Fit for 50 means using your brain

Because we live in a pre-packaged world, the only good answer seems to be one than comes with written instructions. But life always “requires some assembly”  and being “Fit for 50” - our 2013 mantra -  demands you use an obvious benefit of hitting life’s midpoint.

You have a brain. Use it.

It’s traversed some interesting terrain on its way to this moment. Why not rely on what you already know to guarantee your sense of fitness for the next 40 or 50 years on your way to 100? You’ve paid for that experience. Now let it pay off.

First things first. Health is not a condition. Health is who you choose to be. Consider this. Oregon native Gladys Burrill is 94. She is training 50 miles a week for her marathons. She didn’t run her first marathon until she was 86. Now she holds world records.

Are you SURE getting off the couch is too hard for you?

Here are three ideas you already know but likely would forget.  They might be especially apropos because this is National Women's Health Week, a time to empower women to make their health a priority.

 1) Make weight training part of your daily life. Really. It works.

Women often think of weight training as mostly for men. It’s not. Weight training is excellent for over-50s. Find a style that you like. Workouts such as 5×5, Crossfit and SS are only advisable if you have already been doing them for decades. A professional can offer you good advice.

But your body is the best advisor about when enough is enough.

Strength provides a higher quality of life, and for longer, too. What good is living to age 90 if you can’t do the things you enjoy doing? Strength training makes you look and feel better and keeps you doing the things you find fun longer. Want to be a stunning 70 year old? This is the way.

2) Get a dog:  If you put the “pro” in procrastination, likely the idea of walking to stay fit sounds stunningly dull and uninviting. But walking might be the No. 1 way to stay fit. How to develop the habit? You have to walk a dog in order to be a good owner. Buy a dog. Besides being good for you, adopting a pound rescue dog makes you a better person, too. Having a dog is a great way to force you to do your double up on your daily cardio. If you haven’t established a solid habit of daily cardio by age 50 then you need it badly.

3) Volunteer: This is so stunningly effective, it’s a shame it’s not obvious to more over-50s.

 If you are feeling down and listless, it doesn’t take much effort to see how much harder other people’s lives can be. Go volunteer. Help. Stop lounging on the sidelines. Life is a participation sport and if you are not in the game, you will be out of the game permanently soon enough.

Why does volunteering make a difference in fitness? It’s a function of effort and focus. Volunteering to help at a VA hospital or children’s hospital ward will put your complaining in a more honest light. Animal shelters always need help. Schools do, too.

If you have spent your life developing professional skills, use them to help others. In a group of 100 people, you might be the only one who really knows how to paint woodwork skillfully or clean out a clogged pipe.

Fitness is not merely a question of muscle development and mechanical flexibility.

There is an intelligent selfishness to this.

Flex your soul.

Who am I, and why would a person listen to me? Both fair questions. I’m Christine Hammerlund and I’ve been a nurse for years. I have delivered babies, saved lives, and cared for hundreds of patients through their medical triumphs and tragedies. Now I run Assured Healthcare at http://www.assuredhealthcare.com. We're a multi-million dollar medical staff provider in Illinois. I live in Antioch, Ill. Got health questions for me, whether large or small? I’ll answer. Visit us at http://www.facebook.com/AssuredHealthcareStaffing  and Chrishammerlund@yahoo.com