There is a whole generation out there getting scared. They are getting scared of getting old, weak and feeble. The saw it happen to their parents and witnessed them having to go into nursing homes in their droves when they could not take care of themselves and they don't want it happening to them.
They are the baby boomer generation who have lived a life of vitality and carefree existence and who are now staring down the barrel of retirement and don't want to go down the slippery slope towards the final event.
Who could blame them for feeling scared? As we get older we lose muscle and bone mass, the metabolism (the body's engine) slows, body fat accumulates, blood vessels begin to stiffen and narrow, joints lose flexibility, heart capacity declines, the brain slows, energy dwindles and the immune system weakens increasing disease risk.
The biggest change that continues the downward run is the loss of muscle tissue that accelerates as the years pass till finally as much as 50 percent of a person's musculature has been siphoned away. This leaves all over body weakness and disability of some degree or another and this is where the nursing home comes in.
It is not surprising that we fear getting old as these changes happen to healthy people. People with disease and medical problems start the downward spiral of decline much earlier and the decline is much quicker. All in all, getting old is not something for the faint hearted.
Yet the fix for this is so easy. A proper exercise program containing mostly strength training exercise is all that is needed to put the brakes on most of the muscle loss and many of the other losses. You have to put an intentional exercise program into your life if you wish to avoid the negative aspects of the aging process. You also have to put some effort into your strength training exercises and this may even take you out of your comfort zone from time to time. Not something you wish to hear but the truth.
But good health and a long life is not going to be handed to you on a plate. You have to earn it if you wish to avoid the nursing home. There is simply not enough muscle building and maintaining activity in our modern lives. It has all been removed to make our lives easy and convenient and the price for this is high - very high.
We all get old but how it affects you is all up to you. No-one else is responsible and only you can take action and slow it down as much as possible so the burden of your health issues does not fall upon someone else such as your family, friends or your community.
Don't think as you are getting older you need to do less and slow down. Do the opposite - do more, be more, speed up, get strong, get fit and eat better than you ever have in your life. Just because the years are ticking by and you are getting older does not mean you have to get 'old'.
If there is a fountain of youth for the baby boomers to help them combat the slippery slope of the last third of life proper strength training exercise is it. You are lucky as you know about it; your parents did not know this and ended up frail and unable to look after themselves. You saw the affects of this on them and you have to take action if you are to avoid the same fate.
Nothing even comes close to the youthful anti aging affects on an aging body as proper exercise and those who embrace it live longer, healthier and happier lives. Grab some for yourself.
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