Finally, the advice from on high has caught up to common sense. You suspected it, we argued and advised for it, yet years went by tick by tock.
What are we referring to and why is it important? For you and everyone you know.
Here is where you may stop reading because some people believe the words following are offensive.
Stick with reading because you and yours are important and deserve to be updated.
Ready?
Exercise EXERCISE EXERCISE
Yeah, we hear you. Same old story. You think? No, this is different.
Previously we have been told we need to undertake sustained exercise. In blocks of thirty minutes at a time. Adding up to at least one hundred and fifty minutes a week. Minimum. Every week. Ongoing. Forever.
This exercise edict had not officially changed for around a decade. The information a decade ago was extremely similar. Minimal updates over many decades for exercise prescription.
Questioning the advice given by authorities was met with a hard line. Remember asking or thinking, “But I walk to the shops, or I work in the garden, or I work hard at work.”?
Were you told, “No, no and no. You have to undertake hard sustained exercise.”?
Finally Common Sense
So, listen up. You were correct. Nice being correct. Right?
Understanding where you were correct. Using that warm glow correctly can add healthy years to your life. More healthy years alive provides many more chances to be correct. Win-win.
Let’s get serious. Or physical, if you like that song.
Here are the facts
– Any exercise is better than tushy sitting.
– Longer periods of exercise are better than shorter duration sessions.
– Low-intensity exercise is better than zero intensity exercise (mixed intensity best).
– Multiple exercise sessions per week are better than once a week activity.
Bottom line.
– No matter how much exercise you are currently undertaking – do a little more.
– Whatever your exercise intensity is at present, work a little harder.
So, what exercise should you do?
Number one answer – do something you enjoy.
Also:
– Increasing your breathing and heart rate a little bit.
– Exercise that results in low-level muscle soreness.
– Aim to have low-level muscle soreness somewhere in your body.
– Every part of your body should be a little sore, bit by bit, at some stage over each month.
– Mix up your exercise, because that helps your whole body.
– Use your body weight to make muscles work.
– Challenge your balance.
A little bit of exercise often, being slightly out of breath, feeling your heart rate increase slightly, get off balance occasionally when exercising, and taking your joints through a range of movement.
Bsically, this information is common sense.
Do you need a gym membership? No.
Need weight machines? Not most of the time. Body weight resistance is best, as it means more stabilizing muscles are used.
GeriTraK recommends to always:
– start slowly and progress exercises.
– check with your trusted health professional before beginning exercises,
– avoid group exercise classes where you compete against others before you are fit.
GeriTraK will be providing example articles, photographs and videos of exercise progression, along with ideas for beginners and some extreme examples of what is humanly possible.
For the new guidelines, look up:
Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans 2nd edition
https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf