Over 50? Time to exercise

    
    Though you may not know it, scientists have already found the one magic bullet that will prevent disease, promote longevity and ensure lifelong independence. It's neither sexy nor groundbreaking. It's easy and hard, simple and complex all at the same time. It's exercise.

    Whether you start early or late, the benefits of moving more are astounding. Exercise helps your body work at its optimum level. With cardiovascular training, you work the most important muscle in the body -- the heart. A stronger heart means fewer heart attacks and more blood pumping through the body with less exertion. This, in turn, lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of strokes. Regular exercise helps maintain an ideal weight and speeds up metabolism. It also reduces the risk of diabetes, colon cancer, breast cancer, osteoporosis, prostate cancer and depression.

    When it comes to exercise, throw age out the window. Don't slow down after 50 -- speed up! It's even more important now that you keep up the momentum and make exercise a part of your daily life. Get off your butt and make fitness a priority. Move more, not less, as you age. Whether you're 45, 55 or 85, the benefits of an effective and appropriate exercise regimen are astounding.

    Commit to all four elements of a great exercise program. Start with stretches, continue with balance exercises, follow with aerobic exercise (getting your heart rate up) and always exercise with weights -- the best way to build muscle, strength and prevent frailty with advancing age.

    Although it is clear that stretching prevents injuries while exercising, balance training reduces the risk of falls and exercising with weights strengthens muscle and bone. It also reduces depression, promotes weight loss, prevents diabetes and makes aerobic activity easier, which, in turn, prolongs life. As a nation, we are exercising less, gaining weight and losing muscle. Unfortunately, Americans hate to exercise. Believe me, I have heard every excuse in the book. It's too hard; I'm too old; I'm too tired; or I'm too busy. When it comes to exercise, the excuses abound.

    Enticing Americans to exercise can be a challenging task, so the medical community has rallied around a single mantra: "Just do a little. Anything is better than nothing." While any exercise is better than no exercise, the idea that less is more is simply wrong! This passive, mediocre approach not only provides yet another excuse for us to avoid the hard work of healthy living but also sucks the life out of exercising! Where is the passion in a leisurely, 10-minute stroll? You don't even give your body a chance to release the healthy, energizing endorphins of exercise. While a little is better than nothing, the more you do the healthier you will be.

    You do not have to be an exercise nut to be fit. Fitness does not necessarily mean training for the Tour de France or completing an Ironman at 55. A six-pack of abdominals and bulging biceps are not the litmus test of fitness. Although both of those challenges are incredible for sure, often we psych ourselves out thinking that a rigorous exercise program is limited to hard-core athletes. This is simply not true. You do not have to stick to some idealized image of what it means to be "in shape." Fitness comes in all shapes, sizes and forms.

    And do not for one minute believe that being overweight, or frankly, obese negates the benefits of exercise. The evidence is compelling -- it is better to be fit and fat than thin and sedentary. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, which followed 14,000 men showed that whether fat or not, those who increased their fitness levels had a significantly lower risk of death from all causes, including heart disease. Losing weight is very difficult. To live longer and healthier, it is better to worry less about your weight and more about exercise and fitness.

    So as the new year evolves and we commit to an improved shape, vow to join a health club, exercise as much as possible and those extra pounds may slip away without much effort.

       
    Rallie McAllister is a board-certified family physician, speaker and the author of several books, including "Healthy Lunchbox: The Working Mom's Guide to Keeping You and Your Kids Trim." Her website is www.rallieonhealth.com.