10 Reasons to Stay Active As You Age

To enjoy a healthy body and mind through every phase of life one must stay active. However many adults become physically inactive as years pass, which could be due to being busy with many responsibilities and duties, stress, or other reasons. Though we are busy with several tasks and can’t spare time to exercise, it is not right to neglect exercising, as some physical activity is necessary for people of all ages, not just for kids or youngsters.

Why Stay Active?

Here are a few among the many reasons, why physical activity should never be ignored. Regular exercising helps to:

Maintain a healthy body weight

Brisk walking everyday, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, or swimming helps you stay active and maintain a healthy body weight. Combining your physical activity with a healthy eating plan is crucial for maintaining a healthy weight.

Reduce the risk of chronic diseases/conditions

Staying physically active helps you stay healthy and fit, reducing your risk of developing chronic conditions such as heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, anxiety and depression.

Manage stress positively

Regular exercise reduces the level of stress hormones and helps you handle stress better, which improves the quality of your life, helping you enjoy life and not lose your peace.

Strengthen bones and muscles

For a good balance and coordination, better flexibility and less stiffness of joints as you age, it is essential to have strong muscles and bones. As you stay active with regular exercise, your muscles and bones get stronger.

Find activities that work for you and take advice from your doctor if you have any medical condition, before you begin exercising.

Relax your mind

Breathing exercises and muscle relaxation activities improve your mood and release your tension. Ignoring stress doesn’t help you overcome it’s effects. Practice exercise and mindfulness to avoid getting triggered by something that makes you react negatively.

Promote blood flow

Regular exercise like jogging, and brisk walking increases blood flow and improves blood circulation, strengthening the heart and blood vessels.

Improve brain health

Exercise helps you maintain emotional balance, improves memory and reduces your risk of cognitive decline. It also improves your focus and concentration.

Increase energy levels

As you stay active with physical exercise, your feeling of sluggishness and fatigue gets better and you feel alert and energized to focus and work better.

Improve sleep quality

An adequate amount of undisrupted sleep and waking up feeling fully rested is essential for a healthy life. Certain breathing and stretching exercises improve your sleep quality.

Strengthening your immune system

Regular exercise naturally naturally boosts immunity and helps reduce inflammation, by promoting the circulation of immune cells.

Certain habits cause us to be physically inactive, which we have not yet realized. Some common habits are:

• Taking your car to reach places very close to your house, keeps you from walking.
• Going to bed immediately after dinner keeps you from losing weight and affects your digestion.
• A sedentary lifestyle such as sitting down and spending a long time watching TV or your phone keeps you from developing healthy hobbies that help you stay active and healthy.
• Preferring to stay seated all the time keeps you from moving. Instead, standing or moving during breaks keeps you from stiffness.

It’s never too late to start getting physically active. Some kind of physical activity is better than being inactive. Start slowly with the type of physical activity you like and make it a point to do it regularly. It will improve your quality of life and your overall health and wellness.

How do you manage to stay active amid a busy life? Do share in comments.