Copyright Liam Owen - 2021 - All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
A SPECIAL GIFT TO OUR READERS!
Included with your purchase of this book is our Exercise Activity Log that will help you achieve your 7-day strength training goal. This is a great way to keep a record of your training.
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INTRODUCTION
The Day I Decided to Live.
I have always loved sports. I was an avid jogger in my youth, and I also enjoyed golf and soccer. As my years got the better of me, I adapted to a sedentary lifestyle. My kids went out in the world and made names for themselves. After my wife passed, I had a phase where I stopped taking care of myself. I didnt realize how bad things were until the day my son took me golfing. I just managed to arch my back into position before I fell flat on the golf course, writhing in pain. I was rushed to the emergency with a herniated disc.
That day changed a lot of things for me. Id become used to getting by alone, but I noticed small omissions here and there. I forgot to turn the gas off after making my tea. I couldnt recall news events from the day before. And there was this constant, gnawing pain all over my body like I was stuck to one spot and could not move.
My sons began worrying about moving me to an assisted living facility. That was when I pulled my socks up. I wasnt having that! I still had some years left, and I meant to live each day of them as best as I could. So, I charted an exercise plan for myself.
You might laugh if I tell you that all it took was seven minutes every day. But, try it because these seven minutes changed my life. I can score Eagles at golf now. I play cricket with my kids and take my grandkids swimming on the weekends. I remember things my sons forget. And, I feel good.
Our bodies were not meant to be rooted to a spot, wasting away in front of screens. All it may take is seven minutes of your time - seven minutes to give you the life you deserve.
Understanding Older Adults
Older adults have to deal with a lot more than just alterations in their physical capabilities and cognitive strength. We may be adjusting to the passing of our friends and loved ones, struggling with finding a purpose to existence, adjusting to retirement, or be caught up caring for frail family members of the same age or older than ourselves. In 2005, a group of researchers remarked that negative emotions and feelings of depression were some of the top five reasons for reduced activity in older adults, whether they were exercisers or non-exercisers (Lees et al., 2005).
What Are We Afraid Of?
When it comes to physical activity, enjoying what we do is important. This becomes easier when we have social support and are fortified by believing that the exercise we do affects us positively. There can also be perceived barriers that get in the way of how much we exercise. For example, while some of us may think that exercise will positively affect our health, others believe that it isn't worth the effort, and we don't want to wake up and wheeze and huff for five to ten minutes for no good reason.
Some of us also become afraid that increased physical activity at old age may have adverse effects, like making us lose balance or increasing our palpitations. You see, these are perceived barriers. There's no telling if they will actually happen- but we use them to stop ourselves from getting up and moving. Take it as a kind of negative reinforcement. Remember when we were in school, and there were times that we didn't study for an exam because we were so confident we would do badly regardless of what we did? This is no different from that. The barriers are in our heads- and they can result from several reasons, one being the fear of not succeeding and remaining stuck in the same place regardless of how much effort we invest.
Heres what you need to know. There have been decades of epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory-based research regarding the role of physical activity in our lives. All have pointed to the importance of its regularity as a functional determinant of our physical health and well-being. In simple words, the more you move, the happier you will be (King, 2001).
A lot of things can go wrong when you stop physical activity. You can become a victim of the frailty syndrome, which refers to an overall decline of your health and functionality as you age; you can develop muscle strains and become prone to arthritis, chronic fatigue, and carpal tunnel. Now, while our desire to be a hundred percent certain of the positive effects of something before we launch into it often undoes us, there are other determinants when it comes to exercise.
You are Not Alone
A lot of problems among older adults stem from a lack of understanding of where to begin. How do we find the correct exercises? Which guides will work, and which will not? To top it off, we cannot schedule workouts because we don't know where to begin. Some of us, particularly those who don't have a background in fitness, are more susceptible to injuries, which gives rise to fear of falls and injuries.