Staying Active After Retirement

After retirement, many retirees find that the best way to enjoy life is to relax and spend time with loved ones. Enjoying life sometimes consists of reading, time with the grandkids, binge watching their favorite tv shows, and anything that doesn’t require them to be physically active. Although you should enjoy your retirement with a little rest and relaxation, it is just as important to keep an active lifestyle.

If you’re someone who is about to retire, never underestimate the importance of staying active. Maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle will allow you to keep your body in good working order and also help to make sure that you really enjoy your retirement years. By staying active after retirement and keeping your body moving, you’ll be able to add more time to your retirement years. 

AS WE AGE WE LOSE OUR MOBILITY

As we get older, it’s better to keep our bodies moving. If we don’t move and have an active lifestyle, we will lose our mobility, which is the ability to move or walk freely and easily. As we age, our mobility is critical for functioning well and living independently. 

This is where the old saying, “Move it or lose it” comes from.  If we don’t keep our bodies moving, we could lose our mobility which can lead to assisted living, higher rates of disease, disability, hospitalization, and a poor quality of life.

For example, a client who I work with now is 86. As my oldest client, he attributes the ability to enjoying all of his hobbies to working out and staying active.

TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR

Before starting a new healthy active program, one of the first things I recommend is for you to consult with your physician to make sure you are good to go! You may want to ease into new activities to make sure you are fully aware of your fitness level. Once you know your fitness level, you can choose an activity that is safest and most effective for you. 

WAYS TO STAYING ACTIVE AFTER RETIREMENT

Here are a few options to keeping active after retirement and how they’re beneficial towards helping you with a healthy active lifestyle.

Resistance Training 

Working out with weights is very beneficial for bone health. Bone is living tissue and adapts to the force put on it. When you exercise regularly, your bones will adapt by building more cells and will become more dense. This will help fight against osteoporosis and osteopenia.

Pickleball 

Another great activity is pickleball. Pickleball is aerobic and could help lower risk of heart disease. A study by Leisure Studies found older adults who played in pickleball tournaments had a lower risk of depression. Playing a sport like pickleball will also help you improve your reflexes and balance. Some other great things about playing a sport like pickleball is the social aspect of it and it’s extremely fun and addicting. 

Aerobic Classes 

Daily moderate aerobic exercises will help reduce blood pressure, lower stress, and decrease the risk of some cardiovascular problems. Aerobic activity is a great way to be proactive with your heart health.

Pilates 

Pilates is great at helping gain strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, balance, and good posture. There is also a much lower risk of injury than with other types of exercise. Pilates is also low impact, so it won’t cause a lot of pain on your joints. 

Yoga 

The benefits of yoga are vast for everyone including retirees. Yoga will help reduce stress, improve sleeping habits, and lessen risk of depression. It will also help you with your balance, flexibility, mobility, and strength. 

LET’S KEEP IT MOVING

We all need to be active no matter what age we are.  But as we get older, we have to keep moving. If we keep moving, we will be proactive in helping lower the risk of some health issues that we could deal with. If you stay active, you will also be able to help maintain a healthy weight. Having a healthy active lifestyle will help build positive mental health. Also, quality sleep and rest could be a benefit of exercising. 

There are many benefits to staying active as we get older. But if you want to have a healthy long life after retiring where you are able to do and enjoy all the hobbies you’ve been looking forward to, it’s a must to have a healthy active lifestyle.