Find Your Fitness Groove on National Senior Health & Fitness Day

Did you know there is a whole day in May dedicated to what's considered the largest health and wellness movement for seniors in the entire country?

National Senior Health & Fitness Day is an annual celebration that happens on the last Wednesday in May. According to National Today, it is an entire day committed to preventing illness in seniors through exercise and healthy eating habits. There's no better time to explore what lifestyle changes you can make starting today, to help you live life to the fullest. 

While staying active as a senior can help with weight loss or prevent weight gain, there are more important reasons to stay active as you age.

Steven Montague, MD, physician at EvergreenHealth Signature Care, shares how staying active as a senior decreases your risk for conditions like cardiovascular disease and stroke as well as lung, breast and colon cancer. Also, regular exercise can improve your bone health and lower the risk of fractures.

No matter what age you are, a healthy diet improves immunity to disease and can boost your mental health, which has implications for not only your overall happiness but your physical well-being too.

To start exercising and stay motivated, Dr. Montague suggests you:

• Find an exercise you like doing, which could be standard running, walking or something else like hiking, swimming or even dancing.
• Try to exercise in the morning before work or before other people or responsibilities start dipping into your day. As the day goes by, it's easier to lose control over your schedule.
• Personalize your goals so that they have tangible outcomes like being able to pick up your grandkids, work in your garden for an extended time or walk around Disneyland all day.
• Reward yourself by having a treat or buying yourself a gift after you meet a certain goal.

Additionally, integrating socialization into your exercise routine can help with motivation as well as reward. For instance, walking in a group can motivate you to get out the door while spending quality time with friends and family can improve your mood. Socialization has also been shown to reduce your risk of dementia, especially Alzheimer's-type dementia, as well as cognitive decline.

So, what can you do to get started? The most important thing, according to Dr. Montague, is that you simply get moving. "Getting five minutes of a walk or five minutes on the treadmill or the stationary bike, that's better than zero minutes," says Dr. Montague, "you just go out and get started. Pretty soon five minutes turns into seven and seven turns into ten. Then you start to feel stronger. You get not a vicious cycle, but a virtuous cycle going where rewards build confidence, builds more success, builds more rewards and you spiral upward instead of downward."

EvergreenHealth also offers free, in-person and virtual classes for seniors that help you stay informed about your health, your family's safety and teach you about self-care.