As we age, it is very important that we continue to exercise. For most of us, the benefits of remaining physically active far outweigh the minor inconvenience of fitting a little exercise into our daily routine. But remember, it’s important to be careful and sensible, and to always consult your physician before embarking on a new workout regimen.

Let’s start with some interesting notes about the Baby Boomer generation:

• The oldest of us will be 62 this year.
• The average age of today’s grandparent is 49 (my wife and I fit these statistics perfectly since our oldest grandson will be 13 this summer).
• We are the first generation that expects to be grandparents for 40 years or more (personally I’m pushing for 50+ as a minimum). This statistic should create the largest ever generation of great-grandparents.
• There are more boomers than ever before participating in all kinds of recreational and organized team sports. The numbers are so high that they stun statisticians.
• Baby boomer sports injuries jumped 33 percent during the 1990’s. The largest increase in injuries is among boomers doing general exercise and running.

One of the things we should be getting from these statistics is the fact that we need to be more careful and calculated in our approach to exercise so that we can live our expected, extended lives with better quality of life. As they say, “We ain’t as young as we use to be.” Unfortunately, there is a disconnect between the brain and our bodies, which often leads to injury. In our minds we are still young and we think we can still run and jump just like we did in our youth.

The truth is, as we age, both our bones and soft tissues (muscles, tendons, and ligaments) lose their strength and become less elastic. This makes us more vulnerable to a variety of injuries. And, when we do get injured it takes us longer to get back to where we were. Additionally, our heart becomes less efficient and the body’s metabolism slows.

Does this mean that we shouldn’t exercise and participate in sports as we get older? To the contrary. Physical exercise is a necessity to help us keep our bodies as healthy as possible and give us a better quality of life.

Being fit and conditioned plays a big role in minimizing our risk of injury. What we need to remember is that we have to train and condition ourselves at an age-appropriate level. Keep in mind that realizing your basketball league starts next week so you jump into a quick conditioning program is going to almost guarantee you some early injuries and problems. You need at least two to three months of training and conditioning to get ready for most sports activities. If you’re starting a new fitness program, you need to work your way into it slowly.

Here are some suggestions to help us boomers get back into a sports activity, or start a new exercise program:

• Make sure you warm up and stretch before any physical exercise or activity. A good way to do this is to do three or four minutes of aerobic exercise to warm you up and then stretch gently with a special emphasis on the muscles you will be using for your exercise routine or specific sports activity.
• Listen to your body. “No pain no gain” is a stupid adage at any age, but it is particularly dangerous for us more mature exercisers. If it hurts too much, you probably shouldn’t continue to do it. Remember that it is important to adjust your physical activity to both your age and your fitness level.
• Take lessons and/or get some expert guidance before you start something new. Make sure the person you’re learning from knows what they’re talking about. If you’re going to start a new exercise program, hiring a coach to help you get started is a worthwhile investment. And they can help keep you on track and motivated.
• Don’t try to get all your exercise on the weekend. Being a “weekend warrior” can be dangerous. Try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise every day.
• Make sure your fitness program is balanced. It should include aerobic exercise (3 to 5 times per week), strength training (at least twice a week), and flexibility exercises (at least 4 to 5 times per week). And, believe it or not, all of that exercise can be done in less than 40 minutes per day.
• Remember to use the 10 percent rule when increasing your activity level. Increase your activity in increments of no more than 10 percent per week. As an example; let’s assume you’re walking 2 miles per day at 15 minutes per mile, 5 times a week for a total of 10 miles. You should only increase your total mileage for the week by 1 mile, or increase your pace to 13.5 minutes per mile. Don’t do both at the same time.