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Get Ready To Get
Outside!
By Wayne L. Westcott |
 Quincy
- For many older adults the first day of Spring-like
freshness and warm weather is a most welcome event. After
many weeks of short days and cold temperatures it feels
great to enjoy the yard, garden and park once again. As a
testimony to our body’s need and desire for exercise, we
really look forward to performing some long-neglected
physical activity. A walk in the park, a cycle around the
town, sprucing up the yard, or tilling the garden soil…any
type of outdoor movement is incredibly reinforcing after
being inside for so long.
However, early Spring exercise can be a twoedged sword.
Doing a moderate amount of new physical activity is a good
thing, but performing the same quantity and intensity of
exercise that you did last fall is likely to prove
detrimental. Be careful about doing too much, too soon,
without proper preparation and progression. Innocently
overdoing outdoor work or play can result in debilitating
injuries that may require several weeks for recovery and
rehabilitation.
So you actually have three choices. First, you can spend a
lot of time doing enjoyable exercise on that first
Spring-like day, but pay a less pleasant price for the next
several days (or longer) from exceeding your present level
of physical fitness. Second, you can take it very easy on
that first Spring-like day and forfeit all the fun you could
have experienced if you had been in better shape. Third, you
can start now to gradually condition your cardiovascular and
muscular systems, so that a brilliant April day can be
filled with purposeful physical activity without injury or
infirmity. I strongly recommend option three.
Beginning this week, do your cardio workout 20 minutes a
day, three days a week. You may walk or use an indoor cycle.
Here’s how it works. The first four minutes are an easy
warm-up (1 on a scale of 1 to 5). The next four minutes are
performed at a moderate level (3 on a scale of 1 to 5). The
next four minutes are a little easier, between easy and
moderate (2 on a scale of 1 to 5). The next four minutes are
again performed at a moderate level (3 on a scale of 1 to
5). The final four minutes serve as the cool down (1 on a
scale of 1 to 5). This is a brief yet beneficial program for
progressively conditioning your cardiovascular system. As
you attain better aerobic fitness, what used to feel like a
moderate effort will feel as easy as your warm-up, which
signals you to walk faster or cycle with more resistance.
This 20-minute workout can be very satisfying and
reinforcing as long as you are consistent.
My strength training recommendation is two 10-minute
workouts a week, performing one set of the following
exercises with a weight load that permits 10 to 15 good
repetitions. Do machine leg presses (or dumbbell squats) for
your front and rear thigh muscles. Do machine chest presses
(or dumbbell bench presses) for you chest, front shoulder
and rear arm muscles. Do machine seated rows (or bent
dumbbell rows) for your upper back, rear shoulder and front
arm muscles. Do machine abdominal curls (or body weight
trunk curls) for your midsection muscles. Do machine back
extensions (or body weight trunk extensions) for your lower
back muscles.
These five basic strength exercises cumulatively address
most of your major muscle groups and will effectively
condition your musculoskeletal system for vigorous outdoor
activities when that first warm day finally arrives.
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About The Author
Wayne L.
Westcott, Ph.D., is fitness research director at the South
Shore YMCA in Quincy, and author of the new book Strength
Training Past 50, 2nd Edition.
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