I wanted this article to be about the physical conditioning necessary to a healthy life style. But I didn’t want it to pertain to those younger enthusiasts who exercise because they want to, or as a fad, or as part of a social gathering. I wanted to address, what? Seniors…hmm, no, the aging, that’s not right, we’re all aging. So I decided to stick to numbers. This article is about physical conditioning for those 60 and older.
First and foremost are the cautions. Beware the trainer. If he or she is 20 or 30 years younger, they probably have one of those bodies that take you back to a time when you had one of those bodies.
Here are three important questions to ask if you really want them to work with you.
1. Have you trained a thousand individuals? If the answer is yes continue on to the second question. If the answer is no, find someone else. Don’t trust your body to someone who is still developing their skills.
2. Of those thousand how many were my age. (60,65,70,75) Question number three is the tough one. Ask the trainer if they have worked with anyone with a pre-existing medical condition. Working with individuals with medical conditions will cause them to think out of the box. Great you’ve asked the three crucial questions now you have to ask yourself an important question.
Why do I want to workout? I’ll give you three answers although there are many and probably all correct.
1. I want to workout to have more energy and endurance.
2. I want to workout to become stronger so I can continue activities of daily living without becoming injured. These activities might include gardening, weed-whacking, or cleaning out the garage and all the lifting that goes with it. (The back needs to be strong)
3. I want to maintain the level of fitness I have. Remember if you don’t use it you’ll lose it.
Finally, and I had to find my soapbox for this, think about future activities. Let’s stop trying to figure out how to turn back the clock, (good luck on that one) and focus on that hike you want to take this summer, or that cross country ski trip this winter. Remember, maybe if you workout everything else will too.
