It seems nearly everywhere you look there is a good reason to be active. But yet half of Americans still have trouble lacing up the tennis shoes or hitting the yoga mats, myself included.
Well, if short term benefits we all know about (controlling weight, reducing risk of heart disease and diabetes etc.) aren’t giving you that extra push to burn some calories perhaps looking long-term will.
A study released yesterday in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society shows that women who were physically active showed a lower prevalence of cognitive impairment. The greatest benefits seemed to come from physical activity as a teen, but even getting active at ages 30 and 50 helped to boost the likelihood of less impairment.
Not much scares me more than the thought of having my mind go first so I called Kim Williams, a personal trainer at the Texas Health Fitness Center HEB, for some advice.
She recommends that walking is the easiest and cheapest thing that anybody can do and it has just as many benefits as running. Even breaking that up into 10 minute segments three times a day can show health benefits akin to scheduling a 30-minute block. Regardless of how you break up the time on any given day, it’s recommend that individuals exercise three to five times a week, Williams said.
Williams said that a consistent response she sees from individuals working out at the Fitness Center regularly is that they’re glad to be working out now and achieving the related health benefits rather than looking back wistfully on lost time.
Guess the old adage no time like the present holds true when it comes to fitness.
Jennifer Erickson
Sr. Public Relations Specialist
Texas Health HEB
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