Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hum Fit to India Fit campaign is a too late awakening of the Government. It should have been the priority number one in 1947 after the Independence. We as a nation are the capital of diabetes, heart disease, and many more lifestyle-related disease. In times like this healthy aging is not only our individual priority but the national priority.

If your present health status indicates you are suffering from;

• Diabetes
• Osteoporosis
• Excess Weight or Obesity
• Weak Knee Joints
• Weak / Damaged Kidney
• Weak Muscles
• Heart Disease
• Smoking /Drinking Alcohol
• Sedentary Lifestyle
• Eating frequent processed food
• Can’t climb up to 5 floors
• Can’t walk 1 kilometer with comfort
• Drink less than adequate water

And you don’t exercise or have never felt the need to exercise you are up for a painful future.Most of us are divided in 4 categories:

• Want to exercise and do it regularly
• Want to exercise and do it as and when gets time
• Want to exercise it, but don’t do it, have many excuses for not doing
• Don’t want to do it and don’t realise they must do it

This post is for the people in category 3 and 4. Because by the time they realise exercise is a necessity, it would be too late. The damage is done. The body is spoiled and reversing is very difficult. As we age, our body undergoes changes. When we exercise regularly, we can push the aging-related issues. When we don’t exercise we age prematurely.

What happens to our body as we age? 

As per the Harvard Health, we start aging in the 3^rd decade of our life. I.e. after the year 25.

• Average men’s maximum attainable heart rate declines by about one beat per minute per year. Heart peck capacity comes down by 5/10% per decade. This causes fatigue and breathlessness with modest daily activities as we age.
• In the middle age, our blood vessels start to stiffen. The blood becomes thicker and therefore harder to pump through.
• As we age, we put up weight and lose our muscles. So our weight is mostly comprised of fat. This gives rise to bad Cholesterol and fall of HDL i.e. good cholesterol.
• We lose bone calcium as we age. This makes us fit case for Osteoporosis, especially women.
• The nervous system also changes. Our coordination suffers, Memory loss begins and sleep suffers.

This is the scenario for everyone as we age. Imagine if you are already suffering from any one or more of the 13 health conditions. The deterioration will be faster.

Handpicked related post: 11 reasons to exercise regularly for healthy aging

Exercise is the panacea for healthy aging: 

Yes. Exercise is the only way you can defer the deterioration in your health as you age.  As per their study, the following is the comparison of the effect of aging and exercise on our body.

	Effect of aging	Effect of exercise
Heart and circulation
Resting heart rate	Increase	Decrease
Maximum pumping capacity	Decrease	Increase
Heart muscle stiffness	Increase	Decrease
Blood vessel stiffness	Increase	Decrease
Blood pressure	Increase	Decrease
Blood
Number of red blood cells	Decrease	No change
Blood viscosity (“thickness”)	Increase	Decrease
Lungs
Maximum oxygen uptake	Decrease	No change
Intestines
Speed of emptying	Decrease	Increase
Bones
Calcium content and strength	Decrease	Increase
Muscles
Muscle mass and strength	Decrease	Increase
Metabolism
Metabolic rate	Decrease	Increase
Body fat	Increase	Decrease
Blood sugar	Increase	Decrease
Insulin levels	Increase	Decrease
LDL (“bad”) cholesterol	Increase	Decrease
HDL (“good”) cholesterol	Decrease	Increase
Sex hormone levels	Decrease	Slight Decrease
Nervous system
Nerve conduction and reflexes	Slower	Decrease
Quality of sleep	Decrease	Increase
Risk of depression	Increase	Decrease
Memory Lapses	Increase	Decrease

No more excuse for not doing the exercise is required.  Rather, there is every reason for us to put exercise on top priority. NOW.

Handpicked related post: 8 tips for busy women to find time for exercise

Exercise is the only option for healthy and pain-free aging. Good diet and good luck play a role tooYou can’t do anything about the luck, but you can certainly do exercise and hope for better days ahead.

Without exercise, your fate is sealed for a painful aging.

Remember: It is easier to cure in the early stage of the age and early stage of the disease. It’s more and more difficult, painful and hassles when we age and are treated for a disease/s.

Include exercise in your daily to-do list from today. Tomorrow will be too late.

Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning. Thomas Jefferson

Regular exercise and a good diet are the way of life and cause of healthy aging.

Liked it? Share it. Subscribe for a regular blog post in your mailbox.

Handpicked related post: How can YOU ease the pressure on the healthcare system?