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The importance of staying active

it or lose it!

Various studies have shown that if you aren’t active enough it is a big contributor to physical decline.

Regular exercise can guard against chronic health conditions such as heart disease and can also be part of managing health conditions you might already have, like arthritis.

Being active will mean you have stronger muscles and bones, maintain your coordination and balance, minimise the risk of falls and be beneficial for moving around your home, including getting in and out of chairs and bed.

Regular exercise can also help with:

◆ Increasing energy levels

◆ Regulating blood pressure

◆ Reducing anxiety or depression

◆ Improving sleep

◆ Improving metabolism to keep a healthy weight

◆ Increasing self-esteem

◆ Maintaining respiratory function

◆ Supporting your immune system

This is why it’s so important to keep up physical activity, even if you can’t do the same activities or exercise at the same intensity as you used to. Setting aside time each week, or even each day, to do something active will improve your fitness and overall health.

Preventing falls

Falling over at home is one of the most common mobility issues experienced by older Australians.

It often results in that person needing help at home to remain living in the community, or in an admission to an aged care home or hospital.

As a fall can cause broken bones and bruises, or sometimes more serious injuries, it can also lead to a lack of confidence and a hesitation to exercise because of the fear of falling over again.

If you are fit and active to begin with, you are less likely to have a fall or other injury at all and if you do end up having a fall it will help you to recover your mobility and confidence if you stay active.

It is recommended you do at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise, which gets your heart rate up, every day. Focus on aerobics and muscle strengthening to have even more of a chance of preventing a fall.

What activities can I do?

There are many options for exercise out there, the types of activities are endless.

Gyms are a popular destination for people who want to stay active because of the wide range of activities and classes you can do in one place.

A gym membership will give you access to lots of equipment you likely won’t have at home. You can choose what types of exercise you want to focus on while there – from building muscle with machines adjusted to the right weight for you to cardio on a stationary bike, which is a good low impact activity for your joints.

If you are not fond of exercising by yourself you could join an exercise class, either at the gym or in the park or local swimming pool and follow the instruction of the class teacher for the best results.

You may prefer to exercise while playing an individual or team sport, and the types of sport played by older people are also endless.

Lawn bowls, badminton, tennis and table tennis are popular, or you can join older age groups such as Masters competitions in the sports you played when you were younger.

Modified sports are also on the rise and are a lower impact version of

Footy fanatic is not ready to slow down

Brenton Wortley has a deep-seated passion for football.

He took up the Aussie Rules code at the age of 29 and played in the amateur league for 35 years, setting the Adelaide-based Plympton Football Club’s continuing record for total games played, an impressive 476 games.

But simply playing the sport wasn’t enough for Brenton, so he also took up coaching and has offered his experience to numerous clubs and age groups over the past decades.

Now 73 years old, Brenton has played around 440 games in the over 35s AFL Masters SA competition, and is the second oldest player in the State.

He says the fortnightly Sunday games are not “bash and crash like Saturday football” but are still competitive. While the sport keeps players physically fit, Brenton explains the camaraderie between players and support for those experiencing mental health struggles is also a huge factor in players’ overall wellbeing.

“I think the main thing is we push the mental health side along with the health side,” he says.

“There’s a lot of loners out there and most of our clubs are very friendly to any new members, whether they’ve never kicked a football before or whether they come from an SANFL [South Australian National Football League] level.” common team sports, like walking netball or soccer.

An example of the difference the team atmosphere can make for a player is the experience of the oldest player in SA, who is 77 and plays in the Riverland.

This man started playing a few years ago after his wife passed away, because he was going out to watch the games and the team invited him onto the field. He was instantly hooked.

“It’s most probably added years to his life to be quite honest,” adds Brenton. The support from clubs extends to having an accredited ‘trainer’ on hand, who can help treat soft tissue injuries like hamstring strains, niggles and cramps so that players can stay fit for longer, and refer a player with more serious injuries to a doctor.

Contact your local council or sports club for more information about activities or exercise groups in your community.

You don’t have to participate in organised sport or lift weights in the gym to reap the benefits of exercise either, going for regular walks or just vacuuming the house can be part of maintaining your physical abilities.

Returning to fitness

It is recommended that before you take up more regular exercise you should see your doctor or a health professional for advice on your new exercise routine.

This is particularly important if you are overweight, have a chronic illness or disease, or live a sedentary life.

When you start to exercise more regularly the effort it takes to push yourself to go out and move around may be difficult, because exercise might feel like a chore.

To provide some motivation, try to choose a form of exercise you enjoy and invite some friends to come along with you, or join a social group to meet new friends that enjoy the same physical activity as you.

If any player is forced to stop playing because of injury, their team mates encourage them to continue attending training and social events, just to feel part of the action.

The retirement plan

In his working life Brenton owned an automotive business with 30 employees in Adelaide and a branch of 15 employees in Darwin, and in retirement he has brought his people management skills into football.

After selling his business and retiring six years ago, it took Brenton only 12 months to take up the role of President for AFL Masters SA.

“You get out of one era of something and something else comes up you get involved with, so there’s never a dull moment,” he explains.

A highlight of his continuing service as President was last year’s national AFL Masters carnival, which brought 60 teams from across Australia to compete in Adelaide and took 10 months of intense planning.

During the carnival, a passing meeting with an opposition player from Perth that Brenton first met 20 years ago summed up how Brenton says many retirees feel about their football.

“He said ‘when are we gonna stop?’ and I said, ‘we’ll most likely be out there in wheelchairs mate’ and he laughed,” Brenton recalls.

“What my wife says to me is, ‘when are you going to give it away?’

“I say, ‘the day I don’t want to go to training or the day I lose interest in playing is the day I give it away’.”

If you need more guidance on what your exercise program should look like you can also hire a personal trainer, who will be able to help you set goals and steps to get fit.

Just remember, it’s best to start small and build up to the amount of exercise that will achieve your fitness goals so that you avoid injury.

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