Gray John Armstrong Muir - Sod sitting, get moving!: getting active in your 60s, 70s and beyond

Sod Sitting, Get Moving! should be our watchword as we get older. Remember the body is like a machine full of thousands of moving parts. If you dont keep them well-oiled and moving they will seize up. Be warned!

Angela Rippon, OBE, broadcaster

As I reach the ripe old age of 68, I am only too aware of exercising ones body and mind. I love walking, Pilates and reading. Sod Sitting, Get Moving! is the book to make sure that you can make activity fun and youll live longer.

Christopher Biggins, national treasure and King of the Jungle

As we get older its important to keep exercise going if we want to have a healthy life. A half hour walk every day can do us a lot of good. So that it doesnt become a chore its worth doing something you really enjoy. For me its swimming, and at the same time you can do lots of exercises which are much more gentle when you try them under the water. Get yourself a dog and get him/her to take you for a good stroll every day. Remember the old saying use it or lose it and Sod Sitting, Get Moving!

David Hamilton, broadcaster

I have always been a great believer in a healthy lifestyle and have been exercising since I was a young child growing up in Sri Lanka. Now in my sixties I swim every day and train with weights at least three times a week. Exercise is so important to us all and Sod Sitting, Get Moving! should be the bible for anyone over fifty. Get moving it really is fun!

David Wilkie, MBE, Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion

Sod Sitting, Get Moving! is a book for everyone but particularly for those in later years. As a working GP I see an increasing number of patients in their seventies and beyond. I recommend exercise as the first step to getting better. If we all took the advice in this excellent book we wouldnt need to prescribe quite so many pills.

Dr Dawn Harper, GP, TV presenter and author

Sod Sitting, Get Moving! is a masterclass in motivation. I exercise and train a minimum of four times a week. It gives me a sense of wellbeing and makes me aware of my working body. It really has kept me youthful and I intend to carry on. I urge everyone to Sod Sitting, Get Moving! as Dianas book enthuses.

Jacques Azagury, designer

Exercise is normally such a bore, but dancing is wonderful exercise and such fun. Exercise is even better when you move to music, as Diana recommends in this wonderful book. Buy it now and put a spring in your step.

Lionel Blair, entertainer

Ive known Diana Moran for years and in her seventies she still looks in her fifties. If her secret is in this book I thoroughly recommend it. Im fast realising that the older we get the more we need to stay active!

Matthew Wright, broadcaster

I know seventy is not much of an age nowadays. But when it actually happens to you (me), its still a bit of a facer. So I agree that Dianas message should be a maxim for us all! And here are my simple exercises for the face: 1. Look up, not down. 2. Look forward, not back. 3. Raise the sides of the mouth. Hold for thirty years. I dont know whether they work, but Im keeping on with them just in case.

Sir Richard Stilgoe, singer and songwriter

This book is a bible for anyone over sixty. As it recommends, I walk fast every single day for a minimum of half an hour and it has become such a part of my life that I barely notice it. I tend to shop locally so will always walk there and back; if I need to get a bus somewhere Ill walk a couple of stops further than I need to. I feel fitter than Ive ever done, my weight has stayed the same for years and I sleep well. It costs nothing and you dont need special equipment. So Sod Sitting, Get Moving! its worked for me.

Trudie Goodwin, The Bill and Emmerdale actress

At 58 I know the need to keep active whoever you are. Im lucky to have maintained my fitness, I dont push the competitive boundaries these days, I just find joy in being active and being able to be active! As Diana recommends in her excellent book, activity can often just be simply walking and having the time and opportunity to commune with nature. Sod Sitting get active!

Kriss Akabusi, MBE, athlete and gold medallist

Contents

Diana Moran

My thanks go to my erstwhile friend and agent Tony Fitzpatrick, who has introduced me to the wonderful team at Bloomsbury and the wisdom and understanding from my editors Charlotte Croft and Sarah Skipper. Their belief in supporting the over 70s has been inspirational and a gift to the next generations ahead. As the wise Gautama Buddha is credited as saying, To keep the body in good health is a duty otherwise we shall not be able to keep our minds strong and clear... I wish all my readers the wisdom to live a healthy old age.

Muir Gray

I would like to thank Rosemary Lees who is, like me, in the prime of life and who typed as well as ever converting my scrawl to readable text. The team at Bloomsbury has managed the project very well and Tony Fitzpatrick has edited the two authors work so that it flows seamlessly.

There is no magic formula for staying mentally and physically fit and well in later life, but a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise, a balanced diet and an active social life are all important factors.

It is also true that it is never too late to start, and that becoming more physically active can actually reverse the decline in areas such as muscle strength and cognitive function.

Its time to challenge the idea that the best thing for older people is to sit down and put their feet up. Of course thats fine sometimes, but sitting less and being active by doing something you enjoy for even 10 minutes will bring big rewards, even if its a big effort to get started.

This book is co-authored by Age UKs ambassador Diana Moran and Muir Gray, one of the UKs leading doctors on the interaction between ageing, disease, and loss of fitness. It is full of helpful ideas and advice about living well in mind and body as we age and enjoying later life to the full.

Scientists say our genes only make a 25% contribution to the length of life and that factors like lifestyle and nutrition account for the remaining three quarters, so theres lots to be gained from being healthy and active and whatever your age may be now is a great time to start.

For more information on Age UK, or for details about their Healthy living guide, please visit: www.ageuk.org.uk or phone 0800 169 6565.

Muir Gray

You are 60 plus youre at a good time of life some would say in the prime of life. Surveys have shown that people aged 70 to 74 report the best feelings about life. People in their 60s face more pressures. Many are still supporting their parents, often far away, and still have children dependent on them. They are part of the sandwich generation. People in their 70s rarely have worries about elderly parents, but often still worry about their children and sometimes the chicks return to the nest. Some people, of course, have to cope with the disability or death of a partner, but it is a good time for most people in their 70s.

For people in their 80s life is tougher, with health problems playing a bigger part, but the image of life from 60 onwards being dominated by disease, disability, dependency and dementia is wrong. OK, so you may be a bit slower than you were because of a dodgy hip, you may be a bit more forgetful or you may have a more serious condition, such as arthritis or diabetes, but it is important to remember that people in their 60s, 70s and 80s are a key group in society. For one thing, if they gave up caring for other people the NHS would collapse, tomorrow.