Fitness & Exercise Community

Hi An,


Here are guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Do make sure to do the muscle strengthening exercise since adults lose muscle as we age. You'll find the exercise recommendations are not very much different than for younger adults.

Here you go:

2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., brisk walking) every week and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).
OR
1 hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., jogging or running) every week and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).
OR
An equivalent mix of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).

If you want even more health benefits

5 hours (300 minutes) each week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).
OR
2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) each week of vigrous-intensity aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).

An equivalent mix of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).

And here are excellent resources.

http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/nutrition-world-2/exercise-older-adults

http://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/exerciseandtheolderadult.pdf

http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2009/07000/Exercise_and_Physical_Activity_for_O
lder_Adults.20.aspx

http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/exercise-physical-activity-your-everyday-guide-national-institute-aging-1

http://nihseniorhealth.gov/exerciseforolderadults/healthbenefits/01.html

http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/olderadults.html

You can post your diet-related questions to the Diet Community:
http://exchanges.webmd.com/diet-exchange

Keep us posted on how you're doing.

Take care, Rich
Rich

Thank you for all of the info.

You're very welcome. Please let me know how it goes. It's always helpful to know if it helped. Rich

What about bone density and strength? I heard some use of heavy weights for legs and arms could help.

Yes, resistance exercise can help improve bone density, that's one of the reasons why in the CDC guidelines they suggest muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups and I emphasize it. It's not that strength directly affects bone density, but rather it's the muscles pulling on the bones that does part of it, and as a result of the work you also get stronger.


If you don't belong to a gym or have equipment at home, check out exercise tubing for resistance exercise. Tubing is inexpensive and versatile (you can do lots of exercises with them even in a chair) and a great way to get started with resistance exercise. You can start with a set of three for about $20. They come in colors to denote the tension. If you order them make sure to order the strap that allows you to attach the tube to a door (this is essential for many exercises), and if you want to work your legs, ask for leg straps. Here are some vendors that sell them.
www.performbetter.com/catalog/default.asp
www.power-systems.com


And here's a site with great videos http://www.body-mind-strength.com/resistance_tube_exercises/resistance_tube_exercises.html


Feel free to post back if you have more questions. Rich