Local Physical Therapist Offers Tips on How to Stay Fit At Any Age

Typically, when people think of ways to improve their own health, especially as they begin to age, diet and exercise come to mind.

But, sometimes implementing improved diet and exercise regimens is easier said than done. However, a local physical therapist is encouraging people to take simple steps to add exercise into their routine to help them stay fit as they age.

Shane Boff, Director of Rehabilitation Services at St. David’s Georgetown, told Hello Georgetown exercise is a simple activity that can have benefits of all shapes and sizes as people age including maintaining strength, building endurance, expanding flexibility and more.

“As folks to age, those directly contribute to their level of independence, their overall balance, decreasing their risk for falls,” Boff said. “Another area is, as folks age, their bodies have more mileage on them and depending on what they’ve been through, they may or may not have different chronic conditions. There are several chronic conditions that we see a lot of: high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, at times weight management or other problems with the joints, and exercise is beneficial to help manage all of these conditions.”

So, what can folks begin to do improve their own physical fitness? No matter how old you are, Boff said, there’s some basic tips everyone can follow to take those first steps.

Getting Started

Everyone is at different levels of fitness. From marathon runners to mailbox warriors, Boff said it’s important to just get started wherever your own physical fitness is at.

“Getting started is key and keeping it simple,” Boff said. “Just adding in activity period.”

As you’re getting started, Boff added, it may be wise to invite a friend to join.

“If possible, if you have someone, a friend or a buddy that can encourage you and keep you motivated to keep up with activity, to keep up with staying active.”

Additionally, not everyone needs to go to the gym, use heavy duty exercise machines or start an aggressive program (though, if you’re wanting to and can handle it, that’s great!), Boff said. Walking or climbing stairs or steps are simple ways to start and improve your health.

Consult Your Doctor

As you embark on increasing your exercise regimen, it’s crucial to consult your doctor who can help guide you in knowing your own limitations and things to watch for.

“They need to make sure that they’re clear for physical activity from their healthcare provider,” Boff said. “They need to understand any restrictions that they may have, depending on their condition, they may have restrictions on the intensity of activity that they can perform.”

While listening to your doctor, it’s also important to tune into what your own body is saying.

“If you’re hurting as you’re performing a task, you need to stop,” Boff said. “It’s likely they’ve gotten into a range that is too intense or too vigorous for what their tissues can tolerate…if it hurts while you’re performing or while you’re doing the task, you’re in that range where it’s too much.”

When it comes to breathing and endurance, folks should pay attention to how quickly they can recover and catch their breath. Boff added that if you slow down or stop the exercise and you can’t catch your breath, you’ve pushed yourself too far.

Warm Up and Cool Down

Another crucial part of exercising properly involves giving yourself adequate time to warm up and cool down your muscles before and after exercise.

“When you think of any program…you want to give yourself adequate time to both warm up with the activity and cool down, so that you’re not starting too aggressively,” Boff said. “So, if you’re doing a gentle walking or moving up to more of a brisk walk or a fast walk, you start slow in general and build up to that. If you’re talking about swimming, cycling, any of those things, it’s the same sequence of events of slow start, you warm up…even if your workload is low in your book, you still build up to that low level, then back off again.”

Add Variety

One final tip in improving your own exercise routine is adding some variety.

“I mentioned walking…certainly walking [is] fantastic, getting your heart rate up and breathing a little bit faster,” Boff said. “But, bearing in mind that strength training remains beneficial for folks throughout life, and we’re not saying that everyone needs to be a weightlifter through all decades. But, there’s more and more research and evidence out there of the benefits of strength training throughout, both for the bones, for muscles, [and] tendons.”

Body weight activities, he added, are great ways to start strength training and can include things like wall squats, modified push ups, resistance training, etc.

Work Up to Your Goals

As you begin to improve or implement an exercise routine, consider being patient in the process of improving. Start where you’re at, then work your way up gradually to more intense or more difficult fitness goals.

“The initial target would be just getting started,” Boff said. “So, any amount. If they haven’t been exercising before they can just get into any regular routine. That’s the first piece, that’s key. The goal would be to work towards a three to five times a week where they are able to do an aerobic based activity for up to 30 minutes five times a week and then strengthening activities two days a week, maybe up to three days a week.”

But, Boff emphasized, it’s important to remember these numbers or goals are just that, goals, and people should be patiently and intentionally working at a pace that is appropriate for them.

“So, if they walk a day a week and that’s the starting point, but it begins to get them into a rhythm, then that’s what they can build on,” Boff said. “Same thing with strengthening.”

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