by Tracey Vowels
Lifetime Fitness Professional and Women’s Health and Wellbeing Coach
Hello and welcome to my new monthly column.
Each month I will be talking about a different topic all to do with health, fitness and wellbeing.
This month I decided to talk about the benefits of exercise as we get older.
As a fitness instructor for over 30 years I truly believe that as we age a regular commitment to exercise brings a multitude of health benefits and not just physical.
Exercise of course is good for our joints, bones and muscles, it keeps us mobile and supple and can lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers.
However there’s an equally important part of regular exercise as we get older, the social side.
Exercise, whatever type, brings people together. Meeting and making new friends, feeling more positive and confident, feeling happier, reducing stress or anxiety even improving the quality of our sleep can sometimes make the biggest difference to our daily health and wellbeing.
What type of exercise you choose will depend very much on what you enjoy doing. Finding a local club, class or group would be a good place to start.
If you like to get outside then locally there are several ‘Walking for Health’ groups, swimming or aqua fit sessions are good fun if you like the water.
If you love music then dance classes and exercise classes are a great way to meet people and stay in shape.
Tennis, bowling, golf, yoga, pilates, joining a gym, cycling or just walking the dog.
Whatever activity you choose, getting off the sofa and moving a little more really can be the key to living a long, healthy and happy independent life.
