Yoga? Walking? Spin? There are literally thousands of physical activities we can do. We’ve covered the benefits of regular exercise for seniors in previous posts. You can check out the many reasons you should stay active here. We all agree that we should exercise but what type of exercise should we do? Finding the best workout for you is the secret to sticking with a fitness routine long term. Remember, it’s important to have a physician’s approval before you start any exercise program.

The “boredom factor” can undermine anyone’s best efforts, no matter how determined you are, if it doesn’t hold your interest, you won’t stick with it. This article from the website Wise Bread outlines 10 Tricks to Avoid Workout Burnout. If you’re just starting out, the number one trick is to ease into exercise. Starting slowly and building up the length and frequency of your workouts is a great way to guarantee long term success.

A fitness plan that focuses on two twenty-minute sessions a week is a good guideline for beginners. If you’re brand new to exercise, step one, as we mentioned above, is to have a conversation with your doctor, possibly schedule a yearly physical and get the ok to begin an exercise program. Once you have your doctor’s approval…get walking! Walking can be a starting point for pretty much everyone who wants to go from sedentary to active. Even a 15-minute walk twice a day has tons of benefits. The Mayo Clinic has a 12-Week Walking Schedule designed to get non exercisers up and moving.

If physical limitations make walking difficult or impossible for you, there are other ways to get active. This article from Spark People outlines four workouts for people with limited mobility.

Need to get inspired to get fit. Check out this news story on our very own Mary Blandino. Mary was a high school physical education teacher and coach for 34 years, but 15 years after she retired, Mary is busier than ever and now says, “I have six jobs.” Lucky for us one of her jobs is right here at Eastcastle; Mary teaches a variety of classes including chair yoga, balance and posture and water exercise. Stop by the fitness and aquatics center to meet Mary and make sure you try out her awesome classes.

Speaking of water exercise, according to Silver Sneakers, swimming is the number one exercise for seniors. Whether you get in the water and swim laps or join a water aerobics class, swimming is great for the mind and body. And once again, we are fortunate that we have an absolutely wonderful aquatics center right here at home. There’s literally no excuse not to take advantage of our very own pool, so suit up and jump in…the water’s fine.

There’s always something going on here at Eastcastle Place. Check out our upcoming events and call a couple of friends to join you for all the fun!