PhysicalFitness

What does physical fitness mean to you? Being able to run a 10K in your community? Being able to play with your grandchildren in the backyard on the weekends? Being able to feel and actually be strong? Being able to travel the world and do a lot of sight-seeing? Being able to (your pick).

Notice how the words “being able” turned up in all those things. That’s exactly what physical fitness is all about—being able. All of us want to participate in life to its fullest, and physical fitness affords us the capacity to do so.

• It’s well documented that the more physically fit we are, the lower our risk is for health troubles, illness, and chronic disease. But the benefits don’t end there. Physical fitness extends into so many areas of our lives and wellbeing. It helps us to sleep like a baby at night, have better moods and a positive attitude, lower stress levels, have better digestion, and feel and look young. In fact, the latest research demonstrates just how influential exercise in particular can be in keeping our bodies acting young—literally.
• In 2007, a team of American and Canadian researchers demonstrated that exercise partially can help reverse the aging process at the cellular level. Studying the effects of six months of strength training in elderly volunteers aged 65 and older, they took small biopsies of thigh-muscle cells from the seniors before and after the six-month period, then compared them with muscle cells from 26 young volunteers whose average age was 22. The scientists expected to find evidence that the program improved the seniors’ strength, which it did by 50 percent. But they never expected this: dramatic changes at the genetic level. The genetic fingerprint of those elderly volunteers who’d gone through the strength training program was reversed nearly to that of younger people. In other words, their genetic profile resembled that of a younger group.
• The goal is to be physically active at least 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week. The ideal workout routine includes cardio, strength straining, and stretching. Schedule strength training twice or three times a week, and take a day off in between sessions to let your muscles recover. Strength training becomes even more important as we age because it helps us retain lean tissue mass and stave off bone disease.
• And don’t forget to mix up your routines!

There are lots of resources out there to help you become physically fit and make the most of your workouts. See below for more information.

Do you have something to contribute to PhysicalFitness? Start a discussion in the Discussion Forum.

You may also want to view the other DreamFitness pages:

• EmotionalFitness
• SpiritualFitness
• FinancialFitness