Exercise Is Not An Option!
I announce it all the time. It has become my slogan for disease prevention, for active aging, and for maintaining a good quality of life: Exercise is not an option!
Everyone must exercise. The frail, the strong, the overweight, the underweight, the rich, and the poor, everyone must exercise. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA) released updated guidelines for exercise last year. Together, the ACSM and the AHA recommend 30 minutes of moderate exercise 5 days a week or 20 minutes of vigorous exercise 3 days a week to reap the health benefits associated with exercise: lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, weight reduction, better sleep, less depression, and a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, osteoporosis, and diabetes. And, the list goes on. It is especially important for older individuals to exercise because regular aerobic exercise combined with strength, flexibility, and balance training can help to delay the inevitable declinations associated with aging.
About the Author
Peggy Kraus is a clinical exercise physiologist at Southampton Hospital in New York. She received her Masters degree in Professional Physical Education from New York University and after many years in commercial and corporate fitness settings has been in the cardiac and pulmonary rehab setting now for 10 years. Her job duties include educating rehab patients about the link between exercise, nutrition, and good health. Peggy has been published in IDEA’s Fitness Journal and in AFAA’s American Fitness, and her continuing education course, Atherosclerosis: Causes, Consequences, and Treatments, is offered in CEU4U’s nursing course catalog.
