3 Ways To Develop Aging Fitness

We want to live well for as long as we can; free from disease, pain, inability to fully function without help from canes, wheelchairs, or a friend’s arm. We need to do something, but what? Well………….anything.  Do anything that will get you on the road to moving, then stay on that road every day. You can do lots of things once you feel like moving,  so start there. Now.

Ideas of what to do? Try these. If they don’t work for you, make up your own. If they are too hard, modify them so you can do some aspect of them. Stay curious and use your brain to create movement, move your body to live longer. People who can move, do. People who can move, think better, should they choose to think at all. People who can move and think clearly and are not afraid to try new things, live longer. I might be wrong, but what if I’m right?

1.  Strength and flexibility: get out and play with your kids at the playground. If you don’t have kids, take your grandchildren, your nieces, your neighbors  or your friend’s children. Or, if you are brave, go with your spouse, your friend, or even alone. Run around, bend down, roll over, swing, jump, hang from the monkey bars, hoist your kids onto equipment, slide, practice cartwheels, be exuberant, collapse from the-most-fun-you’ve-had-in-years exhaustion. Playgrounds are a creative space containing vast amounts of grass. Grass is great for fitness. It’s uneven, both soft and hard, and cushions rolling and falling.

2.  Cardio? Buy a jumprope. 10 minutes a day will drop bowling balls of weight, expand your lungs, and give you overall fitness. It tones the arms, builds muscle in the legs, and insures better posture.

3.  Stress reducers? Surprise a loved one with dinner, or breakfast. This does not include someone to whom you feel obliged, indebted, or indentured. Feelings of love and gentle surprise produce endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, and phenylethamine. They all lower stress, and increase healthy aging.

Look up at the stars and realize how insignificant you are in the Universe and get over yourself. Become aware of and appreciative of your surroundings. Honor and celebrate the things that make you, you. Think about you (small) and the universe (big).

It isn’t that hard to get fit. You have to want it, develop a plan, and be willing to work for it.

That’s Aging Intelligently.