Exercise at Every Age: Weighing the Benefits
By Genevieve Cunningham
Exercise is such an important part of healthy living. As we get older and start to put real effort into our health, we often join a gym and make a plan for staying fit. And while exercise in your adult years is a good idea, exercise at any age brings benefits into your health and your life. If you're serious about living your healthiest life -- and helping your loved ones live a healthy life too -- take a look at these benefits of making exercise a regular habit.
Children
Kids can really benefit from regular exercise. Since kids are constantly learning and growing, they need to stay moving. Exercise can help strengthen the muscles and improve stability and balance. It helps keep their body fat percentage lower, which improves health now and also improves their chance of good health in the future. Exercise also helps kids burn energy -- something that comes in incredibly handy when you need your kids to pay attention or complete a task. Exercise is good for overall health -- mental, emotional, and physical -- and can get your kids moving in the right direction at a young age.
Young Adults
Teenagers and young adults can also benefit from regular exercise. At this time in life, we don't worry too much about weight gain or body fat. But staying fit now might help you avoid the weight gain that naturally sets in around middle age. Regular exercise also helps with energy, sleeping habits, flexibility, and lowers the risk of developing major diseases as you age.
Older Adults
As we get older, it's possible that our exercise habits will actually slow down. And while it's OK to lower the intensity of your exercise routine, it's not OK to stop altogether. Keeping up with an exercise routine helps keep metabolism moving, lowers overall body fat percentage, improves circulation, reduces the risk of heart disease, and can add years to your life. If you're approaching middle age or beyond, maintaining an exercise routine is extremely important.
If you're not currently exercising, it's time to find a routine. It doesn't matter whether you walk or run or swim or take the newest class at the local gym as long as you're moving. Find something you enjoy, add it into your daily life, and you'll improve your health and quality of life no matter your age.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in North Charleston, N.C.