We Americans spend a lot of time planning for retirement—paying off the mortgage and other debts and carefully investing—

to ensure that we can relax and enjoy our golden years. Too often, though, dreams of travel and pleasure falter as we realize there was a part of retirement we neglected to plan for … our health.

A common image of retirement is ‘that golden time,’ when the kids are out of the house, we have the economic means to pursue what we want to do rather than what we have to do, and our time becomes our own again. Much attention is paid to funding retirement, but considerably less energy is spent on making sure we have the physical capacity to enjoy our retirement.

Nothing can change the fact that as we age, our bodies change, and not necessarily for the better. The metabolic rate (the amount of calories burnt simply existing) slows, our capacity for aerobic exertion decreases, and muscle tissue is lost. This is aging, and while it cannot be stopped, it can be slowed considerably. How can we keep Father Time in check? Simply by exercising and prioritizing our caloric intake.

The benefi ts of regular exercise are tremendous, and not only for the young. Studies show that adults—even into their eighties and nineties—enjoy better heart and lung health, lowered blood sugar and blood pressure, and increased bone density, from a regular routine of aerobic and resistance exercise.

Exercise has even been shown to reduce memory loss, which so many of us fear as we age. Often, older individuals suffer from chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis and even obesity. These can all be addressed, and most likely improved, through exercise.

So you’ve never been a gym-goer and think it’s too late to start now? Not at all! In fact, studies have shown that even those who begin exercising late in life live longer than their sedentary counterparts. Regular exercisers also report more energy, better sleep patterns and elevated mood levels when compared to non-exercisers.

Of course, if weight loss is what the doctor prescribed, exercise alone is not enough. You will need to reduce your overall caloric intake so that it is less than your daily caloric expenditure; this is where prioritizing your calories comes into play. Nobody likes to count calories, but it is fairly easy to know that if you have a prime rib, baked potato with sour cream, and a glass of wine for dinner, that you shouldn’t duplicate that meal the next day and expect to lose weight. Enjoy a good meal, but do so sensibly, understanding that you will need to compensate for your indulgence by reducing your other calories over the following days. And, if you aren’t sure how to safely reduce your overall intake, or you want to know how to eat to support any chronic health conditions, consult a registered dietitian. They have the skills and training to assist you in sensibly losing weight.

Often, our clients at GreatLife Wellness are unsure what exactly counts as “exercise.” Does gardening for three hours on a sunny weekend qualify? Or is exercise only something you can do at your local fitness center? The good news is that, in general, exercise is any activity that causes a sustained increase in your heart rate. In fact, anything that you do, from walking the dog to mowing the lawn to hanging the laundry, burns calories; unfortunately these activities often aren’t completed at a brisk enough pace to keep the heart rate up in the range required of true exercise.

The American Heart Association now recommends daily activity to raise your heart rate for at least 30 minutes to maintain or promote cardiovascular health. At a minimum, you should spend at least 45-60 minutes, three times per week, engaging in a mix of aerobic activities and resistance training. This doesn’t mean you need to take up jogging or try to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but you need to perform exercises that get your heart rate up and keep it up.

An exercise prescription might look like this:

Day 1

• 10 minutes at a brisk pace on a treadmill
• 10 minutes on a bike at a level sufficient to keep your heart rate elevated
• 2 sets of 10 - 15 repetitions of assorted upper body resistance exercises at 65% of your 1 repetition maximum

Day 2

• 30 minutes of swimming
• 2 sets of 10 - 15 repetitions each of assorted lower body resistance exercises at 65% of your 1 repetition maximum

Day 3

• 10 minutes at a brisk pace on a treadmill
• 10 minutes on a bike at a level sufficient to keep your heart rate elevated
• 2 sets of 10 - 15 repetitions each of assorted core/trunk stability exercises

For individuals who have not exercised in years (or never), you should strongly consider a conversation with your medical professional for medical clearance. Tell your doctor that you want to begin a fitness program, and ask him/her if they have any limitations for you to observe. For example, if you have chronic pain as a result of arthritis in your knees, you probably won’t start resistance training for your lower body at 65% of your one repetition maximum. Instead, you would exercise at weights of 20%-30% of that maximum, but perform a great number of repetitions overall. Such a program will help to strengthen the joint and lessen pain. Your doctor will also be able to show you how to calculate your pulse.

What if you find joining a gym intimidating? You wouldn’t be the only person who doesn’t want to work out amongst the spandex-clad! Fortunately, there are alternatives to the bodybuilder gyms of past years. Seek an environment that makes you comfortable. Today there are fitness and wellness centers that specialize in working just with women or individuals who are medically complex. Wellness centers are a good option for individuals who wish increased safety and guidance.

For those with a real sense of commitment and an uncomplicated medical history, you may want to begin with workouts in the comfort of your own home. What is most important is getting moving, not where you do so. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Park & Walk – Quit the habit today of cruising parking lots for a spot close to the door! Park as far away as you possibly can, and walk briskly, both into and out of, stores.
2. Take the Stairs – We’ve all heard the advice, but have we actually taken it? It’s time to get off the elevators and escalators and get that heart pumping.
3. Lunchtime Walk – When you’ve fi nished your lunch, get up and go for a walk. It will not only aid your digestion, it will burn calories.
4. Make 1 dietary change – Lifestyle change is hard, there’s no way around it. The truth is though, that a diet is not something one goes on, it’s the way we eat for a lifetime. Don’t try to change everything at one time—you’re setting yourself up to fail. Instead, pick one change you’d like to make and incorporate that change into your life over one week. Once you’ve accomplished that goal, set another one for yourself.

If you want to enjoy your retirement then you must be physically able to do so. However, this does require some effort on your part. The good news is that, in the long-run, that effort will be far less than that which you will need to devote to disease management later in life. Whether you suffer from obesity, diabetes, hypertension, joint pain, or simply wish to maintain your current level of wellness, exercise is the solution. We owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to remember when planning for retirement that our most valuable asset is often our most overlooked – our own health.

GreatLife Wellness is a first of its kind medicallyintegrated wellness center offering custom supervised programs as well as guided independent fitness programming. GreatLife Wellness provides solutions for individuals that span the continuum of health and wellness. Visit us online for more information at www.GreatLifeWellness.com.