Senior Fitness - THE MAIN ELEMENT to a Pleasurable Retirement

For a wonderful retirement, the trick is senior fitness. Many Gerontologists, who study physical, mental and social changes in people as they age, say that the average senior is happier and healthier should they maintain a steady physical activity program.

Most seniors understand that aerobic activity is essential for heart health but they neglect the fact that even at advanced age weight training is still needed. Along with that, many seniors who do regularly perform aerobic activity don't take time to stretch before every workout resulting in increased injuries.

A fit and active 75 year old is often as strong and athletic being an unfit 35 year old. According to one report, an active person will physically decline by no more than �% a year in comparison to a sedimentary person who will decline by almost a complete 2%. Simply because we lose 3% - 5% of our muscle tissue every decade, after about our 40th birthday, we can still continue to increase muscle strength and speed with regular physical exercise.

Being truly a fit senior can even enhance your mood. Research shows that 14% -18% of seniors are depressed. It has been shown a regular fitness activity can even give close to the same effect as antidepressant medication, without the negative side-effects.

Even the easy act of walking can greatly increase your happiness during retirement. In a Honolulu Heart Program study the death rate of men who walked one mile or less was almost twice that of seniors who walked more than two miles per day. Another study conducted between 1990 and 2001 showed that senior's who walked over half an hour each day had few deaths at that time frame than those who did not.

Even if you're currently out of a shape or haven't exercised in years, a custom program can be designed for you by way of a senior physical fitness expert. Don't try to replace years of not exercising in a single day. Start slowly and work the right path up, for example: Begin walking and build your time up 5 minutes a day one week, ten minutes a day the next so on and so forth, and when you obtain bored walking start speed walking utilizing the same time frames.  fit at 60 , Speed walk, Jog, Run - Don't just start running. Starting quick can injure you and even ensure it is so you're burned out and no longer want to work out.

Remember you're "only as old as you are feeling" and being truly a fit senior will help you feel young.