Are you ready to get fit this fall? Do you love fall as much as I do? It always reminds me of going back to school, having more structure to my day, fabulous color changes and crisp air as fall progresses into winter.
This is the perfect time to hit the STOP button on the activities you may or may not have been doing.
It’s time to rev your engines and start or restart your fitness routine.
Why now?
Why? It’s is the perfect time as we head into the holidays. Only 100 days until 2021. Because of COVID you might still be stuck at home and need some good “back to school” routines. If you are like me, my routine has just fallen off the cliff these past 6 months and it’s time to take charge and get back to it!
In short, it’s a great time for Fall AND Fitness!
3 Reasons why fall AND fitness is good for you.
1. Physical activity is a great way for older adults to gain substantial health benefits and maintain independence.
Did you know that fitness decreases about 10% per decade so that a 70-year-old has lost about half the exercise capacity they had at 20 years of age. It turns out that this decline in fitness is due more to decreasing activity, not age itself, so continued exercise can maintain fitness.
2. To make physical activity a routine habit, choose activities and exercises that are fun, motivate you, and keep you interested and you will do it. Join an online exercise group, like mine or others! Seeing others can help you stay socially engaged. Getting to see others isn’t too bad these days.
3. The work you do now will get you in shape for the holidays, 2021 and the day we get “back to normal.” You want to BE READY!!!
Getting started
How to get started and keep it going? If you can stick with an exercise routine or physical activity for at least 6 months, it’s a good sign that you’re on your way to making that physical activity a regular habit.
Choose activities:
- You enjoy and believe you’ll benefit from
- You can fit into your schedule
- You can do safely and correctly
- That are affordable
- That include friends or family, when possible
4 tips to keep you from getting discouraged
1. Start small. One of my favorite hacks is standing on one leg while I brush my teeth to get my balance work. Just think about it, an electric toothbrush runs for 2 minutes. If you brush am/pm you have done 4 minutes of balance work each day AND almost 30 minutes of balance work in a week if you do it daily. Not bad, eh?
2. Set realistic goals. If you have been sitting in a chair and working on your own COVID 19 (you know, that weight many of us gained or are gaining), go back to number 1 and Start Small. Another ninja tip I like is doing arm exercises or squats during TV commercials. More 2-4 minute blocks in the day. They really add up.
3. Regularly check your progress. Get that tape measure out and check your waist. WRITE IT DOWN TO CHECK AGAIN NEXT MONTH. Go to my blog post if you want more information about your waist. https://turning60andbeyond.com/?s=Waist
4. Most important, celebrate your accomplishments. These will help keep you on track and just make you feel good.
What’s in it for you?
- Greater ease doing daily tasks
- More energy to do the things you enjoy most
- Improved health
- Better outlook on life
Want to know how fit you are?
Go to https://turning60andbeyond.com/consult/
Scroll down to the bottom and click the link to the fitness test. Yes, it’s FREE.
Already on a program and want to keep track of it?
Keep track of your progress. The best way to stay motivated is to measure and celebrate your successes.
You can find easy-to-use progress forms on the Go4Life website below.
https://www.nia.nih.gov/sites/default/files/track-your-activities-daily-record-fillable-working.pdf
Now what is stopping you? Fall Fitness! YES!!!
