You can be 18 and very out of shape or 80 and in great shape, age is really irrelevant to your fitness level.

The key is to watch your nutrition, move and have fun every day. Always include your doctor in your nutrition and exercise decisions. You will stay healthy and feel great.

Letting your nutrition slip will affect your health. You must continue to eat a healthy diet.  Eat a variety of foods and get your food as fresh as you can. The more processed a food is, generally the more unhealthy it is. Foods today have more sugar and more chemicals than they used to.

You can move and have fun through exercise at a health club or in your apartment complex by choosing activities you enjoy.  Dominion Senior Living and 414 Forest Park in Knoxville, Tennessee, offers fitness programs such as these. You can do these exercises by yourself or in a group. Health club members are more successful and stay with an exercise program longer when they do group fitness.

Group fitness classes are a great way to meet people and get a great workout at the same time. There are many different types of classes i.e. yoga, Pilates, dance, strength training, etc. There are a very wide variety of fitness classes available so you do not get bored or get overuse injuries. Many facilities now offer programs “on-demand” so you can do workouts whenever you want to.  One advantage of an on-demand system is the ability to select the specific type of exercise training you want to do and fit it into your daily routine. 

No matter what condition you are in now you can improve, just use today as a starting point. You always want to start with some simple exercises that you can easily do. You also want to do a variety of exercises and classes to stimulate multiple muscle groups and brain activity. The body will get used to doing the same thing if you do it every day. It could be as simple as standing on one foot and trying to maintain your balance as you move your other leg and foot. The next step might be some chair exercises or as simple as walking. The next step would be some simple stretching or yoga. The next level might be some simple dance classes such as Zumba. You could then transition to some modified body weight exercises such as a pushup or a plank, even if it is for 5 or 10 seconds.

Strength training exercises are great for the body and your well-being. Please do not overdo it though.  Your body will always get stronger and more effective, adapting as you push a little harder.

Talk to your property or wellness manager, hopefully they will have some active events planned that will be both fun and get you moving.

Editor’s Note: This article was written by John King with Fitness On Demand. For more information you may call 952‐567‐2716, or email him at jking@fitnessondemand247.com.