Prime Time - Jane Fonda [35]
The Exercise Imperative
I have realized over the last decade that the difference between a younger person who is physically active and one who isn’t is not particularly dramatic. But the difference between an older person who is active and one who isn’t is enormous. “Fitness for the young person is an option,” says expert on aging Dr. Walter Bortz, “but for the older person it is an imperative.”1 Younger people’s bodies are more resilient and forgiving, whereas older bodies are weakening; unless we deliberately intervene to slow this process down (or, yes, even reverse it), we risk sliding into early decrepitude. It is largely up to us. The human body is fully capable of vigorous use well into the nineties and even longer.
ANNA-MAREE HARMAN, AMHPHOTOGRAPHY@YAHOO.COM.AU
A group of seniors, all part of Tewantin-Noosa R&SL club, made a calendar and sent it to me. This was the cover!
ANNA-MAREE HARMAN, AMHPHOTOGRAPHY@YAHOO.COM.AU
In his book The Blue Zone: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, Dan Buettner visits places in the world where large numbers of people live past one hundred: Sardinia, Okinawa, Costa Rica, and Loma Linda, California. One of the things all of them have in common is daily, low-intensity physical activity such as walking, hiking, and farming. Activity strengthens the heart and bones, improves the circulation, reduces obesity, thickens the skin, and can help with depression because of the endorphins released into the system. I learned from years of watching exercise change women’s bodies and minds that it is also empowering: It gives you a sense of being in charge of yourself and your well-being, which is particularly important for older people, who often feel they aren’t in charge of much of anything anymore.
“Use it or lose it” is a truism, but what it leaves out is that if it’s lost, we can get it back. Not only can we recover lost functions but, as Dr. Bortz notes, “in some cases we can actually increase function beyond our prior level.”2
How Active Does “Being Active” Mean?
Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be scary. In fact, “Easy does it” is the appropriate mantra. I never thought I would say this, old go-for-the-burn me. But I’ve learned the hard way to respect that I am no longer the Jane Fonda who created the original Workout. My body will make me suffer if I don’t slow down. This is why I created the new Jane Fonda’s Prime Time line of exercise DVDs for boomers (people born during the demographic birth boom between 1946 and 1964) and seniors (those born prior to the end of World War II) who, like me, need to take it a little easier.
Let’s discuss all the components of a good weekly exercise regimen—aerobics, resistance, balance, and stretching—and why these are especially vital for people over fifty.
In the early 1980s, I was in my midforties and I had just launched my workout studio.
PHOTOS BY HARRY LANGDON
Why Is Aerobic Activity Important?
Aerobic activity is important on many levels and, certainly, is critical to one’s overall health. But right now, we’ll begin with weight loss. Aerobic activity is the only thing that gets rid of fat from all over your body, including the marbled fat deep inside your muscles; dieting alone can’t do this. In fact, for permanent body-fat weight loss (as opposed to fluid or muscle weight loss), the combination of reducing calories (from unhealthy food) together with aerobic exercise is the answer.
Aerobics for Your Heart
Heart disease is the primary cause of death in older men and women, killing one in four. How well our cardiorespiratory system functions is one of the best clues to our overall fitness, and something