Did you know that there is an intervention that can:
- Relieve knee arthritis pain by 47%
- Slow the progression of Alzheimer’s and dementia by 50%
- Help reduce the progression of diabetes by 58%
- Lessen anxiety by 48%
- Relieve depression by 30%
This intervention reduces fatigue, provides endless health benefits, and lowers your risk of death. It also helps you maintain white brain matter, which is responsible for critical thinking and planning. It is something that makes the biggest difference to your health.
The intervention is … 30 minutes of physical activity a day!
Regular physical activity – including endurance, muscle-strengthening, balance, and flexibility exercises – is essential for healthy aging.
Everyone has 24 hours in a day. The best gift you can give yourself is spending just 30 minutes of those 24 hours being active. You do not need to do strenuous or intense workouts. Walking, chair aerobics, biking, swimming, or dancing are just a few of the ways to improve your overall health.
Being active doesn’t have to feel like a chore. The most important thing is that you do something! To help get you moving, consider breaking up your daily activity into 10 minute increments or add more activity into something you already do daily, such as:
- March in place while brushing your teeth
- Dance to a favorite song after eating breakfast
- Do knee bends before going to bed
- If you have stairs, go up and down them an extra time whenever you use them
- When watching TV, use hand weights to build arm strength and walk around the room during commercials
- Do heel raises while doing the dishes
- Park your car further away while shopping or purposely go up and down each aisle in the store
Exercise turns on the brain and improves our quality of life as we age. So get creative and make moving fun!
Remember to consult your primary care physician about your plans to be active.
This blog is adapted from YCCF’s subsidiary TroveStreet, LLC. The full article, TroveStreet Wisdom: Being Active, is available at TroveStreet.com.
