by David C. Simmons III
 
        Baby Boomers and seniors can participate in many exercises that both strengthen and tone their body.    
   
Anyone, at any age can grow there current muscles.     

     Most of these people have worked for many years and are very good at what they do, and for those who have retired, they were very good at what they did. There contributions are obvious, they include just about everything external to ourselves that we  have, use and enjoy.

    In some of them, I sense that they feel guilty for not including working out as a part of their lifestyle in the past. Its funny how fast life can consume your time. How could they? 

    Some people grow up exercising and easily include it in their lifestyle. But for others, exercise has to be penciled in.

    It takes time to go to work, raise a family, and just keep up with the day to day.  We cannot possibly include everything we should every day. Some do better than most, but most cannot do it all!

  When I meet those that have this guilt, my first instinct is to spend a good amount of time convincing them that being in the gym today is much more than just a good start because it’s true. 
   Believe it or not, there have been studies done about what people go through when they change there lifestyle. One such life style modification model is called "stages-of-change". 
   This model says that there are predictable stages that one goes through from sitting on the couch to be involved in working out routinely. Here are the stages:
   
        Precontemplation :  Not planning to change. May be in denial. Could looks for reasons to
                                               justify the reasons they don't exercise.
       Contemplation :  Some know that exercise is a good idea, but they may start struggling
                                          with how it may cut into their time and other activities. But they still know its
                                          a  good idea.
        Preparation : Convinced that exercise is needed, some may begin to do small amounts of 
                                      exercise. Walking more, cutting out certain foods, maybe some pushups 
                                      or other mild for of exercise every  now and then. 
       Action : Now a person starts to exercise more consistently, and may even use videos at home,
                        or, they may go to the gym to check it out. HERE IS WHERE I GET INVOLVED.
                        Once I see you at the gym, I figure your ready, even more than you may know. Getting
                         to this point is the hardest in my opinion.

       Maintenance : After you have begun your exercise program, sticking with it and progressing
                                      are the new challenges. These are very real issues. They include planning how
                                      to make exercise make sense for you, and  even planning to deliberately rest.  

    Here is a great link about stages of change   and     This link talks about stages of change as well.
    
    This link talks about some things to consider about keeping your exercise program going. 
    GREAT link about issues and factors that keep you from exercising !!
  
   Information will help increase your knowledge about how much this deliberate decision and effort will improve the quality of your current life, and, how it will affect your life as you get older, not only physically, but psychologically, emotionally and in many other subtle ways. One of these subtle ways is how this decision will positively affect your family, profession and community because of increased energy, strength, confidence and in some cases clearer thinking. To me, those things are part of what is meant by improved quality of life.  Also, as we get older, being healthier will surely  lighten the burden on the family members who may have to care for us.

 How effective is exercise really, besides the obvious. 
Recent studies show that exercise slows Alzheimer's. That's a big deal. Exercise slows, improves and in some cases reverses symptoms of other diseases and chronic ailments. That fact alone erases any excuse not to exercise. Here is a short list of other common issues exercise positively affects:

  Body fat.
  Diabetes.
  Bone loss.
  Muscle strengthening.
  Osteoporosis.
  Certain types of cancer.
  Stress.
  Some heart issues.
  Flexibility.
  HDL, LDL and Cholesterol.
 
     I need to stop here, and just cut to the chase and give you some links to check out the MANY benefits of exercise.
     1) Benefits of exercise.
     2) TOP 60 BENEFITS OF EXERCISE.
 
  My favorite part of working with baby boomers and seniors is that it doesn’t take much to see progress, it just takes consistency. I am middle age, so, these folks are my comrades!! I spent 25 years being a computer programmer before I finally lost 60 pounds in a year. Been their. 

          Seniors are looking different to me these days.......... I had a thought the other day I would like to share here. The thought is this. When I was born, things where already here. That’s it! 

   TV’s didn’t just appear the day I was born. Neither did popcorn, newspapers, cars, boats, buildings, or anything else. This got me to thinking that maybe I have someone to thank for what was here and for many things I have now.   When I look at a senior now, I wonder what that person did for a living to directly or indirectly affect my life for the better. Chances are, that if they didn’t affect my life somehow, they affected yours, or someone you know maybe (grandparents are obvious here). And then I realized that even if they didn’t affect me, you or anyone you know, the important thing to know is that it is more than likely that seniors around the world have affected millions around the world for the better.

  So now when I see a senior, I see someone that probably touched someone’s life in a positive way, not only when they worked and where younger, but, they probably made something that I use today. And I owe them for their blood, sweat and time. After all, during their life, they had the chance and choice to not do anything at all.

  And those that come to the gym?  I am utterly at their service as a personal trainer. This is truly a special bread of senior!  Here is a person that could stay home retired and do many other things. They have after all, earned it. But these gym troopers and warriors demand that their bodies stay strong and that they take an active part in fighting their ailments. 

     I have read that exercise for seniors slow deterioration, and that it can arrest certain symptoms. But when a senior starts by lifting 5 pounds and two months later they are lifting 8, I consider that a pure strength growth period, not just stopping something. So anyone can get stronger!  Cardio improves heart function, and improves circulation so that blood transports more oxygen and nutrients to muscles and cells, including brain cells.  Balance exercises may help prevent falls. And stretching keeps muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints flexible.  

     So, for both my middle aged comrades and my senior warriors, making the decision to include exercise into your lifestyle is always the right thing to do, and will always improve your body science !

   This is the link to the National Institute on Aging when considering exercise 

   This is a link to one of many ideas for Middle aged and Seniors exercising in the home (watch the video, yours truly appeared in it). 

More research on Baby Boomers and Seniors will be available soon !