional processing refers to our ability to regulate emotions. It is evident in how we move out of negative emotional states, our physical and emotional reactions to interpersonal stressors, and our mental strategies for dealing with negative stimuli. Older people tend to take longer to get out of a negative state and pay less attention to interpersonal stressors and negative stimuli.

A 2018 study conducted at McMaster University found the following:

Overall, adults over 50 years of age who participated in supervised physical exercise – aerobic exercise, resistance training, multi-component training, or tai chi – experienced improved cognitive function, regardless of the presence or absence of mild cognitive impairment. Improvements occurred for attention, executive function, memory, and working memory, but not global cognition. However, the effect varied depending on the type of exercise and the type of cognition assessed. Resistance training was effective for improved executive function, memory, and working memory, while tai chi was effective for working memory only. Exercise lasting >45 min to ≤60 minutes at or above moderate intensity was associated with cognitive benefits. Meanwhile, low (≤2x/week), medium (3-4x/week) and high (5-7x/week) exercise frequencies and conducting exercise in the short to long term (2 - >26 weeks) all produced positive effects.

This means that regular exercise can slow down the process of cognitive aging.

Thinking About Your Age

Stop for a bit now and make some notes. Write down bullet points, with line spaces in between:

●       10-20

●       20-30

●       30-40

●       40-50

●       50-60

●       60-70

●       70-80

●       80-90

●       90-100

Next to each of those, write down three words that you would use to describe people in each of those age bands. Don’t think about it. Just write the first three words that come to mind when you think about that decade of life.

Now look at that list again. Where do you fit into those categories?

Take some time to think about this now. Do the words you chose describe who you are right now? Who do you want to be?

Go back to the decades you have already lived. Do the words for each of those decades describe who you were? Write down words for who you were and then for who you wish you had been.

Now look forward to the next decades of your life. Do you like the words you’ve written for each of those decades? Is that who you want to be? Write down words for who you want to be for each of those decades. How much difference is there between what you thought it would be like and what you want it to be? Also consider your feelings when you look at this list. Are you excited or afraid at the prospect of being in your 60s or 70s? What are you looking forward to the most? What are you dreading the most? You are the only person who has any control over how this plays out.

At what point did you think that there’s no way you’re going to live that long? That’s probably your life expectancy right there. This idea of how much time we think we have left is called our future time perspective. This area of the study of psychological aging looks at how our perception of how much time we have left to live affects the way that we live our lives. Younger people with only a limited concept of their own mortality make long term decisions based on where they see themselves in 20 years. Taking on student loans and mortgages are par for the course in our 20s whereas buying a new house in our 60s is very unlikely. As we age our focus and planning gets shorter until we find ourselves taking each day as it comes. Our motivation for doing things also changes according to our understanding of longevity. When we believe that we have decades left to live we do things for ourselves and our own immediate and future comfort. As we grow older we start to become more aware of the legacy that we will leave behind. We do things more for our children or for charity not only for the sake of how we will be remembered but also from a lifetime of religious conditioning. Even if we don’t really practice any religion when we’re younger, we may find ourselves wanting to hedge our bets as the reality of our demise draws closer.

Facing Mortality

Everything that lives, dies. It’s a fact of life. None of us knows the moment of our death. We could get hit by a bus tomorrow or live to be a hundred. Only you can choose whether that is liberating or terrifying. People who have near death experiences that force them to face their own mortality are often inspired to reevaluate their priorities and change fundamental aspects of their lifestyles.

The exercise that you just did should put your life in context. Look for patterns in your answers. Have you spent a lifetime not being or doing all that you wanted? Are you happy with where you are right now? How do you want to spend the time that you have left?

For a long time the dominant theory in Gerontology regarding facing mortality was the “Terror Management Theory '' They simply assumed that the norm was to be afraid of death and that all they could do was manage the natural fear of their patients.

More recent studies show that a variety of personal characteristics affect our attitudes to aging. Two out of the big five personality traits are particularly relevant to our attitudes to aging. People who have a high level of conscientiousness are good at looking at the finer details to create and implement plans. This ability to be prepared for the future gives them a sense of control and the confidence to face aging with a positive outlook. They are also more likely to approach life in a logical manner that includes a healthy lifestyle which also contributes to their longevity. On the other hand people with high levels of neuroticism see the world as threatening and are emotionally unstable. Their general level of anxiety means that they have very little confidence in their own ability to face any kind of difficulty. This often leads to chronic conditions like heart disease and high blood pressure, with obvious consequences for longevity.

Accepting the inevitability of our death can also be an opportunity to live our lives more fully. We can think about the legacy that we leave for our children or even the world at large. When we start to live our lives more consciously, we can make the most of every day. We can choose to act in ways that allow us to minimize the regrets that we have on our deathbeds. That alone can make the idea of death less scary.

When we let go of the fear of aging and death, we can think more rationally about how we want to live. We can choose healthier habits and take positive action to improve the quality of our lives. Taking control and preparing for our retirement allows us to improve the quality of our lives.

All of the books, movies and TV series that have ever been created about time travel emphasize the impact of changing even a slight detail of the past. As an entire society, we have somehow managed to avoid the implications of that for the present. We still live our lives in the present with no thought of the consequences for the future.

Now would be a good time to start making changes that will influence the long term quality of our lives. The next few chapters will give you the tools you need to adjust your exercise and dietary habits to create a healthier lifestyle.

Chapter 2:

Physiology - What Happens to Your Body Over Time

Frailty and illness associated with aging can lead quickly to a lack of confidence, bitterness, depression and ultimately a sense of meaninglessness in a world that thrives on competition and embraces the survival of the fittest mentality. If we are to remain purposeful and fulfilled into old age, we have to work hard to maintain our sense of self. Our self image is very closely linked to not only the physical functioning of our bodies but also to the aesthetic of what we are conditioned to believe is physically attractive. It is not easy to accept that our bodies were designed to deteriorate with age.

Let’s look at the structure of the human body so that we have a frame of reference when we talk about the effects of aging and how exercise slows down the process.

Basic Anatomy

Cells are the basic building blocks of all living matter. Humans have around 200 types of cells that are specialized to perform different functions. They combine with other cells of a similar size, shape and composition to form tissue. There are four basic types of tissue:

Connective tissue supports and holds together other tissue types. Bone, ligaments and tendons give the body shape while providing support for other tissue.

Epithelial tissue makes up the layers of inner and outer lining of various organs and blood vessels. Our skin is made up of epithelial tissue

Muscle tissue includes three types of tissue:

- Striated muscles, such as those that move the skeleton (also called voluntary muscle)

- Smooth muscles (also called involuntary muscle), such as the muscles contained in the stomach and other internal organs

- Cardiac muscle, which makes up most of the heart wall (also an involuntary muscle)

Nerve tissue is used to carry messages to and from the brain via nerve cells. The brain, spinal cord, and nerves are made of nerve tissue.

These all have individual functions that then work together to achieve specific goals in a system for example the respiratory system manages breathing and gaseous exchange. The systems in turn work together to maintain a healthy body.

The Focus of This Book:

The exercises in this book are designed to maximize the functioning of the body to improve the quality of life as we grow older. In order to do that we need to understand how movement happens in the body.

Bones, skeletal muscles, and the ligaments, and tendons around joints work together to achieve tasks that require specific movements of the human body. This is one of the key factors of evolution that differentiates humans from other primates. Our large muscles are able to hold our bodies more upright, while smaller muscles give us more control over finer motor skills. Contracting muscles pull on bones to make them move. Relaxing them, however, is not enough to push the bone back. It needs another muscle to contract in order to pull the bone back. This is why muscles work in pairs, For example, contracting the biceps pulls the forearm upwards while contracting the triceps straightens the arm.

Understanding how each muscle group works helps us to maximize rewards and minimize risk when we start exercising. I have listed the exercises in chapters 3 and 4 according to muscle groups. You may want to make notes of this next section in your journal. It should be as close as possible to your workout routines so I suggest that you leave a few pages empty after this section so that you can fill in your first sets of daily exercises immediately after. It is very useful to have it all in one place. If you have the skills and resources you may want to design a poster to put up on a wall in the space where you will be doing your work outs.

Neck:

The most important function of the neck muscles is to rotate the head. They also help with breathing by lifting the rib cage. The movements controlled by neck muscles are rotation of the head (turning from side, shaking your head to show refusal or disagreement and neck rolls), side bending (ear to shoulder), neck flexion (chin to chest) and neck extension (back of the head towards the spine)

Back:

The spine is involved in almost every movement we make. There are many muscle groups that attach to the spine at various spots from the neck down to the glutes. For now we will focus on the movement of the spine itself. Multiple small muscles attach to each vertebra to allow them to move independently. They work together with each other and bigger muscles to allow the spine to bend forward, sideways and backwards as well as to rotate the torso from side to side. We’re not going to discuss all 40 of the muscles in the back. We’ll just look at the upper back (trapezius muscles) and the lower back (lumbar region)

Our exercises for the upper back will focus mainly on the trapezius muscle. If you want to sound cool at the gym you can call them the traps . These muscles connect at the neck, down to the middle of the spine and across the shoulder blades up to the collar bone to form a trapezoid shape. They are mainly responsible for the movement of the arms above shoulder height. They also support the shoulders and the arms through most other movements that involve the spine.

The Latissimus Dorsi, mostly called the lats, connect the upper back to the lower back.

Three types of back muscles that help the spine function are extensors, flexors and obliques. The extensor muscles are attached to the back of the spine and enable standing and lifting objects. These muscles include the large paired muscles in the lower back, called erector spinae, which help hold up the spine, and gluteal muscles.The flexor muscles are attached to the front of the spine and enable flexing, bending forward, lifting, and arching the lower back. The oblique muscles are attached to the sides of the spine and help rotate the spine and maintain proper posture.

In the lower back itself we have 3 types of muscles:

●      Obliques attach to the sides of the spine to help rotate the spine and maintain correct posture

●      Extensors attach to the back of the spine to control the movements necessary for standing and for lifting objects.

●      Flexors attach to the front of the spine to allow for bending forward and arching the back.

Shoulders:

The muscles around this area are mostly concerned with movement of the arms. There may be some overlap in the functions of the muscles in the back and arms to facilitate the functioning of the very complex shoulder joint.

Flexion refers to the forward movement at the shoulder joint that enables the arm to move in front of the body to perform actions like shaking hands. It involves the use of the deltoids, the pectoral muscles and the biceps (together with the smaller muscles around them).

The opposite movement to the flexion is the extension. It allows the backward movement of the arm, like when you scratch your back. The deltoids are used again but this time in conjunction with the triceps and a small group of muscles just below the armpit.

The explanation of how muscles function to allow us to do movements like jumping jacks contains a lot of Greek and Latin names for the muscles and the movements. The essence of it is that we use a lot of large and smaller muscles in our chest and back to move our arms up and down at the shoulder joint. If you want more detail you can research the adduction and abduction of the shoulder.

External rotation of the shoulder joint happens in movement like playing a backhand in tennis. Internal rotation facilitates movements involved in reaching into the back pocket. Rotation uses the muscles of the rotator cuff. This group of muscles as well as the nearest ligaments and tendons work together to stabilize the point at which the humerus (bone in the upper arm) fits in the shoulder joint. The rotator cuff area is prone to injury as we get older. Strengthening the larger muscles such as the deltoids, pecs, biceps and triceps and prevent injury and slow down the wear and tear on the rotator cuff.

Arms:

We’ve already seen how the biceps and triceps as well as the smaller muscles in the upper arm participate in the flexion and extension at the shoulder joint. They are also involved in movement from the elbow joint.

Flexion here refers to the decreasing of the angle between the forearm and upper arm to raise the hand towards the shoulder. It is controlled mainly by the biceps and surrounding groups of smaller muscles but also involves a group of muscles in the palm facing side of the forearm, called the flexor compartment.

Extension refers to the increase of the angle between the forearm and the upper arm to move the hand away from the shoulder. It is controlled by the triceps with the help of the group of muscles at the back of the forearm, in line with the back of the hand, called the extensor compartment.

I haven’t included any exercises here for the wrists and hands. These are typically the most vulnerable areas for gout and arthritis. Working the joints and muscles in this area should only be done under close supervision of a physiotherapist.

The abdomen:

Most people want to strengthen the muscles in this area, as we all tend to put on weight here. Even if you can see them, the muscles in your abdomen are very important to your core strength. There are 3 layers of muscles that make up the abdominal wall and another layer behind that. The deepest layer is called the rectus abdominis, with muscles that run vertically to flex the torso and stabilize the pelvis.

The deepest layer of the abdominal wall is called the transverse abdominis and has fibres that run horizontally. It compresses and supports the abdomen and stabilizes the core.

The middle layer of the abdominal wall is made up of the internal obliques that run forward and down while the most superficial layer is made up of the external obliques that run down and forward. The obliques work together to rotate the torso from side to side.

Hips:

The hips joint is extremely complex. It is one of the areas most prone to injury, probably due to the fact that it carries the most weight and is most affected by bad posture and incorrect movement in the legs as well as the abs. The muscles in this area, primarily the quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings support and stabilize the bone in the thigh called the femur which is the longest and strongest human bone.

The movements here are also flexion, extension, adduction and abduction.

Flexion here refers to the movement of raising the knee towards the chest. It uses the group of four muscles at the front of the thighs that are collectively known as the quadriceps (or quads).

Extension refers to the movement of the knee away from the chest and involves the glutes and the hamstrings.

Adduction refers to the movement of the leg out towards the side with the knee straight and external rotation is when the knee is raised toward the chest and the leg is rotated outwards at hip height.

Abduction is lowering the leg back down to the middle from the side with the knee straight while internal rotation is the movement of the leg back to the midline with the knee bent towards the chest.

Knee and upper leg:

Flexion is the bending of the knee, controlled by the hamstrings and a group of small muscles that run across the back of the knee.

Extension is the straightening of the knee, controlled by the quads.

There is effectively no adduction or abduction of the knees as they are hinge joints rather than ball and sockets. I think the names are self explanatory.

Lower leg and ankles:

This is another area that is prone to injury. I have included a few exercises in this book to warm up the ankle joints to prevent too much strain on them during other exercises but please consult a medical professional before attempting any more strenuous calf and ankle exercises. This includes yoga and balance that involve standing on one leg.

How the Body Changes With Age

Genetic theories claim that our life span is determined at birth by qualities that we inherit with our DNA structure. Research shows that parents who live longer are likely to have children who live longer. Identical twins also have more similar life spans than other siblings.

Make a note of your family history. How old were your grandparents and parents when they passed on? Did they have any health issues that you may have inherited? How has that shown up in your life?

Some non genetic theorists focus on natural wear and tear that results in cellular and molecular damage. Others argue that these microscopic changes are not significant enough in themselves to have consequences on a larger scale, although there is evidence to suggest that changes to the collagen molecular structure is what causes loss of elasticity in ligaments and tendons that does have an impact on the function of muscles.

It is also possible that waste products from natural processes such as gaseous exchange are not completely removed from the body and accumulate until there is enough of them to influence more complex functions. Free radicals and antioxidants have become buzzwords in anti aging marketing campaigns. The science behind the theory is fascinating, but outside the scope of our discussion here. What you do need to know is that an excess of free radicals causes an increase in inflammation and that antioxidant proteins neutralize free radicals. Higher rates of inflammation have been linked to many of the degenerative disorders associated with aging, such as arthritis, cardiovascular disease and even cancer.

Make note of any aches and pains or illness that could be linked to higher rates of inflammation. Watch out for any changes in those areas as you work through this book.

As we age our cells lose their ability to function or they may start to function in a different way. This can affect our ability to produce new cells.

Changes in the cell membranes reduce the absorption of oxygen and nutrients into tissue and the removal of waste products from the tissue. Over time waste products and fatty substances can accumulate in the tissue, affecting their ability to perform their various functions.

Connective tissue becomes stiffer, causing organs, blood vessels and airways to become rigid. This can lead to the atrophy of some muscles. They lose mass and can become lumpy. This is one of the reasons for stiffness of muscles and loss of flexibility in joints.

The cellular and tissue changes also lead to a gradual decrease in the function of our organs. It can take a while to notice these changes because we hardly ever use our organs at full capacity. Our ability to function beyond our needs also makes it more difficult to recognize when the loss of function actually begins. All of our organs have a different level of reserve function (the ability to continue to function despite deterioration).

The biggest changes occur in the heart, lungs, kidneys and liver. These changes are usually so gradual that they are barely noticeable, until we try to push those organs to function fully. Unexpected demands on these organs can result in failure such as heart attacks.

Not all loss of function is that dramatic. The kidneys and liver take longer to remove toxins or process medication, this can lead to side effects of the medication becoming more severe and possibly being mistaken for illness.

Effects of Exercise

Research shows that exercise improves heart and lung health, and is also good for the brain, bones, muscles and mood. It can help people stay healthier for longer by delaying the onset of chronic conditions, slowing the decline of mental processes; reducing the risk of falls, and easing depression, stress and anxiety.

The benefits are greater when you start your exercise routines earlier and maintain them for longer but it is never too late to start. Even gentle exercises like walking or gardening can have benefits at any stage of life. The key areas of influence include:

●      Muscle strength : Stronger muscles make every day activities like climbing stairs, opening jars, cooking and cleaning easier. It has also been proven to improve immunity, brain health and mood. Having strong healthy muscles also reduces the risk of falling.

●      Improved bone density : When we are younger the body keeps bones strong by breaking down old bones and replacing it with new bone tissue. This process starts to slow down at around age 30. Exercise when you’re younger can help to build bone density. Having stronger bones to start with lowers the risk of osteoporosis. Older people can not regain bone mass but they can slow down the process of losing it. A combination of weight bearing exercises and low impact exercise like yoga, swimming and walking improves balance, which reduces the risk of fractures.

●      Better mental activity for longer : The quality of our mental functioning is measured by our ability to plan and perform complex tasks, process information by ignoring irrelevant details and shift quickly between tasks. Research shows that exercising muscles produces molecules called myokines, which have significant benefits for brain activity.

The recommended amount of exercise is 30 minutes five times a week. You can start at a more moderate level and work your way up to the most beneficial levels.

The opposite is also true. Lack of exercise can have very strong negative effects on the body. The Harvard University description of a 1966 study into the effects of lack of exercise on the body is worth quoting here in its entirety.

The Dallas Bed Rest and Training Study

In 1966, five healthy men volunteered for a research study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. It must have sounded like the opportunity of a lifetime; all they had to do was spend three weeks of their summer vacation resting in bed. But when they got out of bed at the end of the trial, it probably didn't seem so good. Testing the men before and after exercise, the researchers found devastating changes that included faster resting heart rates, higher systolic blood pressures, a drop in the heart's maximum pumping capacity, a rise in body fat, and a fall in muscle strength.

In just three weeks, these 20-year-olds developed many physiologic characteristics of men twice their age. Fortunately, the scientists didn't stop there. Instead, they put the men on an 8-week exercise program. Exercise did more than reverse the deterioration brought on by bed rest, since some measurements were better than ever after the training.

The Dallas study was a dramatic demonstration of the harmful consequences of bed rest. It's a lesson that's been learned yet again in the era of space travel, and it has helped change medical practice by encouraging an early return to physical activity after illness or surgery. And by revisiting the question 30 years later, the Texas researchers have also been able to investigate the interaction between exercise and aging.

A second look:

The original subjects all agreed to be evaluated again at the age of 50. All five remained healthy, and none required long-term medication. Even so, the 30-year interval had not been kind. Over the years, the men gained an average of 50 pounds, or 25% of their weight at age 20. Their average body fat doubled from 14% to 28% of body weight. In addition, their cardiac function suffered, with a rise in resting heart rate and blood pressure and a fall in maximum pumping capacity. In terms of cardiac function, though, the toll of time was not as severe as the toll of inactivity; at 50, the men were far below their 20-year-old best, but they were not quite as feeble as when they emerged from three weeks of bed rest in 1966.

The researchers did not ask the 50-year-old volunteers to lie in bed for three weeks; that could have been hazardous. But they did ask them to begin an exercise program, and they wisely constructed a gradual 6-month regimen of walking, jogging, and cycling instead of the 8-week crash course that served the 20-year-olds so well.

Slow but steady endurance training carried the day. At the end of the six months, the men averaged only a modest 10-pound loss of their excess weight, but their resting heart rates, blood pressures, and their heart's maximum pumping abilities were back to their baseline level from age 20. All in all, exercise training reversed 100% of the 30-year age-related decline in aerobic power. Even so, exercise did not take the men back to their peak performance after 8 weeks of intense training at age 20. The clock does tick, after all, but exercise did slow the march of time.

The Dallas scientists contributed a great deal to our understanding of exercise and aging, but they did not seize the opportunity to evaluate many of the changes that men experience as they age. Fortunately, other research has filled in the gaps. To avoid gaps as you age, construct a balanced exercise program.

Endurance training. As the Texas studies showed, endurance exercise is the best way to improve cardiovascular function. It helps keep the heart muscle supple and the arteries flexible, lowers the resting heart rate, and boosts the heart's peak ability to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the body's tissues. A related benefit is a fall in blood pressure.

Endurance exercise is also the best way to protect the body's metabolism from the effects of age. It reduces body fat, sensitizes the body's tissues to insulin, and lowers blood sugar levels. Exercise boosts the HDL ("good") cholesterol and lowers levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol and triglycerides. And the same types of activity will fight some of the neurological and psychological changes of aging. Endurance exercise boosts mood and improves sleep, countering anxiety and depression. In addition, it improves reflex time and helps stave off age-related memory loss. All in all, many of the changes that physiologists attribute to aging are actually caused by disuse.

The Dallas investigators prescribed walking, jogging, and biking for endurance training. They could have achieved the same benefits with swimming, racquet sports, rowing, cross-country skiing, aerobic dance, and even golf (as long as players walk the course). A variety of exercise machines can also do the job, but only if you use them properly. The key is regular activity. Start slowly if you are out of shape, then build up gradually to 3–4 hours a week. A program as simple as 30 minutes of brisk walking nearly every day will produce major benefits.

Exercise and aging: Can you walk away from Father Time - Harvard Health 2014

This study proves the effectiveness of exercise in improving the quality of life as we grow older. Endurance training combines basic warm ups, cardio, and strength training to maximize the physical capacity of our bodies. It is also important to note that The exercise program for 20 year-olds lasted eight weeks while the training for the 50 year-olds was a six month program. As we get older we do need to ease into physical training more gently. Start where you are and gradually build your routine up to around an hour a day, five days a week. As you go through the exercises in the next few chapters, experiment with different amounts of stretching, cardio and strength until you find the ratios and combinations that work best for you.

Chapter 3:

Practical Exercises Basic stretching

Breathing

The breath element of yoga is called Pranayama - it literally translates to the control of the life force. This is how important breathing is during exercise. After all, the whole point of breathing is to provide oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.

The easiest way to check your breathing while exercising is to try to talk. When your heart rate is elevated you should still be able to talk but only in short sentences.

The body is designed to breathe in through the nose. Nasal breathing filters out some of the impurities, regulates temperature and moisture content of the air before it reaches the lungs. Using the entire abdomen to breathe, instead of just the top of our lungs increases our intake of air. Practise different breathing techniques to become more aware of your lung capacity and the effect on your muscles and energy. Try these either lying down or sitting in a comfortable relaxed posture, with one hand on your belly button and the other just below your rib cage so you can feel the movement of your diaphragm.

Awareness of breath: Breathe normally. Become aware of the movement of your abdomen and diaphragm without changing your breathing. Pay attention to the rise and fall of your abs and diaphragm as you inhale and exhale. Now take a few shallower breaths. Notice the movement against your hands. Take some deeper breaths. Feel the pressure on your hands increase on the inhale. Now alternate shallow and deep breaths so that you can feel the difference in the muscle movements.

Equal breathing: The instructions for this one are really simple. Achieving the results in practice may take a few tries. Time your inhalation and exhalation. Adjust them until they take the same length of time. My advice would be to sit in front of a clock with a second hand so you can maintain your posture while watching the time. (Practice this a lot. It is the most effective breathing during strength exercises)

Cooling your coffee : Breathe in through your nose. Breathe out through your mouth slowly through almost closed lips, as if you’re trying to blow cold air over the top of a cup of coffee to cool it down. The exhale should take twice as long as the inhale. You could try exhaling twice instead of one long exhale. Feel which muscles you use to breathe, from the facial muscles to move your lips down to your abs as they fill and empty. (This is good for cardio)

Abdominal breathing: I like to do this one lying down. Breathe into your lower abdomen, feeling the cavity expand. Keep breathing in through your nose, filling up through your diaphragm and then into the top of your lungs. Feel your rib cage lift. When your entire torso feels like a full balloon, slowly start exhaling from the top of your lungs. Feel your rib cage drop. Keep exhaling slowly and gradually. Feel your diaphragm contract. As you breathe out the last of the air feel your abdomen tighten. Repeat at least twice more. Be aware of your abdominal muscles, rib cage and lung capacity. Focus on slowing down the breathing and filling up your torso more with every inhalation and emptying it out completely with every exhale. Return to normal breathing, at a comfortable pace. (good for recovery after strenuous exercise)

4x4 breathing: We usually focus on the in and out but a lot happens during the pause in between. Breathe in, to the count of four. Hold, to the count of four. Breathe out, to the count of four. Hold, to the count of four. Repeat another three times to give you a total of four reps. (Good to do between other breathing exercises, before and after, a workout or just for relaxation. It resets the oxygen and carbon dioxide balance)

These are the ones I personally use most often. If you would like to learn more you can do your own research into Pranayama.

Basic Exercises

Please check with a medical professional before starting any new exercise or diet plan. The exercises listed below are for people without any predisposition to injury in specific areas. They are divided into categories according to the parts of the body they target. If you have any health concerns at all please feel free to skip an exercise until you can find out from an expert whether or not it is suitable for your specific circumstances.

As we get older it becomes more important to monitor our cardiovascular function during exercise. For most people it is enough to use this simplified perceived exertion scale from verywellfit .com .

Level 1: I'm sitting at complete rest, no exertion

Level 2: I'm comfortable and could maintain this pace all day long

Level 3: I'm still comfortable but I'm breathing a bit harder

Level 4: I'm sweating a little but feel good and can carry on a conversation effortlessly

Level 5: I'm just above comfortable, am sweating more, and can still talk easily

Level 6: I can still talk but am slightly breathless

Level 7: I can still talk, but I don't really want to, and I'm likely sweating

Level 8: It is quite difficult to respond to your questions, and I can only keep this pace for a short time

Level 9: It is challenging to work at this level of exertion; I can barely breathe at all and can only say a couple of words without gasping for breath

Level 10: It is extremely difficult to work at this level of exertion, almost impossible, and I cannot talk at all

Check your heart rate before and after workouts. You can check your pulse either at your neck or your wrist. Count the beats for 15 seconds. Multiply by 4 to get the number of beats per minute.

If at any stage your heart rate feels too fast, stop and check it immediately. Heart rates indicated in the table below are in beats per minute (BPM). The average resting heart rate for an adult is 60-100 BPM.

Age

Target heart rate

50-85%

Max heart rate

100%

50-55

85-145

170

55-60

83-140

165

60-65

80-136

160

65-70

78-132

155

70-75

75-128

150

Stretching

Benefits

We’re going to start with stretching exercises that you can do in the comfort of your own home,using only your own bodyweight as resistance. There’s no need to start with expensive equipment or gym contracts. Let’s start from where you are and see where you want to go from there.

These exercises can be done on their own or as a warm up to make sure your joints and muscles are properly prepared for any work that follows. The best way to make sure you don’t miss anything is to go from head to toe.

All stretching movements are slow, gentle and very deliberate movements. Focus on your breathing and the feeling in the relevant muscles. Be aware of your posture. Unless otherwise stated, your feet should be shoulder width apart, hips balanced and facing forward, shoulders straight, low and relaxed, abs and glutes slightly tensed.

Neck stretch 1

●      Lower your head slowly to the side, as if you are trying to get your ear to touch your shoulder. Don’t move your shoulder up to meet the ear. Exhale as you move down.

●      Go as far down as you can without pain. Hold it for three deep breaths.

●       Bring your head slowly back up to centre.

●       Stay there for one breath.

●       Do the same on the other side.

●       Come back to the centre.

●      This is one repetition (called a rep from now on)

●      Do as many reps as you need until you feel some release of tension in your neck muscles.

Neck stretch 2

●      The basic move is turning your head from side to side as if showing a negative answer.

●       Of course we’re going to do it more consciously.

●      Exhale as you move your head away from the centre.

●       Hold at full stretch for 3 deep breaths.

●       Inhale as you move back to the centre.

●       Exhale as you turn to the other side.

●       Hold at full stretch for 3 deep breaths.

●       Come back to the centre.

●       This is one rep.

●      Do as many reps as it takes to feel the neck muscles relax.

Shoulder rolls

●       Keep your head facing straight forward.

●       Lift both shoulders up towards your ears.

●       Move them evenly together in a circle going forward.

●      One full circle from the highest point all the way around and back up closest to the ears, counts as one rep.

●       Do 10 reps forwards and then 10 reps backwards.

●      Feel the movement in your neck and between your shoulder blades.

●       Equal breathing all the way through

Arm circles

●      Lift your arms up until they’re parallel to the ground at shoulder height.

●       Elbows should be straight but not locked.

●      Rotate both arms in a forward circle at the same time.

●      Start with a small circle (about a 3 inch diameter).

●       Remember to keep the movement gentle and controlled.

●      Gradually increase the size of the circle with every rotation.

●      When you reach the maximum size circle you can make with your arms, start to gradually decrease the circle size again until you’re back at 3 inches.

●      Repeat the process but circle your arms backwards this time.

●      A full set forwards and backwards counts as one rep.

●      Do as many reps as you can without tiring your arms too much.

●       Breathe deeply and evenly throughout.

●       You should feel your biceps and triceps working.

Torso twists

●       Raise your arms to shoulder height.

●      Bend elbows, with palms facing down, parallel to the ground, and thumbs pointing inwards towards your chest.

●       Breathe in.

●      Breathe out as you turn your upper body to one side, keeping your hips facing forward.

●       Breathe in as you return to the centre.

●       Breathe out as you turn to the other side.

●       Back to centeris one rep.

●      Check your posture every time you come back to the centre. Make sure that your shoulders are relaxed and hips remain facing forward.

●      You should feel the movement in your abs and lower back.

Side stretches

●       Move your feet slightly further apart.

●       Bend your knees slightly.

●       Breathe in.

●      Raise your left arm over your head, with the palm facing in and down.

●      Breathe out slowly as you lean sideways to the right, keeping your hips and torso facing forward.

●      Your right arm should hang loose at your side, sliding down your leg as you stretch.

●      With practice that right arm will naturally slide all the way down to your ankle.

●      Focus on stretching your left arm outwards instead of downwards.

●      Make sure that your torso remains centred. Dropping your shoulders forwards or backwards will affect your balance.

●       Breathe in as you return to the centre.

●       Repeat to the other side.

●      Left arm, right arm and back to center counts as one rep.

●      Feel the movement from your hips, up your side and into the arm that is reaching over your head.

Lunges

●       The basic lunge is forwards.

●       Stand up straight with feet together.

●       Step forward with your right leg.

●       Bend your right knee to 90 degrees.

●      Make sure the knee doesn’t go forward further than the toes.

●      Drop the left knee towards the ground, keeping the calf parallel to the ground.

●       Straighten your legs.

●      Step the right foot back in line with the left foot.

●       Repeat on the left side.

●      We’ll count one right and one left as one rep.

●       Breathe in and out slowly and evenly.

A common variation is the side lunge.

As the name suggests, you step to the side instead of to the front.

Ankle rotations

The point of this exercise is to stretch the tendons and ligaments of the ankles.

The way you do that depends on your fitness levels and personal preference.

Easy

●      Sit down with your knees at 90 degrees and feet flat on the floor, shoulder width apart.

●      Raise your right leg and rest your right calf on your left knee.

●       Rotate your right foot clockwise ten times.

●      Make the biggest circles that you can, keeping the movement gentle and controlled.

●      Support the foot with both hands if you need to.

●       Now turn it anti clockwise.

●       Put your right foot back on the floor.

●       Repeat on the left side.

Medium

●       Stand with feet slightly apart.

●      Raise your right foot until just the tip of your big toe is touching the ground.

●       Keep the torso straight and hips facing forwards.

●       You can use your arms for balance.

●      The left foot stays firmly on the ground, with weight distributed evenly across the foot.

●      Be careful not to shift your weight to toes or heels or the inside or outside of the left foot.

●      Keep the left leg as still as possible, with the knee slightly bent.

●      Rotate your foot clockwise ten times, keeping your big toe still, lightly touching the ground so the movement feels like your heel is making a circle around your big toe.

●      Make the biggest circles that you can, keeping the movement gentle and controlled.

●       Now turn anti clockwise.

●       Lower your right foot back to the floor.

●       Repeat on the left side.

Difficult

●       Stand with feet slightly apart.

●       Raise your right foot off the ground.

●      Lift the leg and bend the knee to 90 degrees in front of you.

●       Keep the torso straight and hips facing forwards.

●       You can use your arms for balance.

●      The left foot stays firmly on the ground, with weight distributed evenly across the foot.

●      Be careful not to shift your weight to toes or heels or the inside or outside of the left foot.

●      Keep the left leg as still as possible, with the knee slightly bent.

●      Rotate your foot clockwise ten times so that the movement feels like your toes are drawing a circle in the air, with your ankle as the pivot point..

●      Make the biggest circles that you can, keeping the movement gentle and controlled.

●       Now turn anti clockwise.

●       Lower your right foot back to the floor.

●       Repeat on the left side.

Regardless of which level you choose, 10 circles in each direction on each ankle should be enough to prepare the joints for further exercises.

Remember that we are creating long term habits here. Take it slow. If you feel like you need to ease into the habit of daily exercise, you can do just this basic warm up routine every day until it starts to feel easy and comfortable. If you haven’t done any exercise for a long time, these stretches will start to improve circulation and loosen joints and muscles. There is no rush to move on to more strenuous exercises.

Feel free to research other stretching exercises. Just be sure that you prepare the entire body if you’re going to be doing harder workouts after the warm up.

When you’re ready, we can look at some body weight workouts.

Head to Toe Workout

We’ll stick with the top down approach to systematically work each area of the body in turn. This is a list of some of the more common exercises that you can do on your own without any equipment. In Chapter 7 we will look at how to choose different combinations and design your own workouts into a personalized weekly schedule.

Don’t try any of these on your own for the first time, especially if you haven’t done any exercise in a long time. We can lose muscle function before it shows up as loss of muscle mass. Weaker muscles can lead to bad posture or impaired balance which increases the risk of injury when trying new movements. It is best to have a personal trainer or a friend to watch you the first few times you attempt each exercise. While you’re still experimenting it makes more sense to choose one exercise for each body part and do just a few reps of each. Practice different exercises every day until they all feel familiar. You don’t want to put too much strain on the same group of muscles all at once until you have built up some strength.

Full Body

Inchworm

●      Stand up straight, feet parallel and a few inches apart.

●      Stretch upwards with your feet planted firmly on the ground, as if you're trying to make yourself taller.

●      Lift your arms up over your head, with elbows straight but not locked.

●      Bend forward at the waist and let your hands slowly drop to the floor.

●      It’s okay if your knees bend a little, but try to keep them as straight as possible without locking them.

●      Walk your hands forward in small, slow movements as far as you can go with your knees and elbows reasonably straight and only your hands and feet touching the ground.

●      Walk your feet forwards towards your hands. Get as close as you can without bending your knees too much. You need to still feel some tension in your calves and the back of your thighs.

●       Straighten up into a tall stretch again.

●      If you have space you can move forwards again. It can be a fun challenge to do this one outside, maybe try to inchworm your way across a patio or garden space.

●      If you are in a confined space you can just step back to your starting point and count reps.

Mountain climber

●      You might want to use a yoga mat for this one. If you don’t have a yoga mat, a folded quilt will work just as well. You just need something to cushion your knees on the hard floor or prevent carpet burn.

●       Start on your hands and knees.

●      Straighten your left leg, keeping your foot on the ground, while pulling your right knee forward towards your chest.

●      Drop your left knee back to the mat and bring your right knee back under your hip at the same time, to return to all fours.

●      Straighten your right leg, keeping your foot on the ground, while pulling your left knee forward towards your chest.

●      Drop your right knee back to the mat and bring your left knee back under your hip at the same time, to return to all fours.

●       This counts as one rep.

Bear crawl

●       Start on your hands and knees.

●      Lift up your heels so that your toes touch the floor.

●       Tighten your core.

●       Move your right hand and right knee forward together.

●       Move your left hand and left knee together.

●       Keep crawling for as long as you can.

Back and Biceps

YTWL

●      No, that's not trying to be a word or some kind of millennial textspeak.

●      Most people in our age group are familiar with dancing to the Village People’s YMCA .

●      This exercise is a similar concept. Here’s a link to the Fighter’s 4 Shoulder Circuit video in the references that explains it much better than I could with words.

Vertical push ups

●      If you can do ‘real’ push ups, go for it. Since this is the easy section though, I thought I’d give you a cheat version.

●      Stand almost an arm's length away from a wall, feet flat on the ground, just wider than shoulder width.

●      Place your hands on the wall, parallel to the ground and in line with your feet.

●      Tighten your abs and glutes to keep your body in a straight line.

●      Breathe in as you bend your elbows and lean in towards the wall until your forehead is almost touching it.

●      Breathe out as you straighten your elbows and push away from the wall.

●      You can gradually move from vertical to horizontal push ups by finding intermediate levels for your hands like the back of a chair, a table top, a step… whatever feels comfortable to you.

Standing snow angels

●      Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent.

●      Let your arms relax against your sides with palms facing in towards your thighs.

●      Lift your arms slowly upwards until your palms meet over your head.

●       Keep your elbows very slightly bent.

Learn how to do the perfect push up here , in a video by Schwecherl found in the references.

Shoulders, Chest and Triceps

It is best to these sitting in a chair with proper back support and no armrests.

Tricep kickbacks

●       Sit as far back as possible in your chair.

●      Lean forward from your hips to about 45 degrees, keeping your back straight, arms relaxed at your sides, fingertips pointed to the ground and shoulders relaxed.

●       Clench your fists.

●      Bend your elbows until your forearms are parallel to the ground.

●      Straighten your elbows and move your arms as far back as you can without any discomfort.

●      Keep your arms straight and slowly ease them back down.

Overhead elbow extensions

●      Make sure your back is properly supported by the chair, shoulders relaxed, back and down.

●      Interlace your fingers at the base of your neck, palms facing in.

●       Straighten your elbows, raising your hands over your head.

●      Keep the backs of your fingers facing out, until they’re pointing at the ceiling.

●      Stretch as tall as you can while remaining seated firmly in your chair.

●      Move your biceps as close to your ears as possible until you feel the stretch in your triceps.

●       Hold it there for one deep breath.

●      Inhale as you lower your hands to the base of your neck.

●      Each rep starts and ends with your hands behind your neck.

●      This feels easy but it does work muscles in a different way than they’re used to moving.

●       Don’t do more than 10 reps at the beginning.

Overhead tricep and shoulder stretch

●      Raise your right arm over your head, bending your elbow so that the hand rests between your shoulder blades.

●      Reach your left arm over to rest your hand just above (not on) the right elbow.

●      Gently pull with your left hand to extend the stretch of the right arm and shoulder.

●      Keep the right bicep close to the ear but don’t pull it further back.

●       Release both arms.

●       Repeat on the other side.

Core

Bicycle

●      Lie flat on your back, arms at your side, palms facing down.

●       Tighten your abs.

●       Raise your legs.

●       Move them like you’re pedalling a bicycle.

●      Try to focus on moving from your hips while keeping your abs and glutes engaged and your back relaxed and flat on the ground.

Bird dog

●       Start on all fours with your back flat.

●      Raise one arm and the opposite leg at the same time, with abs engaged.

●      Try to keep your back still and your hips even.

●       Return to the starting position.

●       Raise the other arm and leg.

●       This counts as one rep.

Windscreen wipers

●       Lie on your back with your arms spread wide.

●      Bend your knees and raise your legs to 90 degrees at your hips.

●       Move both legs slowly to the left.

●      Stop as soon as you feel a slight twist in your spine.

●       Inhale as you return to the center.

●       Exhale as you move your legs to the left.

●       Return to the center.

●       That is one rep.

Glutes and hamstrings

Side clam

●      Lie on your side, with knees bent at your side and rested on top of each other.

●       Flex your glutes to open your knees.

●       Hold them open for one deep breath.

●       Gently lower the knee to the starting position.

●       This counts as one rep.

●       Turn onto your other side.

●       Do the same movement.

●      Always do the same number of reps on both sides.

Hamstring stretch

●       Stand with your feet together.

●       Cross one leg in front of the other.

●       Raise your arms up above your head.

●       Interlace your fingers.

●       Bend forward at your hip.

●       Breathe in and out and extend the stretch.

●       Slowly straighten up again.

●       Cross your legs the other way.

●       Repeat the movement.

●       This is one rep.

Donkey kicks

●       Start on all fours, with your back flat.

●      Raise one leg behind you while straightening out the knees.

●       Return to your starting position.

●       Repeat with the other leg.

●       Keep your back flat throughout the movement.

●       This counts as one rep.

Thighs

Wall sit

●      Stand up straight with your back against a wall,feet hip width apart.

●      Slide down until your thighs are parallel to the ground.

●       Keep your back straight and rested against the wall.

Step up

●       Find a low step.

●       Place one foot on the step.

●      Lift the other foot until the front leg is straight.

●       Step down gently.

●       Repeat with the other foot

●       This is one rep.

Calves

Standing heel raises

●      Stand with your palms placed flat against a sturdy support.

●      Make sure your feet are firmly on the ground, shoulder width apart, parallel to each other and equal distance from the support.

●      Lift your heels off the ground slowly until you’re standing on just your toes.

●       Hold the position for a breath.

●       Slowly lower your heels back to the ground.

Seated heel raises

●      Sit on a chair where you can comfortably rest your feet flat on the floor

●      Raise your heels, keeping your toes and the balls of your feet on the ground.

●       Lower the heel gently to the floor.

●       Breathe evenly throughout.

●       Up and down again is one rep.

Seated toe taps

●      Sit on a chair where you can comfortably rest your feet flat on the floor

●      Lift your toes and the balls of your feet, keeping your heels on the ground.

●       Lower the heel gently to the floor.

●       Breathe evenly throughout.

●       Up and down again is one rep.

Balance

Benefits

Balance exercises improve posture, stability, and coordination while building muscle strength and joint mobility. These benefits can reduce your chance of falling or bumping into things and causing an injury. This increases confidence. Balance has also been associated with improved spatial sense and mental functioning

Stationary postures

Easy

Shifting weight

●      Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your weight spread evenly.

●      You can either rest your hands at your sides or have a sturdy chair in front of you in case you need to grab it for balance.

●      Shift your weight onto your nondominant side, then lift your dominant foot a few inches off of the floor.

●       Hold for 10 seconds

●      Return to the starting position and repeat with the opposite leg.

●       Return to the starting point.

●       This is one rep.

Medium

Single leg balance

●      Stand with your feet hip-width apart, with your hands on your hips or on the back of a sturdy chair if you need support.

●      Lift your dominant foot off of the floor, bending at the knee and lifting your heel halfway between the floor and your buttocks.

●       Hold for 10 seconds

●      Return to the starting position and repeat with the opposite leg.

●       Return to the starting position.

●       This is one rep.

Hard

Tree pose

●     From standing, shift your weight onto your nondominant foot.

●     Raise your dominant foot with your heel lifted, bent knee pointing outwards and place the sole of your foot against your ankle, shin, or thigh. Do not rest it on your knee.

●     Hold for as long as you can, without too much effort.

●     Gently lower the foot to the ground, hip distance away from the other foot.

●      Then do the opposite side.

●      This is one rep.

I generally wouldn’t recommend that you do more than one rep of tree pose in a row. If you enjoy this exercise and want to do more, it would be better to take a break in between to do some cardio or strength training that doesn’t involve balance.

Balance with movement

Tightrope walk

●     Clear a path from one wall to another

●     Start with your back against one wall.

●     Extend your arms out to the sides to help with balance.

●     Focus on a fixed point on the other wall, across the room.

●     Walk towards that point in a straight line.

●     Raise your foot slightly off the ground as you would normally walk.

●     Each time you raise your foot, pause with your foot in this raised position for two to three seconds.

●     Take 20 to 30 steps (or as many as you can to start).

Heel-to-toe walk

●     Start in a corner with your heels pressing into one wall.

●     ‘Walk’ parallel to another wall so that you can lean on it if necessary.

●     Place your left foot in front of your right foot,with your left heel touching your right toes.

●     Then place your right foot in front of your left foot with your right heel touching your left toes.

●     Do another eight steps, making a total of 10 steps.

Knee highs

This is a harder version of tightrope walking

●     Clear a path from one wall to another.

●     Start with your back against one wall.

●     Extend your arms out to the sides to help with balance.

●     Focus on a fixed point on the other wall, across the room.

●     Walk towards that point in a straight line.

●     Raise your foot and bend your knee so that your knee is at hip height with your thigh parallel to the ground.

●     Each time you raise your foot, pause with your foot in this raised position for two to three seconds.

●     Take 10 to 20 steps (or as many as you can to start).

With a walker

It’s never too late to build muscle strength. These exercises can help build your calf muscles and improve your balance. Make sure you have someone close by to offer support if you need it.

Marching

●       Stand with both hands on your walker.

●      Start with both feet flat on the ground and your weight evenly spread.

●      Shift your weight to your nondominant leg and lift your dominant knee as high as you can.

●       Lower it and balance evenly again for a moment

●      Shift your weight to your dominant leg and then lift your nondominant knee as high as you can.

●       Alternate between sides for a total of 20 repetitions.

Heel-toe raises

●       Stand with both hands on your walker.

●      Raise both of your heels and balance on the balls of your feet for 3 seconds.

●      Then shift the weight onto your heels and raise your toes.

●       Do 10 to 20 repetitions.

You can do the exercises with weights to build muscle or do more reps at a faster pace to burn fat. Combined with a balanced diet, the exercises in this chapter are actually enough for most people to maintain a reasonable level of fitness. As you master these exercises though you will probably want to challenge yourself further.

Chapter 4:

Going Beyond the Basics - Cardio and Strength Training

Cardio

Cardio refers to those exercises that increase heart rate and keep it elevated for a prolonged period of time.

Physical and mental benefits of cardio.

●      There’s scientific evidence that suggests 150 minutes of moderate intensity cardio per week will help you maintain your weight over time.

●      Research has shown that getting your heart rate up with regular cardio exercises can help prevent cardiovascular disease.

●      Cardio increases the production of endorphins (hormones that reduce the perception of pain) making you feel happier and healthier.

●      Regular cardio workouts (at least 30 minutes per day, five times a week) have also been associated with higher longevity.

The good news is that cardio doesn’t have to be joining an athletic club and running 20 miles a day. It can range from vacuuming the carpets to mountain climbing. 5 minutes a day of jogging on the spot is better than nothing at all.

Exercise doesn’t have to be tedious. You can choose fun cardio activities and do different things on different days. Here’s a list in no particular order that gives you a pretty good idea of things that can increase your heart rate and keep it up for a while.

●       Dancing

●       Jumping rope

●       Walking

●       Swimming

●       Boxing

●       Cycling

●       Hiking

●       Hula hooping

●       Rowing

●       Jumping Jacks

Strength Training

I know this heading conjures up images of Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson bench pressing three times your body weight. The aim doesn’t have to be to build bulging muscles. Weight bearing exercises refer to any form of exercise that works against gravity, like push ups or squats. Activities such as Yoga and Tai Chi, which we discuss in later chapters are also considered weight bearing exercises.

For now, let’s focus on strength or resistance training. You can use your own body weight or very light weights to get the benefits you need.

Benefits

●      Strengthens bones and muscles : Gentle stress on bones and muscles increases density, making them stronger and less prone to injury. Higher bone density reduces the risk of osteoporosis. Stronger muscles protect bones better.

●      Improves overall body mechanics : Regular exercise also improves balance and flexibility. This can prevent falls and other accidents that result in fractures.

●      Increases metabolism and can help with weight loss : Weight bearing exercises use a lot of energy to build muscle. This means burning a lot of calories which of course results in losing weight.

●      Lowers cholesterol : We know that there are two types of cholesterol. Exercise lowers the amounts of harmful cholesterol and increases the levels of useful cholesterol in the bloodstream.

●      Lowers blood pressure : Maintaining an elevated heart rate in a controlled situation strengthens the heart itself. This allows it to pump more blood with less effort, reducing the pressure on the arteries and lowering blood pressure.

●      Strengthens joints : Stronger muscles put less pressure on the joints which helps with conditions like gout and arthritis.

Choosing weights can be tricky. I personally use only three, five, and eight pound dumbbells. My advice to somebody starting strength training is to start without weights and get comfortable with the movements. Use three to five pound dumbbells until you get stronger. After a while you can move on to five to eight pounds. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go beyond that because we’re aiming for muscle tone rather than bulk. You can also use a combination of light, medium and heavy weights for maximum effect.

Light: 3-5 pounds for women, 5-8 pounds for men

Medium: 5-10 pounds for women, 10-15 pounds for men

Heavy: 10-20 pounds for women, 15-30 pounds for men

You know you’re using the right weights when the last rep of each set feels very difficult but not impossible.

As you build muscles and get into a regular exercise routine, you can look into using other equipment such as kettlebells,wrist and ankle weights, weight plates and bars, and gym benches .

Let’s look at the exercises by muscle groups again.

Back and biceps

Any lifting or pulling movement involves the biceps and a combination of back muscles. Movements such as opening doors, picking up bags of groceries, moving furniture and even hugging depend on the strength and flexibility of your back and biceps.

The back muscles are particularly important in maintaining posture by stabilizing the spine and shoulders, and facilitating the movement of your arms. This also helps with balance to prevent falls that can lead to injury.

Stretching and building strength in the back and biceps allows us to perform a wide range of daily activities more effectively as we grow older, enabling us to remain independent for longer.

Dumbbell reverse grip row

This exercise works the upper and lower back muscles at the same time to improve posture by providing better support to the spinal column.

●      Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent.

●      Hold your dumbbells in front of your body with your palms facing forward.

●      Keep your shoulders straight while you bend forward at the hip until your torso is 45 degrees to the ground.

●      Pull your shoulder blades back and in, as if you’re trying to get them to touch your spine and bend your elbows to pull the weights up towards your rib cage.

●       Hold it there for one breath.

●      Lower your arms slowly and deliberately and straighten your shoulders.

●       Gently return your torso to the upright position.

●       This is one rep.

Bicep curl

This has been part of arm workouts for as long as anyone can remember. It works the muscle directly so this is one of the few times when you can use the heavier weights.

●      Stand upright, feet shoulder width apart, a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip, arms extended down in front of your thighs with palms facing forward.

●      Keep your elbows tucked into your sides and your back straight while you curl the weights up towards your shoulders.

●      Keep your movements slow and controlled as you straighten your arms to lower the weights to the starting position. Don’t let them fall forward.

●       This is one rep.

In and out biceps curl

This works the biceps in two different ways in one exercise.

●      The starting position is standing with your feet hip width apart, elbows at your side and hand holding dumbbells with palms facing forward.

●      Keep your elbows tucked into your sides as you curl the weights up towards your shoulders, going as high as you can with your elbows still touching your sides.

●      Straighten your elbows back to your sides without locking them.

●      Rotate your arms inwards as far as you can. The end goal is to get the backs of your hands facing your sides. Do the movement slowly and carefully. Pulling your shoulder blades in towards each other makes it easier.

●      For an extra challenge you can try to curl the weights towards your shoulders and back down again while you’re here.

●       Rotate your arms back to the starting position again.

●       All of this is one rep.

Hammer curl

This works the smaller muscle that supports the bicep. It is important to prevent extra strain on the bicep itself as well as the tendons and ligaments in the shoulders and elbows. You can use a medium weight for this one.

●      Stand with feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, arms relaxed at your sides, holding dumbbells with palms facing in towards your body.

●      Raise one arm up towards the shoulder, keeping your elbows touching your sides.

●      Pause at the top of the curl and flex your bicep.

●      Lower your arm back down to your side, keeping the movement slow and controlled.

●       Do the same with the other arm.

●       This is one rep.

Shoulders, chest and triceps

The muscles we will be working here are a group of muscles called the pecs. They extend from the collar bone to the breastbone and connect to the upper arms as well. Another part of this group connects to the upper rib cage and the front of your shoulder blades. Whenever you move your arms to push, pull or carry things, these muscles are active. This makes it difficult to separate the pecs from exercises targeted at the triceps and shoulders. Keeping these muscles strong and healthy ensures proper support to shoulders and arms, preventing injury as we get older.

The triceps themselves are the muscles found at the back of the upper arm. They connect from three points in your s on your shoulder blades and upper arm and stretch down to your forearm. This works to extend your elbow and helps with shoulder extensions. Their movement is opposite to the biceps.

Lying down chest fly

Some athletes prefer to do this one standing up. I think lying down is safer. It prevents over extension of the shoulder joints.

●      Start off lying flat on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the ground.

●      Hold a light dumbbell in each hand, arms stretched straight up into the air above your chest, palms facing each other.

●      Bend your elbows slightly as you lower your arms to the ground, extending outwards at shoulder height.

●       Keep your shoulder blades flat on the ground throughout.

●      Straighten your elbows, without locking the joint, and lift your arms to the center again.

●       This is one rep.

There are a number of variations on this one:

If you want to get your glutes involved you can do a bridge (lift your pelvis off the floor and tighten your glutes) while you lower your arms to the floor and then lower your glutes to the ground as you raise your arms up again.

You can also do chest fly standing up. You start with your arms stretched out in front of you, still palms facing each other and then extend them out to your sides at shoulder height. The danger of injury here is either pushing your shoulders too far back or straightening your elbows too far. Either one can cause pain in the joints or even dislocation if there is a previous injury. Please be very careful when taking this exercise to the next level.

Overhead tricep extensions

●      These can be done lying down, sitting or standing. You could even use a decline bench at the gym.

●      Start with your arms in front of you, at a right angle to your chest, palms facing your feet.

●       Keep your arms straight without locking your elbows

●      Lift your arms over your head, rotating inwards so that the palms end up facing each other.

●      Keep your upper arms close to your ears as you try to stretch your arms up as far as possible without discomfort.

●       Hold the stretch for one deep breath

●       Carefully lower your arms back to the starting point.

●       This is one rep.

If you want to go a bit harder, you can start and end with your arms at your side instead of at shoulder height.

Tricep dips

This one uses your own body weight as resistance rather than dumbbells.

●      Find a strong support surface like a table or kitchen counter. It should be at approximately waist height.

●      Rest your back gently against the edge of your support.

●      Place your palms flat on the surface with the fingers facing forward and gripping the edge.

●      The difficulty level depends on how far your feet are from the counter.

●      The easiest is to place your feet flat with just enough room to bend your knees to 90 degrees.

●      The hardest is to rest your heels on the floor a full leg distance away from the counter.

●      Always start with the easiest and work your way up.

●      Bend elbows in a gentle controlled movement. Go as far down as you can without moving your arms out of alignment with your shoulders. In other words your elbows should end up slightly behind you but not too far back.

●      Push down , straightening your elbows to lift your body back up to the starting point.

●       Up and down again is one rep.

Core

Side bends

●      Stand with your feet hips width apart, a light dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing in towards your body.

●      Bend sideways to the left, keeping your left arm straight and allowing it to slide down your left leg as far as you can go.

●      Let your right arm relax at your side and naturally follow the movement.

●      Feel the stretch on your right and the squeeze in the right obliques, along the sides of your abs.

●      Be careful to bend only sideways. Don’t move forward or backwards.

●       Return to center.

●       Bend to the right.

●       Straight up to the center.

●       That is one rep.

If you want a bit of a challenge you can raise your right arm up over your head. Be careful that it goes straight overhead in line with your torso, not forward or backwards.

Another variation of the standing side bends is to use one medium or heavy dumbbell held overhead with both hands This can be a little bit more risky if you have issues with your back. Be very careful to make sure that your movements are slow and controlled. Don’t let your arms collapse to the sides. Move only from side to side. Don’t move your torso or your arms forward or backward. Keep your upper arms close to your head throughout the movement.

Lying down overhead reach

●      Lie flat on your back, legs raised at right angles to the hips with knees bent at right angles as well, so that calves are parallel to the ground.

●      Use your abs to flatten your lower back into the ground (or you can put a flat pillow or folded towel under the small of your back for support)

●      Raise your arms towards the ceiling with elbows bent and pull them in towards each other in line with your chest, with palms facing inwards.

●       This is the starting position for the actual work.

●      Reach your arms overhead keeping your upper arms close to your ears, straightening your elbows, without locking them as you move upwards.

●       Touch the dumbbells to the floor.

●      Make sure your back stays still throughout the movement. Don’t let your spine curl at all.

●      Return your arms to their starting point in front of your chest.

●      Each movement to the floor and back up is one rep.

Don’t drop your arms to the floor at your sides between reps.

Standing Weighted Twist

●       Stand with feet shoulder width apart.

●       Keep your knees slightly bent.

●      Hold a medium dumbbell in both hands at chest height.

●       Bend your elbows to where they feel comfortable.

●       Twist to the right, only from the waist.

●      Keep your pelvis facing forward and don’t use your shoulders to help the movement.

●       Return to the center

●       Twist to the left.

●       Return to the center.

●       That is one rep.

Glutes and hamstrings

Working the glutes is not just about sculpting a good looking rear end. Believe it or not the glutes actually play a very important role in balance and movement. They connect from the base of the spine, stretch across the back of the pelvic girdle, wrap around the outside of the thighs and attach to the knee joint, to assist in the movement of the legs and hips.

Weakened glutes and hamstrings can lead to falls and injury. Keeping your glutes activated while doing exercises that target other muscle groups can help stabilize the movement while strengthening the glutes as well. Exercises that target the glutes usually involve the hamstrings as well since these muscle groups work together.

Be careful to watch your posture and engage back and abdominal muscles where possible to support the glutes and hamstrings during the following exercises.

Weighted swing

●      Starting position is standing with feet hip width apart, holding a medium weight in both hands in front of your thighs. A kettlebell is ideal but you can use a dumbbell equally efficiently.

●       Bend your knees and push your hips back.

●      Using a slow, controlled movement, swing the weight gently between your knees. Do not let gravity pull it down.

●       Straighten your legs and pull your hips forward.

●       Your arms will naturally swing forward as well.

●      Try to control the movement so that it is one gradual swing back up to the starting position.

●       This is one rep.

Weighted side lunge

Side lunges are already a great way to work the glutes and hamstrings. Weights add the extra effort needed to build muscle.

●      Starting position is standing with feet shoulder width apart, weights at your sides with palms facing inwards. Kettlebells and dumbbells work equally well for this one so it’s a matter of personal preference.

●      Step your right foot further out to widen your stance.

●      Push your hips back as you bend your right knee until the thigh is parallel to the ground. Your arms should be on either side of your right leg.

●      Straighten your knee and bring your hips back to center.

●      Step your right foot back in so that your feet are shoulder width apart again.

●       Repeat the movement to the left side.

●       Return to the starting position.

●       This is one rep.

Deadlift

●      Starting position is standing with feet hip width apart, knees bent, arms in front of your quads with a light dumbbell in each hand, palms facing your legs

●      Bend your knees as you push backwards at the hip.

●      Keep your back perfectly straight as you fold over at the hip, sliding the weights down the front of your legs. Stop wherever you feel comfortable. As you practice you will be able to stretch lower. Take it at your own pace.

●      Tighten your core and keep the weights close to your shins as you straighten up to the starting position. Squeeze your glutes tight when you get to the top.

●       This is one rep.

Always remember to watch your posture. Use your legs for effective balance by keeping your feet parallel to and in line with each other. Keep your knees slightly bent so that you can only see the very tips of your big toes over them when you look down. This will also help to build your calf muscles.

Chapter 5:

Fun Social Stretching

This chapter is all about my favourite form of exercise. Please forgive any personal bias here. What I like most about yoga is that it is completely individual. There is no such thing as competitive yoga. You are only ever working to improve your own technique. The emphasis on breathing, relaxation and meditation promotes deeper self awareness by turning the attention inwards. It can be a bit of an adjustment for people who are used to losing themselves in outside noises. It doesn’t take long to realize that the stillness is actually very therapeutic.

Yoga

Yoga combines movement and specific postures with breathing and meditation exercises to strengthen the body and mind. You don’t have to be able to tie yourself up in knots to practice yoga.

Benefits:

●      Relieves stress and tension: Yoga provides ways to let go of the stress and tension that we hold in our muscles. This can help to ease some of the causes of high blood pressure, reduces anxiety, lowers the heart rate and improves breathing and lung capacity.

●      Reduces insomnia: Many seniors report sleeping longer and more soundly after starting yoga.This could be related to the relaxation and breathing techniques.

●      Improves balance, flexibility, mobility and strength: The movements and postures of yoga are slow, deliberate and focused. This builds muscle strength in a way that allows us to move more safely and with more confidence.

●      Lowers the rate of depression: The combination of movement, breathing and meditation creates a sense of well being which boosts our general mood.

●      Eases aches and pain: yoga offers techniques to breathe and relax through chronic pain associated with aging, even if there are physical limitations. Pain relief also comes from removing lactic acid build up in the muscles through stretching.

Pacing Yourself

Check with your doctor before you try anything. There may be poses that you need to avoid if you have certain medical conditions. Hot yoga for instance is definitely not recommended for people with high blood pressure or at risk for heart disease. It is best to start off in a beginners class, even if you have had some experience. Trust me, you would rather be bored for one 45 minute class than risk injury by attempting something beyond your abilities.

Even if you have kept up a consistent exercise routine over the years, it is best to start off slowly and gradually escalate your efforts until you reach a comfortably challenging level. You don’t have to start with water, chair or restorative yoga if you feel stronger than that but at least try one class of hatha yoga before you attempt even a beginner’s class in ashanta. You may be surprised by the different types of challenges posed by yoga.

Joining a Class

The most important factor in choosing a class is the instructor. Before you try a class, find out how much experience the instructor has with seniors, especially with adapting poses to accommodate specific needs such as arthritis or back pain. You may need to try a few different classes before you find the right instructor for you.

You also need to consider the types of yoga that you want to try out. This will depend on your fitness level. Some seniors prefer classes that are especially designed to be less challenging for people with special needs.

Water yoga reduces the effect of gravity, making it easier to hold some postures that require strength or balance. The feeling of weightlessness can also make it easier to do movements that are difficult out of the water.

Chair yoga offers more support for exercises that require balance or stretching by using chairs as props.

If you are reasonably fit and healthy, you can look at the standard yoga options:

Restorative yoga is probably the best starting point for seniors. It is extremely gentle, using props such as pillows, blankets and yoga blocks to encourage passive stretching by relaxing into postures for a longer time with almost no effort.

Hatha yoga is also appropriate for beginners and seniors. The poses are gentle and movement between poses is slow and fluid.

Kundalini yoga can work well for seniors because it focuses on using breathing, postures and meditation to access our natural life force energy. It can be very revitalizing for those of us who need extra motivation.

Ashtanga and Vinyasa are more challenging in terms of both strength and flexibility. These are not recommended for beginners but can be options for seniors who are fit and healthy. They can also be a step up after practising Hatha and Kundalini yoga for a while.

Iyengar deals with the precision of form and alignment. Props are often used to help students to perfect the poses.

Hot yoga is only on the list because it exists. I really do not recommend this option for seniors at all. As the name suggests it is practised in a temperature controlled environment, often going up to around 104 degrees, specifically designed to increase exertion by working up a sweat. It is not safe for people with high risk of heart disease or high blood pressure.

Joining a class also provides opportunities to meet new people with common interests who may be in a similar stage of life. Growing your social circle can ease the loneliness of retirement.

As we grow older social interactions can also become more stressful. If joining a class doesn’t work for you, there are some basic poses that you can do on your own, once you’ve spent enough time with an instructor to perfect your form, or at least not risk injury.

Flexibility Exercises You Can Do Alone

Most of the aches and pains that we accept as part of the aging process are actually caused by stiff or weak muscles that are the result of a lifetime of bad posture. These postural habits can affect the way that we do our exercises.

If you have not done yoga before or are out of practice it would be better to start with a trainer for the first few sessions. Precision is important. Doing any of the movements or postures incorrectly could do more harm than good. The aim is to build both strength and flexibility.

These exercises are not in any particular order. They are just some of my personal favorites. I will discuss the relevance of each one before describing how to do them.

One-legged wind releasing pose

This is a good exercise to ease lower back pain as it stretches all the muscles in the mid to lower back area as well as the hips .

●      Start lying down on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.

●      Pull your right thigh to your chest. If you can’t wrap your arms around the leg to pull it closer, use a strap or belt to make it easier

●      Keep your left foot flexed while you move it forward, straightening your leg without locking the knee.

●      It is more important to keep your pelvis and right buttock on the floor than to straighten the left leg completely. Rather let the left leg bend a bit more than lift your pelvis off the ground.

●      Breathe deeply until you feel the muscles relax. Hold the position for a few breaths longer.

●       Repeat on the other side.

Pay attention to the feedback from your body. Does one side take longer to relax than the other? Be sure you feel all the muscles relax before releasing the pose. Deep breathing definitely helps with this.

If back pain is an issue for you, try corpse pose, forward fold and seated forward fold as well.

Staff pose

This one is good for arms, legs, joints and middle back muscles. It improves posture and strengthens the thigh muscles, which helps to stabilize the knees, reducing the risk of injury.

●      Sit with your legs straight out in front of you. It can help to rest your shoulder blades resting against a wall. You can use a small pillow or rolled up towel to support your lower back.

●       Tighten your abs and sit up tall.

Put your hands, palm down, on the floor next to your hips. Point your fingers forward, towards your feet.

●      Relax your abs. Flex your thigh muscles while pressing them down into the floor, rotating slightly inwards.

●      Flex your ankles, curl your foot to stretch your toes towards your body.

●      Imagine your spine is a staff. Keep it straight and push down into the floor.

●       Hold for two deep breaths.

●      Relax and let go of all the tension in the thighs and back.

As you practice you will be able to hold the pose for longer. Don’t go for more than ten breaths.

Chair pose

This pose is a lot harder than it sounds. Use a wall for support and balance when you first start. With practice you can start moving away from the wall until you are able to do it without any support at all. Chair pose works a few different muscle groups. This means that the body needs to supply more oxygen to those areas, increasing blood flow, breathing, and heart rate.

●      Start off standing upright with your back against a wall.

●      Inhale as you raise your arms to the sides all the way up above your head, with your palms facing each other.

●      Exhale while you bend your knees until your thighs are at a right angle to your torso.

●      Breathe evenly while you hold this pose for as long as you can, up to a minute.

●       Inhale as you straighten your knees.

●      Exhale as you lower your arms back down to your sides.

As you practice you will be able to bend your knees further and hold the pose longer. For an extra challenge you can try moving your hands down in front of your chest, palms together in prayer position, and then back up over your head again.

Seated forward bend in a chair

This one is good for lowering your blood pressure. It can be a good stretch for the back muscles as well but be careful if you already have problems with your back.

Use a chair for support at first. As you build muscles, balance and confidence you can level up by doing this from chair pose without support.

●       Sit with your knees together.

●      Make sure your feet are flat on the floor, parallel to each other and toes in line.

●       Inhale deeply.

●       Exhale while you round your shoulders and bend forward.

●      Move slowly and try to feel each vertebrae move one at a time.

●      You should end up with your chest touching your thighs and your forehead near your knees.

●      If you can’t get all the way down at first. You can put pillows on your lap to support your upper body.

●      Let your arms relax at your sides, or hang down with fingers pointing towards the ground.

●       Hold the pose for three deep even breaths.

●       Slowly curl your back up to straight upright.

●      Try to focus on the movement of each vertebrae all the way down and back up again.

In time this exercise will get easier and you will feel the difference in the flexibility of your spine.

Revolved triangle pose

This one works well to slow down the loss of bone density and to improve movement in joints. It does require quite a bit of balance and flexibility. We’ll start off very gently and build up to the final goals.

●       Use a very sturdy chair for support.

●       Stand facing the back of the chair.

●      Place your left foot so that your toes are between the back legs of the chair.

●      Your right foot should be about three feet behind the left.

●      Turn both feet slightly outwards so that the arch of your right foot is in line with the heel of your left foot.

●      Lift your arms out to the sides, palms facing down, hips facing forward.

●      Exhale as you bend forward from your hips while rotating your torso to your left.

●      Place your right hand on the back of the chair, in line with the outside of your left foot.

●      Stretch the left arm over your head and try to look up towards the fingers. You may not get the left arm all the way up or be able to turn your head on the first try. It’s okay. You can work towards it gradually.

●      Breathe deeply and evenly for as long as you can hold the position.

●       Slowly return to standing.

●       Do the same on the other side.

This pose takes a lot of practice to get right. Be gentle with yourself. Slow progress beats injury. As you get more comfortable with the stretch you can use the seat of the chair for support. The end goal is to be able to place your right hand on the floor next to your left foot.

Downward dog pose

This is especially useful for menopausal women. It helps relieve insomnia, irritability and hot flushes.

●      Start on all fours. Your knees should be directly under your hips. Your hands should be shoulder width apart and slightly in front of the shoulders, palm flat down on the floor.

●      Exhale as you push up onto your hands and feet, hips in the air.

●      Straighten your legs without locking your knees. Drop your heels as close to the floor as possible.

●      Straighten your arms without locking the elbows. Keep your palms flat, fingers spread open and make sure your shoulders stay square.

●      Let your head relax, staying in line with your spine.

●       Your body should make a triangle with the floor.

●      Breathe evenly for as long as you can hold the pose, up to three minutes.

Downward Dog is a standard part of most yoga routines. There are many variations. It can also be a good lead into and out of other poses.

You can make it easier by using a chair to rest your hands on instead of bending all the way to the ground.

If you want a bit more of a challenge you can try lifting one leg at a time straight up behind you and holding it there for one deep breath.

Legs-on-the-wall pose

While this is a far better fix for insomnia than counting sheep, it is also quite hard on the back. Do not try it on your own. You do need support from a properly trained yoga instructor until you get this posture right.

●      Use a pillow or tightly folded blanket to support your back

●      Place the support parallel to the wall with enough space to fit your glutes between the wall and the support.

●      Sit down next to the support with your side to the wall.

●      Swing your legs up and around so that the backs of your calves and thighs are rested against the wall.

●      Lower yourself onto the floor so that your lower back is lying on the support, with your shoulders and head on the floor.

●      Your torso should arched slightly, with your chin away from your chest.

●       Rest your arms at your sides, palms up.

●      If your legs are not comfortable straight or you start to get pins and needles in your feet, you can bend your knees and slowly slide your feet down the wall until you are comfortable.

●       Breath deeply and evenly.

●      Allow all your muscles to relax completely and let the floor take the weight of your body.

●       Breathe deeply and evenly.

●       Stay here for as long as you’re comfortable.

●      When you’re ready to get up, slide the support out from under your back.

●      Let your legs fall over so that you’re lying on your side.

●      Take a few deep breaths before you actually stand up.

This pose is so relaxing that I often choose it for meditation instead of the usual lotus meditation posture.

Warrior 1

By now you should be getting a good feel for what your body can do. We’re going to work on balance now. Please be careful to use support until you have learned how to get into and out of the different stages of this posture. The aim is to build strength in your legs and hips to improve your balance. Of course this means that if there is weakness in these areas you shouldn’t be alone when you try this for the first time.

●      Again, use a wall for support until you have had enough practice to try it without help.

●       Stand facing the wall.

●       Start with your right toes touching the wall.

●      Your left leg should be stretched behind, with your toes pointing slightly outward.

●      Make sure your hips and torso are straight and facing the wall.

●      Keep your shoulders down while you lift your arms up forwards to press up against the wall.

●      Exhale as you bend your front knee to a right angle, thigh parallel to the ground.

●       Inhale as you straighten up.

●      Repeat this twice more (making a total of three knee bends)

●      Change legs so that your left toes are touching the wall.

●       Do three reps.

With practice you will be able to let go of the wall. You can raise your arms to the sides, palms up for balance. The goal is to be able to raise your arms above your head until your palms are touching.

Legs in V pose

This was one of the hardest poses for me at the beginning because I’ve always had slightly tighter hamstrings from all the running. Stretching them has made a huge difference.

●       Keep a few firm pillows within easy reach.

●      Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you, feet as wide apart as possible without bending your knees.

●       Lean forward as low as you can go.

●       Sit back up again.

●      Place as many pillows in front of you as you need to comfortably support your torso.

●       Lean forward again, resting on the pillows.

●      Keep your neck long, with your chin away from your chest but without tilting your head back.

●      Take six deep breaths. Feel your body relax further downwards on every exhale.

●      Gently curl back up to sitting. Try to feel each vertebrae moving separately.

As you practice this one, you will be able to make your triangle bigger and keep your legs straighter. Be careful not to lock your knees. You will also feel the difference in your leg muscles when you walk or jog.

Corpse pose

You should always do this pose at the end of an exercise session. You can do it in between as well if you get tired or overwhelmed with starting the new routine. The whole point is to relax your entire body.

Corpse pose is a bit of a misnomer. At the end of a workout every muscle feels very alive. This makes it a lot easier to let go of your thoughts and focus on the feeling of simply being present in your body.

●      Lie down with a pillow supporting your head and neck. Keep another pillow handy in case you need to put it under your knees later. You may also want a blanket to prevent you from getting too cold as you cool down from your workout.

●      Start with your legs straight, feet about a foot apart and relaxed. It's okay if they fall outwards.

●      Arms should be relaxed at your sides, palms facing up.

●      Try to push your shoulder blades slightly inwards towards your spine, keeping your shoulders down.

●      If that is uncomfortable for your lower back, you can put a pillow under your knees or you can bend your knees until there is no strain on your lower back.

●       Breathe slowly and deeply.

●      Focus on each inhale and release any tension with every exhale.

●       Fully relax every muscle in your body.

●       Rest there for as long as you need.

●      When you’re ready, open your eyes and take a few more deep breaths.

●       Ease slowly into sitting and then standing.

These are some of my favorite yoga poses. Once you are confident in your strength and flexibility, you can use tutorial books and videos to find more poses. Every pose can be adapted to use props like chairs or a wall for support for beginners. You use the same muscle groups and get a feel for the correct form and posture without risking injury while you are learning. Once you have perfected the basic poses, you can start playing with variations to make them more challenging, like raising an arm or a leg instead of being on all fours. You can also combine poses into a flowing sequence. There are some standard routines, the most well known being the Sun Salutation. Whenever I am on the East Coast I try to wake up before dawn to do a Sun Salutation on the beach facing the sunrise. It is the closest I have come to a religious experience.

Chapter 6:

Levelling Up - Martial Arts and Tai Chi

The term Martial Arts is usually applied collectively to the fighting arts of many different nations, and can be quite misleading. It obscures the fact that most of these disciplines grew out of a general philosophy of good living that acknowledges the danger and adversity that life sometimes brings us and aims to prepare the individual to meet these situations in a competent, effective way. They have been distorted by the entertainment industry into portrayals of rampant violence as if the aim of the training is purely combative. I like the idea of Mr Myagi from The Karate Kid as the role model of the wise old sensei. While he will always remain a legend in cinematic history, his philosophy is overshadowed by the rampant violence demonstrated by the likes of Chuck Norris, Steven Segal and Jean Claude van Damme. Even Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan who approach the genre with a different attitude are more revered for their fighting skills than their philosophy.

In real life however martial arts are a guide to a well rounded lifestyle. The fighting skills are part of a structured regimen of physical fitness, discipline and meditation that focus on self awareness and control.

You don’t have to train your entire life to be able to practise martial arts when you’re older. There are many disciplines that you can start after turning 50. The benefits for long term health are still very valuable. You may not learn to do flying roundhouse kicks but you can still participate in lower impact classes, regardless of age or your level of fitness.

Martial arts has to be done in a class setting. It is definitely not a solo activity. You need to be supervised by a professional to prevent injury and to perfect the techniques. One of the biggest advantages of martial arts is that it provides an environment to practice physical, mental and social skills.

Benefits

Besides the obvious benefit of learning to defend yourself, there are loads of health benefits of doing martial arts as you get older.

●      The training focuses on strength and flexibility that builds lean muscle mass.

●      Sparring works on reflexes, balance, posture, and endurance. It also requires a constant awareness of one’s surroundings in order to be able to react in an appropriate way to various stimuli. This keeps the mind active and alert for sensory perceptions while training the body.

●      The classes also offer a meeting place for people with similar mindsets and fitness levels to be able to socialize and form friendships outside of the structured classes. Socialization after retirement can sometimes be difficult without organized activities or the career and workplace activities to provide outings where one can make friends. Joining classes or finding a sparring partner can be motivation to break the monotony of being alone at home.

●      Even if you have done martial arts before, there are always different techniques and advanced skills to learn. Processing new information is great for our mental skills as we age. It can slow down deterioration in many areas of physical and mental aging.

Choosing Your Discipline

The most popular modern martial arts like Karate, Jujitsu, and Aikido have their origins in Ninjutsu, the art of the fabled Ninja, which began about 800 years ago in feudal Japan. It developed out of desperation by rural peasants who were constantly oppressed by the Samurai nobility. They made use of an inherent understanding of Nature, simple agricultural implements and cunning, to prevail against the heavily armed and highly trained Bushido warriors. Over time these Ninja schools, often not much more than a father and his sons, or extended family, grew in sophistication and prowess until they became a thorn in the side of the Japanese nobility.

The original all-encompassing philosophy of Ninjutsu, was made up of 18 distinct areas of training and was intended to be a lifetime pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. Over the centuries the different fields of study became specialized, with the growth of more and more schools that evolved into the stylized forms of modern martial arts that are now more competitive sports than a way of life.

Despite this westernization there is still much to be gained from the practice of the martial arts, in terms of physical conditioning as well as in the development of a moral compass, through discipline, focus and objectivity that comes from being in control of situations. Even the elderly, who have never before been exposed to these techniques, can benefit greatly from the mild measured movements of Tai Chi, or the gentle wheel-like passes of Aikido.

Beginner classes in most disciplines can be suitable for seniors. Of course some are gentler than others and you will probably want to start with the lowest impact fighting styles and work up to more strenuous training.

Tai Chi

This evolution of this discipline in the west makes it easy to forget that it started as a martial art. The movements are gentle and rhythmic and look more like dancing than fighting. This is so deceptive that it has become the main focus of most Western Tai Chi classes.

The original fighting style from the 15th century however is one of the deadliest techniques when taught in totality. Slow motion practice is just there to learn the body mechanics behind the moves that are designed to disable an opponent and end the fight as quickly as possible. This has obvious advantages in terms of self defense for seniors.

Underneath the fluid relaxed movements is the focus on the energy (chi) that powers the movements when speed and force become essential. The movements alone can build a powerful body structure using strength, flexibility and balance to tone muscles and refine coordination.

The secret is to find the balance between body and energy.

Karate

The low impact movements of karate can be adapted to suit any fitness level. There are choreographed sequences of movement called Katas, which students practise alone. Remembering the sequence of movements provides mental stimulation while seniors develop and maintain balance, strength, and flexibility. Students are also trained to stop their movements before making contact with their sparring partners during group training. This reduces the risk of injury to seniors. Sparring also speeds up reflexes and builds stamina.

Aikido

This is primarily a defensive art. The aim is to neutralize the opponent with minimum force necessary. Movements are also fluid and rhythmic like Tai chi but focused more outwards to circle around opponents and to end in joint locks or throwing the opponent while Tai Chi is more concerned with your inner state of readiness to face any situation.

The physical skills required for Aikido are more strenuous for seniors than Tai Chi. This means that Aikido can be more effective in terms of strength training and coordination by working harder and faster. There is however a greater risk of injury for people with arthritis or gout as some of the locks can put some strain on the joints.

Jujitsu

While Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) has taken the world by storm, it is more suitable for younger students because it is quite hard on the body. It developed from Japanese Jiu Jitsu and Judo to focus more on grappling on the floor and uses wrestling techniques as a sport rather than an effective self defense technique for real life situations.

Many fans of BJJ will disagree with that assessment but older mixed martial arts trainers agree that there is a world of difference between traditional techniques for fighting and sports techniques for scoring points.

Ironically the original form of jujitsu actually discouraged grappling, kicking and striking as prolonged fighting techniques. The aim was to throw your opponent off balance while maintaining control in order to put them into a lock or chokehold to stop the fight as quickly as possible.

For our purposes of fitness and exercise, Japanese Jujitsu and Judo are more practical for seniors than BJJ as they focus more on balance, flexibility, perception, reflexes and mental agility.

Finding a Class

The examples above highlight the different levels of intensity of martial arts. There are dojos (training studios) as well as gyms all over the world that offer classes in a variety of disciplines for different age groups and fitness levels. Many have classes especially for seniors.

As with yoga, the most important factor in choosing a class is the instructor. A lot of the focus of martial arts is on children and young adults who choose mixed martial arts as competitive sports rather than part of a fitness routine. It is important when choosing a class to make sure that you are clear about your goals and interests.

The ideal instructor knows how to minimize the risk of injury while building muscle strength, balance, flexibility and mental awareness. There are older trainers who have the experience to understand the health concerns of seniors. Try out a few different disciplines and instructors to find the right fit for you.

Adjusting to Your Limits

As we get older it can be tempting to try to prove that we still have the physical prowess to be competitive, especially when we have been fit and healthy in our youth. It is not easy to accept our own growing frailty. Even if we can wipe the floor with younger fighters because we have more experience, we do take longer to heal. Keep that in mind when choosing a class as well.

Don’t expect to be able to pick up where you left off 20years ago. You will be amazed at how much our bodies and fitness levels change with even short breaks. It is better to start slower and work your way up to higher levels of exertion. There is also less risk of injury when our bodies are stronger and more flexible.

It is best to start in a beginners class. Even if you have been doing strength, flexibility and cardio exercises, you will need to adjust to the specific movements and requirements of the discipline that you have chosen. As you progress through different levels of difficulty it may be tempting to push too hard too fast. Let your body be your guide. Take days off between training sessions and see how long your body takes to recover from learning new movements and using muscles in ways that you’ve haven’t for a long time. If you don’t wait for your muscles to regain their strength after a workout, you increase the risk of injury.

Your aim is no longer to be the fittest, strongest, best athlete in the room. The focus now is on building your own body to be as healthy as it can be for as long as possible. This means that you need to be careful and gentle with your body, making slow and steady progress towards achieving your health goals.

There is one other safety concern that I feel obliged to mention here. It would be idealistic and irresponsible of me to ignore the basis of martial arts in favour of the fitness and mindset elements. As much as there are a wide range of benefits to doing martial arts, the essence is self defense. Sadly the elderly are more vulnerable to crime. Martial arts training can sometimes give us a false sense of power. No matter how fit and strong you think you are, a 25 year old with a weapon poses a serious threat that you would be better off avoiding. You can use the skills you have learned to maybe minimize the risk of injury but please do not antagonize an attacker.

There is no point in doing all of this work to improve the quality of your life to risk it all for the sake of bravado or material possessions. Please try to remember that your goal here is to consistently make choices that lead to the healthiest possible lifestyle for as long as possible.

Chapter 7:

Creating a Schedule That Works for You

A new exercise routine is not something to be taken lightly at any age. If you haven’t maintained a routine that includes physical fitness it is important to make sure that your body can handle a sudden change.

The first step is to consult a medical practitioner. I can not emphasize this enough. As we get older there are so many more risks to our health that we don’t even think about. Aging is a very gradual process. We cannot feel our bones losing density and becoming easier to break. Decreasing lung capacity only becomes noticeable when it impacts our regular functioning. Extra strain could have unforeseen consequences.

Ask your doctor to recommend specific types of exercise based on your current physical condition. It is better to start just below your skill level and gradually build up to more demanding levels.

Activity Levels and Times of Day

Everybody has different preferences for exercise routines. I personally prefer to do some gentle stretches and yoga first thing in the morning and run in the evenings. I have friends who prefer to run in the morning and take a yoga class in the afternoon. My husband only exercises once a day, mid-morning.

Evidence suggests that it is better to exercise in the morning, especially if you want to lose weight. Your metabolism increases for up to 12 hours after a vigorous workout and naturally slows down towards evening. Exercising close to bedtime can cause insomnia because your body needs to slow down and adjust to being relaxed again before going to sleep. It is better to workout either early in the morning or mid afternoon so that your body has enough time to work though the endorphins it produces during exercise. This is why cool downs are important. Every workout should start with a warm up and end with a cool down, to ease your body into and out of its optimal physical capacity. Allow enough time before and after your workouts to relax.

You can train your body to get into the habit of exercising at the same time every day, no matter what time you choose. Of course any form of physical activity is better than nothing at all. The best way to do it is to set an alarm for the time of day that you want to work out and stick to it for five days a week until it becomes a habit. Try different times of the day. It is best to keep to the same time of day for at least a week so that you can feel the effect of the repeated routine rather than just one day when there may be other factors influencing your experience of exercising at that specific time of day.

Fitness Levels and Exercise Choices

Go through the list of exercises with your doctor to make sure that they are safe for your body’s specific needs.

You can start with the breathing exercises. Make sure you are seated or lying down comfortably before you start. If seated, your entire back should be supported, in a high backed chair or up against a wall, with a pillow at your lower back. If you start to feel lightheaded or dizzy, stop immediately and take slow deep breaths. Practice the exercises until you remember the sequence and counting for each type of breathing. Feel the different effects on your energy levels and heart rate.

Don’t try anything else alone at home. Get a personal trainer, family member or workout partner to keep you company for the first week of exercises. The ideal would be to find somebody else who also needs a partner to motivate them to maintain a training schedule. Even if you’re working out in front of a mirror it can be quite difficult to watch your own posture and keep track of breathing while trying to be aware of the extension and contraction of muscles. They can also help you by making notes of how many reps you can do and by timing your cardio endurance.

When creating a schedule make sure that you include cardio, stretching and flexibility everyday with strength training up to three times a week. Rest days are important.

Setting Your Own Pace

I have a friend who was in perfect health until she was diagnosed with an illness that targeted her lungs. In a very short space of time she wasn’t even able to walk down a flight of stairs (nevermind up) without having to stop to catch her breath. She refused to accept that her lung capacity could be permanently compromised. She got a stationary exercise bicycle and put it on her porch. She started off with one minute a day of cycling with no resistance at all. In six months she was doing ten minutes a day with moderate resistance. Now she walks everywhere and her lung capacity is back to normal for a woman her age. The point is that starting slowly is better than doing nothing at all.

Look at chapter 3 again. Try each of the exercises in the warm up. Ask your workout partner to watch your posture and breathing. They can read the instructions to you and make sure you’re following them safely. Don’t do more than 3 reps of each at first. Focus on your form and get into the habit of being aware of your body and breathing while you’re working out. If you find your mind wandering, stop and do a set of 4x4 breathing (counting out loud) to focus your attention on your body awareness again. It will get easier with practice. As we get older it becomes more important to concentrate on every movement in order to prevent injury. Please bear this in mind as you move on to more intense exercises. Even if you consider yourself to be fairly athletic, do the easiest version of every exercise for at least the first three reps, making sure that somebody else watches you for posture and form at the beginning. Developing strength balance and flexibility will make it easier to try new exercises as well.

Take the time to test out your current fitness and endurance levels before you get started. It is very tempting to go straight back to where we left off the last time we exercised regularly. Even if you have been physically active continuously throughout your life, these exercises are designed to work every group of muscles in a very specific, intentional way. If this is sounding repetitive it is because I really want to emphasize the importance of being gentle with yourself. It is much safer to start below your fitness level and work your way up. Our bodies were a lot more forgiving when we were 25. Older bodies take a lot longer to heal.

There was a woman in one of my yoga classes who had done a lot of strength training and considered herself to be in excellent shape. Yoga looked far less demanding than the workouts she was used to doing. She didn’t realize that it required a whole different skill set. She refused to move closer to a wall for support doing one of the poses and ended up falling over. Thankfully the only thing that was injured was her pride. It could have gone a lot worse for her. As we get older, falls become the leading cause of injury. We are also more likely to fall or injure ourselves when we are tired or working muscles that haven’t been used for a while.

When you get to strength training, try each exercise without weights first. Do them slowly and deliberately, feeling how each muscle group works in each movement. Get the form and posture right before you start adding weights. I really don’t like to prescribe the number of reps that somebody else should do. This is where we start to personalize your routine.

Read through the rest of this chapter and make notes in your journal to use later, when you’re actually preparing a weekly schedule.

I usually work out Monday to Friday and take weekends off, unless I’m doing a race.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday are strength training. I focus on a different area of the body each day. Monday is back and biceps. Wednesday is legs. Friday is chest and triceps. I focus on keeping my abs engaged in as many exercises as possible. If I’ve been eating too much chocolate or ice cream I’ll add a few extra core focused exercises. When I’m training for a race, I’ll do a bit more work on my hamstrings because those are my personal weakness.

Tuesday and Thursday I work on flexibility. I love doing yoga on my own but it’s also fun to do a Pilates class now and then to change things around a bit.

Warm ups and cardio happen everyday. I like to start the day with some gentle stretches as soon as I wake up, just to ease my body out of the stillness of sleep and into the activities of the day.

That’s what works for me now, after decades of working to understand what my body needs. I’m going to share some of the lessons I learned along the way, to save you some time.

Weekly schedule

Dedicate a day for each muscle group:

●       Back and biceps

●       Legs

●       Chest and triceps

There should be a “rest” day in between. On the rest days you can do just warm ups, stretching and flexibility.

This scale is in Chapter 3 but I thought it would be useful to have it available here as well so it is easy for your training partner to refer to it while you’re making notes. The first step is to be able to measure how hard your body is working. The easiest way to do this is to monitor your breathing and your ability to talk. You can ask your training partner to help you with this at first. They can talk to you while you’re working out and assess your level of exertion according to the Perceived Exertion Scale, copied here from verywellfit.com :

●       Level 1: I'm sitting at complete rest, no exertion

●      Level 2: I'm comfortable and could maintain this pace all day long

●      Level 3: I'm still comfortable but I am breathing a bit harder

●      Level 4: I'm sweating a little but feel good and can carry on a conversation effortlessly

●      Level 5: I'm just above comfortable, am sweating more, and can still talk easily

●      Level 6: I can still talk but am slightly breathless

●      Level 7: I can still talk, but I don't really want to, and I'm likely sweating

●      Level 8: It is quite difficult to respond to your questions, and I can only keep this pace for a short time

●      Level 9: It is challenging to work at this level of exertion; I can barely breathe at all and can only say a couple of words without gasping for breath

●      Level 10: It is extremely difficult to work at this level of exertion, almost impossible, and I cannot talk at all

This is the scale we will be using throughout the process of setting up your routine. Whether you’re measuring time or reps you can use your exertion levels to monitor how much to do.

Warm ups shouldn’t go beyond level 3.

Cardio should be at a comfortable level (3 or 4) with short bursts of higher exertion (5 or 6).

Strength training should gradually increase in the levels of exertion. Your last rep for each set should be at level 7. This is how you will know you’re using the right weight when you start adding them in later. When you’re still on level 4 or 5 on the last rep it is time to move on to a heavier weight if you’re building muscle or increase the number of reps if you’re burning fat.

Flexibility should focus more on movement than exertion, so shouldn’t go beyond level 5 or 6 unless you’re specifically trying to use it for cardio as well.

I wouldn’t go beyond level 8 at all and even level 8 should only be very short bursts during cardio. If you have any concerns about heart or respiratory issues, be very careful from around level 6 or 7.

You can dedicate a page per day in your journal to give you enough space to make notes.

It’s best to start with stretching. Stick to chapter three while you’re working out your routine. Do three reps of each exercise until you’re completely comfortable with all of them.

When you’re confident that you’ve mastered the techniques, choose one cardio, one flexibility and one muscle group per day to test.

Measurements:

Cardio : Use a timer to monitor how long it takes for you to get up to level 6. Don’t do more than a minute at level 8. Gradually slow down through the levels again. If you feel like you could have gone longer at level 8, go down to level 7 for a few minutes and then do another minute of level 8.

Make notes of how long you take to get up to level 6 and how long you can stay at each level after that and how many times you can do level 8.

Strength : Count how many reps you can do until you get to level 7.

Flexibility : The basic exercises in Chapter 5 shouldn’t push you beyond level 6.

Make a list of your maximum ability in each area.

Each set should be half your maximum capacity, alternating between strength and cardio. For example:

Starting counts:

●       Ten pushups before getting to level 7

●       Twelve snow angels before getting to level 7

●      Jog on the spot for five minutes before reaching level 8

Biceps and back day:

Warm up : (See chapter 3) 3 reps of each exercise, taking a break to catch your breath whenever you need it.

●       30 second break

●       5 push ups

●       15 second break

●       Two and a half minutes jogging on the spot

●       15 second break

●       6 snow angels

●       30 second break

This would be one set. Do 3 sets in a row once a week. Follow the same process for Leg day as well as chest and triceps.

You can adapt the workouts by adding reps or taking longer breaks, as you adjust to the level of effort required for the various exercises.. The key factor is that you need to be able to complete the entire set comfortably but with a reasonable amount of difficulty. No pain no gain is a myth that younger people buy into when they still believe they’re invincible and then pay the price as they age. If you feel pain at any stage, stop immediately.

Your endurance will improve as you persist with the routine. When the basics start to feel easy (whether it takes a week or 3 months) you can start adding weight bearing strength training from chapter 4.

You can also add yoga, Pilates, martial arts classes or any other social sports to your routine as you build confidence in your physical abilities. Regular social interaction is as beneficial as the additional exercise.

Keep track of your progress in your journal. Also note any special achievement, injuries or changes to the routine. Retest and adjust your sets at least once a month or whenever you feel that your workouts are no longer offering enough of a challenge. As you become more aware of your body's needs and capabilities, your daily, weekly, and even monthly exercise routines will start to take on a more predictable rhythm. Once you know how much time to devote to exercises, what time of day works best for you, and which days you will be going to classes, you can build a more general plan around that. Add in mealtimes, medication, and regular social activities like visiting friends and family or playing bingo. Try to make your schedule as detailed as possible. Remember that you are establishing habits and patterns of behavior now that will have long term benefits as well.

Establishing a predictable schedule gives us a sense of control over our lives, which can ease stress and anxiety later. We don’t have to think about what’s going to happen next or worry about forgetting important things like mealtimes and medication.

As we get older and more frail we may need help to do a lot of the things that we can do for ourselves now. Gradually adjusting an existing routine to include assistance makes it much easier to adapt to these changes.

Having the majority of our day fit into a familiar pattern also makes it easier to deal with memory loss and other cognitive changes. If we’ve been meeting our grandchildren at the same park, at the same time, on the same day of the week for months it is easier to follow the routine than to have to keep a diary or struggle to remember when and where we need to meet them without having set up a routine.

Doing the same thing at the same time every day also provides a feeling of security. It is easier to manage the early symptoms of Alzheimer's and dementia when most of the day already follows a pattern that we can predict. As these illnesses progress we may lose track of our routines but having a caregiver to follow the same schedule will still provide some stability.

When we are at ease with the general flow of our day, minimizing confusion and anxiety, we also sleep better at night. Then we wake up feeling more rested and with the energy to tackle a new day. We can create a healthy cycle of rest and activity that will improve the overall quality of life. This will let us make gradual changes with less upheaval.

Chapter 8:

Diet and Nutrition

Stretching and exercise in general is not enough to combat the effects of aging. This is why I have included a chapter about healthy eating habits.

A healthy diet can help to manage many health concerns that affect people over the age of 50. Nutrition is the key to controlling blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, bone density and many other factors that influence our quality of life as we grow older.

Recommended dietary allowances (RDA) were calculated after the second world war to provide the minimum nutrition for a population struggling with the effects of malnutrition from the deprivation of war times. These values have been adjusted over the years but still focus on preventing illnesses like scurvy that are caused by a lack of specific nutrients. As we grow older our needs shift towards optimizing the current functioning of our bodies. Let’s look at what we need to change to achieve this goal.

Start by watching your eating habits over the next few weeks. Make notes (in a separate section of your journal) of everything you eat for the next week. Write down the time, what you eat and how much you eat. This may sound odd but also write down why you ate. Often we end up eating out of habit, boredom or old fashioned comfort eating. Looking at your personal dietary habits will help you to decide what needs to change in order to lose weight, increase your intake of specific nutrients or control symptoms of age related illness.

Building a Healthy Body From the Inside

Weight

It’s common knowledge that our metabolism slows down as we get older. The days of eating whatever we want, and burning off those calories without even trying , end at around 40. This is when our basal metabolic rate starts to slow down. The basal metabolic rate refers to the amount of energy that we use just to maintain the basic functions of our bodies like breathing, digestion and organ function that keep us alive. It should make up 50 to 70 percent of the energy we use every day. As we grow older this basal metabolic rate can drop by around 200 calories per day. If our calories intake remains the same while we use fewer calories that can translate to putting on a pound a month. It doesn't sound like a lot but it does add up. Exercise is not enough to balance out the calorie count. We also still need the same amount, if not more nutrition, while cutting down on the calories. This means that we need to change what we eat and how much we eat.

Sugar and insulin balance

Since one in ten American adults have type 2 diabetes, I thought it was important to discuss how to manage the sugar and insulin balance as we get older. Obviously changing your diet is not going to take away the need for medical help if you are already diabetic, but it can change the quality of your life or prevent the onset of the disease.

Insulin is responsible for moving sugar from the bloodstream into the cells that need to use or store the energy. A diet that is high in refined sugars and carbs results in a consistently high level of blood sugar which decreases the cellular response to insulin. This is called insulin resistance.

Maintaining insulin response is a balance between losing weight and maintaining a consistent blood sugar level. Sudden spikes and drops in blood sugar make the body more likely to resist insulin. The most effective way to stabilize blood sugar levels is to increase the intake of roughage (or insoluble fiber) in your diet. Insoluble fiber passes undigested through the upper intestines and feeds the bacteria in the lower intestine that increases insulin sensitivity.

The best source of insoluble fiber is bran. Just a quarter of a cup contains 6 grams of roughage compared to a tenth of that in a full cup of white rice. It is not easy to eat bran with every meal so a general guideline for changing your diet would be to replace all processed or refined carbohydrates with whole grains like barley.

Fresh fruit and veg also contain significant amounts of insoluble fiber.

Bone Density

We reach our peak of bone mass in our twenties. After that we gradually lose bone density for the rest of our lives. The sooner we adjust our diets to compensate, the better. The key combination for this is calcium and vitamin D. Food sources are more effective than supplements as they usually contain the micronutrients that help with absorption. Adding three portions of dairy per day is all it takes to boost calcium intake. Leafy greens, beans and almonds are also good sources of calcium.

The best sources of Vitamin D are egg yolks, milk and fatty fish like tuna, salmon and mackerel. There’s a type of cholesterol in the skin that is stimulated by sunlight to produce vitamin D. Just going outside for a little while every day can increase the amount of vitamin D in your body.

Muscle strength

Research shows that muscle strength deteriorates about three times as fast as muscle mass. This means that even though your muscles still look and feel the same, their function can be steadily decreasing without you even noticing it. The turning point for this process is around 50 years old. It is best to start eating to build muscle mass as soon as you can.

Most people know that protein builds muscle. This is why bodybuilders drink protein shakes. For our purposes it is more effective to make a habit of eating smaller amounts of protein more often throughout the day. The ideal daily intake is a quarter of an ounce of protein per pound of body weight. Divide that into three portions per day. Animal proteins generally provide a wide variety of the building blocks to boost muscle mass, but plant based proteins like click peas or quinoa can also meet the daily protein requirements.

Free radicals, antioxidants, and oxidative stress

We’ve all heard references to free radicals and antioxidants and just brushed it off as marketing for certain types of foods or some kind of fad in nutritional studies. It’s not a simple case of free radicals being bad and antioxidants being good. As with most things in life the secret is in maintaining the balance.

The explanations can sound a bit like a high school chemistry class but I’m going to try to explain it in real English.

Free radicals are unstable atoms that form naturally in the body as a by-product of chemical reactions and actively seek to combine with other atoms. This can work to our advantage when they help our immune systems by combining with bacteria to neutralize harmful, disease causing effects.

Antioxidants control the spread of free radicals through the body by combining with them to form useful molecules. Too many free radicals however leads to oxidative stress which can speed up the aging process and lead to more severe changes like cancer.

This is why we need to eat foods that are rich in antioxidants. Fresh fruit and vegetables are the best source of antioxidants. You’ll be happy to know that coffee also contains large amounts of antioxidants .

Daily Nutritional Needs

It is tempting to look at the charts and general information about the nutritional requirements for our age group. They do provide a useful overall guideline but we also need to personalize our diets as much as we do our exercise routines. Our individual needs change as we get older. There are many factors that influence the effect of food on our bodies.

Our metabolism changes at our own unique rate. Some people have issues with their thyroid glands and need to monitor their diets closely their entire lives. Others can eat what they want without putting on an ounce until they're in their 50s when they suddenly put on 30 pounds in six months and don’t know what to do about it. There are others who go the other way and lose unhealthy amounts of weight. I have a friend whose Gran started losing weight in her 50s and was shopping for clothes in the kids department by the time she was 70.

Disease and general illness also play an important role in deciding on meal plans. Diabetes means being careful about sugar and carb intake. Heart disease and high blood pressure mean reducing your salt and cholesterol intake.

Simply removing foods from our diet can be extremely challenging for most people. Replacing them with something else offers a more gradual transition to healthier eating. A sudden shift from overeating to starving yourself makes no sense at all. It is far more logical to start with calorie content than portion sizes. One cookie may have the same number of calories as one portion of fruit but it’s a lot easier to binge on cookies than it is to binge on fruit. Replacing the cookie jar with a fruit bowl cuts calories immediately while also increasing the amount of nutrients and roughage we consume every day. Other easy substitutions include:

●       Whole grain breads instead of refined carbohydrates.

●       Brown rice or barley instead of white rice

●       Fruit juice instead of sodas

●       Grilled meat instead of deep fried

●       Popcorn (air popped without butter) instead of potato chips

You don’t have to give up on snacking between meals, as long as you choose healthier snacks.

Eating Sensibly vs Fad Diets

There have been many diets over the years that have taken the world by storm only to be discredited later by other experts touting something new. Every new fad has people believing that it is some miracle cure for everything that ails them.

If you eat sensibly as a habit, then you won’t need to even look at the promises of losing ten pounds in two weeks. It’s much healthier to lose ten pounds in six weeks by creating an overall meal plan that is specially formulated to provide a balance of nutrients to suit your personal needs based on age and health concerns. I have found that some meal plans in a standard diet would actually give me more calories than I currently consume. For me the biggest factors are giving up the chocolate and the four cups of tea a day with two sugars.

A general guideline to follow would be to look at the essential nutrients for aging earlier in this chapter and discuss any special needs you may have with your doctor before implementing any changes.

The intervals between meals are also extremely important. Our bodies benefit most from smaller meals at regular intervals than bigger meals at smaller intervals. The aim is to keep our digestive systems working consistently at an even pace. This maximizes the absorption of nutrients. It also prevents us from getting hungry enough to overeat later.

Another key factor is how we implement dietary changes. If I had to try to give up sugar cold turkey right now my body would probably go into shock. I might last two days before I binged again. If I gradually reduce my sugar intake firstly with the amount of sugar in each cup of tea and then cut down to two cups a day, I could go from an ounce of sugar a day to only a quarter of that in my tea alone. Even if it takes longer to get there, it is easier to sustain in the long term without replacing the sugar intake in other ways.

The same is true of any current dietary habits that you want to change. Set a time frame for achieving your goals and create a schedule to achieve those goals. For instance, you can choose a day of the week to make changes or give yourself a cheat day once a week.

Use the nutritional advice earlier in the chapter to put together a weekly meal plan that takes into consideration our changing needs as we age. Make sure you pay attention to:

●       Calorie count

●       Protein

●       Insoluble fiber(roughage)

●       Calcium

●       Sugar

●       Vitamins, minerals and micronutrients

Choose foods that you know you will enjoy eating. There’s no point in replacing red meat with lentils if it’s going to suck all the joy out of your eating experience. Rather replace it with lean, skinless chicken or fish. In a few months the idea of lentils may seem more palatable. This is why you have to create your own meal plan. It doesn’t help to have somebody else telling you what to eat and when to eat it.

Always bear in mind that the ultimate game plan is to create a sustainable healthy lifestyle. It is better to get there slowly and enjoy the journey than to rush into it overestimating your willpower and then crash after a few weeks.

The whole chapter up to now has been about food but it is important to note that water also plays an essential role in a healthy lifestyle. It improves the function of every single system in the body.

According to the Harvard Medical School some of the benefits include:

●       transports oxygen and nutrients to the cells

●       flushes bacteria from the bladder

●       aids in digestion and prevents constipation

●       helps to normalize blood pressure

●       stabilizes the heart rat

●       protects organs and tissues

●       regulates body temperature

●       maintains sodium balance

Signs of dehydration can include low blood pressure, dizziness, confusion, weakness and darker colored urine than usual.

To avoid dehydration you should drink about three quarters of an ounce of water per pound of body weight.

Most other liquids like fruit juice or coffee that contain water do also contribute to hydration but their benefit is usually outweighed by their calorie count. You can balance the effects by adjusting the calorie count of your snacks to accommodate adding fruit juice or an alcoholic beverage to a meal.

Chapter 9:

Finding Peace

Creating Your World

There are many factors that make the prospect of aging quite daunting. If we force ourselves to face our fears we can take steps to improve our ability to control the process. Of course there’s no guarantee of what the future will hold but we can certainly try to shape our reality.

Starting a retirement fund for example means that we will not be completely dependent on a government pension. This gives us the potential to be financially independent into our golden years. There is a possibility that the investment will fail but if we don’t do anything there is very little chance of additional income after we retire.

The same is true of our physical, emotional, and social plans for later in life. We all want to live out the rest of our lives in comfort. It is never too soon or too late to start planning for the future.

Let’s go back to that list you made in chapter 1. Look at the words you used to describe the next few decades of your life. Start with the next decade.

●      How far are you from the beginning of your next decade?

●       What words did you originally think about that decade?

●      What did you change that to when you thought about how you want that decade to look for you?

●      Is that still what you want after reading the rest of this book?

●       Are you on track to achieving that lifestyle?

●      What can you do right now to make your reality even better than your dreams?

Start making changes today that will create your world for the future the way you want it to be. Making the appropriate changes requires brutal honesty. There is no room in this process for egoic reactions. Nobody is perfect. We have all made mistakes and developed habits or patterns of behavior that are at worst blatantly self destructive or at best not conducive to the kind of future we envision when making these lists. The only way to achieve our goals for the future is to look at what we have done in the past, how that has brought us to where we are now and what we must change now to create a different future. This means letting go of the pretence that our lives are or have ever been perfect. If that was true we would be completely confident that we are on the right track to a perfect future. If you really believed that was the case, you wouldn’t be reading this book right now. You would be out there enjoying every moment without caring about my opinions of how stretching is the first step to changing your life. You wouldn’t be considering the need to do anything differently at all.

The fact that you picked up this book means that you acknowledge on some level that you have not only the need but also the power to create the world you want in a future of your own design.

Putting It all Together

Reading books like this can sometimes make us feel like we need to overhaul our entire lives. We write up all our incredible plans to eat healthy and work out every day so that we can play three sets of tennis when we’re 90. If we start at all we give up after about a week. Three months later we buy another book and start all over again.

The diet and exercise plans are easy to implement if you just follow the instructions. Where most people struggle is finding the motivation to change the habits of a lifetime. As we get older we become more and more set in our ways. The secret is to do things in little steps. Instead of setting yourself up for failure, start with plans that you know you can manage. It’s better to start small and reinforce your success.

If you haven’t done any exercise at all for two years it would be better to start off by walking around the block once a day for the first week. The following week you can walk two blocks and add in a few of the warm up exercises every day. Keep working on the warm ups and cardio, while you start looking for a personal trainer to help you implement the strength training and maybe even try out a yoga class for beginners.

You don’t have to put it all together in one massive lifestyle change. It’s better to start with one change a day in each area and practice that until it feels natural before making the next change. It will take a lot of trial and error to find what works for you.

Start by drawing up a daily routine for the first week. Combine your diet and exercise into one easy to follow chart. An average day for a 50 year old with average weight and fitness level might look like this:

7:00 to 7: 30: Wake up and have a cup of coffee with 1.5 sugars.

7:30 to 8:15: Stretching

1x full warm up. (Chapter 3 - Stretching For Seniors)

1 rep per exercise

8:15 to 8:45: Breakfast

2 soft boiled eggs

1 slice of wholegrain rye toast

Hummus or low fat cottage cheese instead of butter

One small apple

8:45 to 9:30: Shower and prepare for work

Remember to drink lots of water while working

9:30 to 11:00: Work

11:00 to 11:15: Break

30 second slow jog on the spot

3 reps neck stretches

1 set of shoulder rolls

30 second slow jog on the spot

3 reps side bends

3 reps side twists

30 second slow jog on the spot.

Snack: 8 ounces low fat yogurt

11:15 to 12:45: Work

12:45 to 1:45: Lunch

3 ounces of tuna

Green salad (unlimited)

4 whole grain crackers

2 portions of fruit

Quick walk around the block

1:45 to 3:15: Work

3:15 to 3:30: Break

Coffee with 1.5 sugars

1 small cookie

Dance for 5 minutes

3:30 to 5:00: Work

5:00 to 6:00: Relax and prepare dinner

6:00 to 6:45: Dinner

2 skinless chicken breasts

1 cup steamed green beans and peas

1 cup brown rice

1 portion of fruit

6:45 to 8:00: Netflix and chill

8:00 to 9:00 Herbal tea and read

9:00 bedtime

Your day may look completely different. If you’re retired, you could pack some snacks and a picnic lunch to go to a park so you can sit under a tree reading all day.

This example was just to illustrate how to combine your exercise and diet plans into one schedule for the day, that is easy to follow at a glance. It helps to draw up the schedules a week in advance so that you can buy the ingredients and prepare meals in advance where necessary. Setting alarms makes a world of difference to maintaining routines. Do not snooze an alarm unless it is absolutely urgent.

As we practice following a routine we build daily habits that eventually start to feel more natural until they become our way of life. There will be days when we don’t feel like it or just can’t muster up the energy. Taking one day off is not a failure. Don’t give up on the general idea of creating a better long term quality of life for yourself and your loved ones.

Being Happy With Your Daily Life

There are a lot of people who choose to hold on to unhealthy habits because it gives them immediate gratification that makes them happy in the short term. There is nothing wrong with this. I think it was James Dean who said, “Live fast. Die young. Have a good looking corpse” That is a perfectly valid perspective. Keith Richards has outlived many musicians half his age despite a notoriously unhealthy lifestyle.

We’re all unique individuals. Different things work for different people. Only you can decide what makes you happy. Walking around the block may not work for you. Dancing for ten minutes is equally effective cardio. Who wants to live forever with no joy?

Have you ever actually sat down and thought about what makes you happy? Of course this changes throughout our lives. Take a moment now to think about it now. When was the last time you felt truly happy? Write it down in your journal in as much detail as possible. Now think about why that made you happy.

Often the circumstances around the feelings are less important than what they represent. Being on vacation for example is more about spending time with people we love, or taking time away from our responsibilities or trying something new than it is about the actual place that we go to on vacation. What is the greatest thing about Disneyland? Do we really want to go on the Teacup ride at the age of 60? Are we still excited about meeting people in Disney character costumes? Probably not. The reason it is a happy memory could be the ability to share in the joy of our children discovering that magic for the first time. If we want to bring that energy into our retirement on a regular basis we can offer to babysit the grandkids or volunteer to read to kids at a kindergarten. Look for the essence of your joy and do more of whatever it is that makes you feel good.

We could also choose to look at old photos and be bitter because our kids have grown up and their lives are too busy to call us as often as we’d like. I know it sounds like a cliche but we really can choose to be happy. Nobody else can give us that or take it away from us. Being happy with our daily lives is a choice that we have to make for ourselves. Some days will be easier than others but even that will still be our choice. We can not control the behavior of the people around us but we can decide how we will react to it. All we need is a lot of practice.

Conclusion

Let’s look at your journal again. You’ve done a lot of work on your perception of aging. The socially conditioned ideas about the stages of life were replaced by your own personal description of each decade of life. That description changed when you realized that you wanted your future to look different. As you discovered ways to change your life, those ideals became goals. Finally you built a plan of action to achieve those goals.

Well done. You have everything you need to start shaping your future right now. The question is: “What are you going to do with it?”

In order to improve the overall quality of your life you need to start with your attitudes to aging. Think about your childhood experience with older people. What did you learn from the younger and older adults in your environment? Having a grumpy old teacher for instance can motivate children to never want to be like that when they grow up or it can teach them that this is the way that old people are meant to be. Do you want to be the cool old person that coaches little league or the one that refuses to return the ball that ends up in their yard by accident? There is a lot of grey area in between. Who you ultimately become along this continuum depends completely on you. Every choice you make throughout your life contributes to shaping your personality and sets the tone for choices that you make in the future. It is never too late or too early to start making different choices. The secret is to decide where you want to be and choose the options that lead in that direction.

One of the biggest factors that determines the quality of our lives every step of the way is our physical health. There are some things like accidents or genetic factors that we can not control but there are also steps that we can take to make the journey a lot more pleasant. The two key factors are exercise and diet. We can decide to be physically fit and simply follow basic instructions to maintain our bodies in a way that allows us more independence and a healthier lifestyle as we age.

We know that our bodies are made up of complex systems that require very high maintenance. The good news is that we can build habits that will provide the kind of care that slows down the aging process. Each body is unique, just like every person’s goals are unique. Some people are content to just be able to do their own shopping at the age of 70 while others want to be able to jog on the beach at 80. You can choose to add as much physical activity into your daily routine as you think is necessary to maintain the kind of strength, flexibility and endurance that you want in your old age.

Maintaining a daily routine of as little as 20 minutes a day of basic stretching can offer substantial benefits to combat the physical deterioration that accompanies aging. There are varying degrees of additional exercises that improve specific health functions.

Cardiovascular exercise increases the heart rate which improves gaseous exchange in the lungs, translating to more oxygen reaching the cells. This slows down cellular degeneration and builds stamina and endurance.

Strength training with just body weight resistance or with additional weights like dumbbells or kettlebells builds lean muscle mass. This is what allows us to keep opening the pickle jars by ourselves. It also helps us to burn fat faster to control our weight as our metabolism decreases with age.

Joining a yoga or martial arts class gives us the opportunity to get out of the house and meet new people. This makes a huge difference immediately after retirement when we lose our daily interaction with colleagues and peers at work. The physical benefits of these classes include improved coordination, balance, reflexes, and flexibility that reduce the risk of injury through falls. Both yoga and martial arts also contain elements of relaxation techniques and meditation that reduce stress and anxiety, improving heart health.

Combining these physical changes to our daily routine with a healthy eating plan improves our overall quality of life regardless of the actual number of years that we may have left. Healthy eating does not have to mean starving yourself or following the latest trends in fad diets. It means looking at your individual medical and physical needs. Are you overweight, underweight or exactly in between? What genetic predispositions are there for illnesses related to aging? Do you have a family history of diabetes or heart disease? All of these factors influence the nutrients that you need to include in your daily diet as well as what you need to avoid, regardless of what your taste buds have to say on the subject. One of the most crucial changes to make immediately for diet and exercise is to drink more water.

Building stable, predictable daily and weekly routines eases the transition into frailty and can delay or even prevent the onset of diseases related to memory or thought processes. The most effective way to do this is to take responsibility for our personal growth in every area of our lives. There is no one size fits all formula to give everyone a happy old age.

This is because every one of us is a unique combination of genetics and life experiences. Only we can define what makes us happy and how we want to get there. It takes a lot of hard work to analyze each aspect of our lives to find the difference between where we are and where we want to be. The honesty of such deep introspection can be devastating if it is not approached with a positive outlook to changing the current situation. It is easy to lose ourselves in defeatism and social conditioning about the nature of aging. We have to pull ourselves together to be as objective about the steps we have to take every single day to achieve our goals.

The sooner we start to implement these changes, the more benefits we will reap as we grow older. How many times have you looked back to key points in your life and wondered what would have happened if you made different choices? This is one of those turning points.

It is up to each of us to create the world we want to live in and design our lifestyles for the future by making choices everyday that lead in the direction we’d like to take into the future. There will be days when we lack the motivation to do what it takes to stay one the path. Getting back on track depends on our ability to accept temporary setbacks as part of the learning experience. This is what will ultimately prevent us from giving up on our goals when we experience hardships along the way.

Everything that I have shared with you in this book is a combination of my own research and life experience. The thought of facing anything unprepared terrifies me so I have to have a plan. This is the information I am using to draw up my own plan for however many decades I have left to me.

It may be a futile effort considering the drastic global changes caused by just one virus since the beginning of 2020. Who knows if I’ll even make it to 60 to retire, nevermind 70 or 80? There’s an equal possibility that I might. If I do, I want to be able to enjoy every moment I have been given. I wish the same for you. It really is as easy as getting up right now and doing a few stretching exercises.

References

Ageing Better (n.d.). Attitudes to ageing | Centre for Ageing Better . https://www.ageing-better.org.uk/attitudes-ageing

Better Health While Aging. (2019 August 24). 6 ways that thinking changes with aging (and what to do about this) . https://betterhealthwhileaging.net/how-brain-function-changes-with-normal-cognitive-aging/

Besdine, R. (2019). Overview of aging . MSD Manual Consumer Version; MSD Manuals. https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/older-people%E2%80%99s-health-issues/the-aging-body/overview-of-aging

Carter, C. (2020 August 12). What should your diet be like at 50+? AARP. https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2020/nutrition-after-age-50.html

Charles, S. T., and Carstensen, L. L. (2010). Social and emotional aging. Annual Review of Psychology , 61 (1), 383–409. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100448

Cherry, K. (2020 July 13). The big five personality traits . Very Well Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-big-five-personality-dimensions-2795422

Connor, J. (2017 December 8). 10 moves for the best back and biceps workout . Openfit. https://www.openfit.com/back-and-biceps-workout-exercises

Harvard Health Publishing. (2014 March 9). Exercise and aging: Can you walk away from Father Time - Harvard Health . Harvard Health; Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercise-and-aging-can-you-walk-away-from-father-time

Harvard Health Publishing. (2020 March 25). How much water should you drink? - Harvard Health . Harvard Health; Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-much-water-should-you-drink

Lee, L. O., James, P., Zevon, E. S., Kim, E. S., Trudel-Fitzgerald, C., Spiro, A., Grodstein, F., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2019). Optimism is associated with exceptional longevity in 2 epidemiologic cohorts of men and women. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 116 (37), 18357–18362. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1900712116

Mayo Clinic. (2017). Measure your fitness level with these simple tests . https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/fitness/art-20046433

McMaster University. (2018). Physical exercise can improve cognitive function in adults over 50 years of age | McMaster Optimal Aging . https://www.mcmasteroptimalaging.org/full-article/es/physical-exercise-improve-cognitive-function-adults-50-years-age-2777

Rogers, K. (2019). aging | Definition, process, and effects . In Encyclopædia Britannica . https://www.britannica.com/science/aging-life-process

Science NetLinks. (2019). The cells in your body - Science NetLinks . http://sciencenetlinks.com/student-teacher-sheets/cells-your-body/

Schwecherl, L. (2020 November 24). 50 top bodyweight moves . Greatist. https://greatist.com/fitness/50-bodyweight-exercises-you-can-do-anywhere

Very Well Mind. (2018). How positive thinking can help you live longer . https://www.verywellmind.com/positive-thinking-and-aging-2224134

Waehner, Page. (2019). Use a perceived exertion scale to measure intensity of your workouts . Very Well Fit. https://www.verywellfit.com/perceived-exertion-scale-1231117

World Health Organization. (2018 February 5). Ageing and health . https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health

Youtube. (2015 December 18). The fighter’s 4 shoulder circuit: YTWL . https://youtu.be/ZFbZoKUOAkI

Zhavoronkov, A. (2021 July 15). Mind over body: Can we control psychological aging? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2021/07/15/mind-over-body-can-we-control-psychological-aging/

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Psychology - Attitude and Longevity

A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body

Thinking About Your Age

Facing Mortality

Chapter 3: Practical Exercises Basic stretching

Breathing

Basic Exercises

Chapter 5: Fun Social Stretching

Yoga

Pacing Yourself

Joining a Class

Flexibility Exercises You Can Do Alone

Chapter 6: Levelling Up - Martial Arts and Tai Chi

Choosing Your Discipline

Finding a Class

Adjusting to Your Limits

Chapter 7: Creating a Schedule That Works for You

Activity Levels and Times of Day

Fitness Levels and Exercise Choices

Setting Your Own Pace

Chapter 8: Diet and Nutrition

Building a Healthy Body From the Inside

Daily Nutritional Needs

Eating Sensibly vs Fad Diets

Chapter 9: Finding Peace

Creating Your World

Putting It all Together

Being Happy With Your Daily Life

Conclusion

References