Key to vigorous retirement: Keep moving

Exercise is the key to staying vigorous in retirement, say fitness experts.

And it might also be the key to lengthening retirement by short-circuiting premature death. Lack of exercise, combined with poor dietary habits, is the second-largest underlying cause of death in the United States after smoking, according to the National Institutes of Health.

You know the routine: Regular exercise boosts energy, relieves stress, improves sleep, builds stronger bones and muscles that can help keep diseases such as osteoporosis at bay. People who exercise also protect themselves against high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and cancer.

And exercise can relieve symptoms of existing illness or chronic disease. Take arthritis, for example — regular exercise can reduce joint swelling. And people with diabetes can gain better control of blood glucose levels through regular exercise.

Good balance tends to slip as people age. Combined with muscles weakened from lack of exercise, impaired balance can result in debilitating falls.

“By exercising, you improve your balance, increase your strength and also decrease the chances of heart attacks,´ said Caroline C. Creager, a Berthoud-based physical therapist, author and entrepreneur. Creager has written and published six books on fitness and health topics and recently opened the Berthoud Athletic Club.

Better health, better retirement

In all of this, there is an even more compelling, if simpler, reason for retirees to achieve and maintain a healthy level of physical fitness: “It allows (people) to be better able to enjoy the time they have,” Creager said.

Besides, your doctor has been telling you to get moving for years, right?

“We’re seeing a lot more people getting referred to our facilities by their physicians,´ said Lynn Hayden-Ugarte, recreation coordinator of senior programs at Loveland’s Chilson Senior Center. “They need to lose weight, eat healthier and exercise.”

Facilities such as the Chilson Senior Center also are seeing growing numbers of younger retirees. Typical retirement age has dropped in recent years, dipping from the traditional age 65 into the 50s — first because the stock market bubble helped pad retirement portfolios and later because it burst.

“So many people are getting forced into early retirement due to layoffs and downsizing. We’re seeing younger people retiring,” Hayden-Ugarte said.

Those younger people often are soon looking for work again, she said. The reasons might be financial or simply because people want to stay busy and vigorous.

That brings us back to exercise.

One of the biggest obstacles to embarking on the road to physical fitness tends to be taking that first step, say fitness experts. The next biggest obstacle tends to be taking those subsequent steps.

A typical problem, Hayden-Ugarte said, is finding the motivation to start something new and stay committed to it. “It’s easy to come up with the excuses not to do it. It takes a mindset that they want to change, that they want to make it part of their lifestyle and be committed to it.”

May be intimidating

Creager said that it’s intimidating for people of any age group to walk in the door of a health club when they haven’t been exercising. For a person in his or her 60s “who may never have exercised before in their life it’s scary to walk in the doors of something new.”

The good news is it’s never too late to start, and beginning a fitness routine doesn’t need to be elaborate.

“It doesn’t have to be a full-blown, sweaty workout,” Hayden-Ugarte said. “You can still gain the benefits of exercise just by finding ways to get in extra steps in a day.”

For example, take the stairs or walk to the store. Hayden-Ugarte suggests adding walking to favorite pastimes. Like to shop? Walk in the mall. Like to golf? Walk the course rather than ride in a cart.

Walking can be a social pursuit, and adding a social element can help exercisers stay motivated. “Get your friends involved,” Hayden-Ugarte said. “It really helps to have somebody to do these things with. Have a walking partner.”

Creager recommends that people have good shoes when they begin walking for fitness. Drinking plenty of water and eating right are also important, she said. “You can’t do one without the other. Diet is just as important as exercise. ? Exercise, plus a healthy diet, add up to vitality.”

How much exercise? The Surgeon General recommends 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week. That doesn’t have to be 30 consecutive minutes, however. A 10-minute walk at lunch, another after dinner and additional physical activity such as house cleaning or pulling weeds all count.

Keep your reasons for exercising close at hand to refer to if motivation lags, experts advise. Whether it’s loved ones you want to spend time with, activities you want to enjoy or diseases you want to avoid, list these things and refer to them often.

Choosing not to exercise and be physically fit in retirement might be no choice at all. “You’re going to see that life is pretty darn boring,” Hayden-Ugarte said. “You’re not going to be in shape, and you’re going to be prone to illness and injury. It’s definitely the worst thing you can possibly do.”

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