The holiday season is a special time of year. Surrounded by friends, family and maybe colleagues, good food and drink, what more could you want? Getting Stronger for Life means enjoying these moments to the best of your ability. Unfortunately, as we age, our ability to interact with the environment around us diminishes. Research has shown that physical activity levels amongst older adults remain below the current recommendations (1). Physical activity for older adults not only improves physical health but importantly, emotional, psychological, and social well-being and cognitive function. Today we’ll discuss the importance of physical health for enjoying time with loved ones and how you can build it. This season, focus on getting strong, not silly (okay, a little silly is fine!)
Live strong and prosper
Social isolation and loneliness in older adults are comparable with other conditions such as obesity and frailty in regard to their impact on health (2). However, engaging in strong social relationships with plenty of good laughter is panacea (3). Although overall health involves many moving parts, being strong is critical piece of the puzzle. Being strong allows you to better interact with the environment around you, including social interactions. Whether it’s something as simple as being able to stand up long enough to cook a meal for loved ones or get involved in backyard cricket or swimming at the beach, physical strength in all forms helps us interact with and participate in, the world around us. You can’t live long and prosper without living strong.
Lift, laugh, walk
Surely, you’ve encountered the slogan: ‘live, laugh, love,’ right? Here’s our proposal, something we find pretty cool: Lift, laugh, walk. Well, maybe it’s not drastically cooler, but it’s certainly a good thing to keep in mind! We recommend engaging in progressive resistance training twice a week and hitting 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity for everyone (4). Even though these recommendations might seem intimidating, they can be adjusted to suit all abilities. Can’t do push-up? There’s a weight we can start you at with a Dumbbell Bench Press. Pull-ups out of reach? Lat Pulldowns are a fantastic alternative. Find it hard to sit down and stand up? There’s a modified squat, step up or leg press machine waiting for you. Lastly, two daily bouts of 10-minute brisk walks where you feel somewhat out of breath is sufficient to start building some cardiovascular health (5).
Give yourself the gift of strength
Investing in your health isn’t selfish. In fact, being healthier means being able to better give your time and effort to loved ones. The best present is your presence (see what we did there?) and getting Stronger for Life is what we specialise in at Hobart Strength Training. If you’re unsure where to start but you’re looking to make serious changes to your health, fitness and strength in 2024, you can contact us here. We hope you enjoy this holiday season and treasure the time spent with loved ones. All the best from the team at Hobart Strength Training and Happy Holidays.
Resources
- The Importance of Physical Activity Exercise among Older People – PMC (nih.gov)
- Social isolation and loneliness: the new geriatric giants: Approach for primary care – PubMed (nih.gov)
- Laughter therapy: A humor-induced hormonal intervention to reduce stress and anxiety – PubMed (nih.gov)
- Physical activity (who.int)
- Level of physical activity among urban adults and the socio-demographic correlates: a population-based cross-sectional study using the global physical activity questionnaire | BMC Public Health | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)