Summer Fitness for Seniors and More

June 30, 2008— -- Summer has officially arrived, and for me it is a great reminder to all of us who have been hibernating indoors to go out and get some exercise and a little sun.

Exercise is key to improving fitness, and a little sun will boost critical vitamin D production and contribute to good health overall.

Take fitness for older people, for example. I am reminded of a study published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found that fitness level, not body fat, was a stronger predictor of longevity for adults age 60 and older.

Even overweight seniors who walked for 30 minutes a day most days of the week had improved survival over the seniors who were normal weight but sedentary. Incredibly, in most instances, death rates for those with higher fitness were less than half of rates for those who were unfit.

This is great news for seniors who may have packed on a few extra pounds over the winter, and it is once again a reminder that sometimes the key to good health is as simple as donning a pair of sneakers and taking a daily walk outdoors or at your neighborhood mall.

This study is also consistent with a lot of recent research showing that for seniors, the functional status or ability to get around and perform daily activities is much more important to predicting longevity than a specific diagnosis or chronic disease.

For seniors who think it is too late to begin an exercise program, think again. My 83-year-old father recently moved to a first floor apartment with my mother who was having trouble negotiating stairs in their two-story home (my mother has severe heart disease and arthritis in both knees, which limits her mobility).

The apartment complex has a wonderful small gym with both a treadmill and an exercise bike. For the first time ever, my dad began to use the gym, hoping to gain some strength and to get into better shape so that he would be in top condition to help my mother get around. He was tentative at first, exercising in 10-minute increments.