| The start of a new year can be a good time to look ahead and set goals. One common goal for adults is to incorporate more physical activity into our lives. If our bodies are not used to much physical activity, though, it can be tough to get started or to reach our goals. The National Institute on Aging has some helpful tips on how older adults can get started with exercise .First, start slowly! Begin with low-intensity exercises for short amounts of time and work your way up. Also incorporate warm-ups before exercising and cool-downs afterwards to ease your body in and out of activity. Consider talking to your doctor about exercise. You can ask questions like: Are there exercises or activities I should avoid? Is my preventive care up-to-date? How does my health condition affect my ability to exercise? Finally, write down and track your fitness goals. It can be helpful to have short-term goals (for example, in the next two weeks I will make sure I have the shoes and comfortable clothes I need to start walking for exercise) and long-term goals (for example, next summer I will be able to play catch with my grandchild).Whatever your goals are for this year—big or small, fitness-related or not—they are worth pursuing! |