Many experts believe that exercise is the single most important thing an individual can do to improve his or her health. Despite this fact, nearly 60 percent of Americans are not regularly active, and 25 percent are not active at all. Regardless of age, says Jette, physical activity helps the body maintain, repair, and improve itself. For seniors, says Jette, exercise, as well as enhancing the quality of life, has the added benefit of moderately increasing longevity. Cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissues and remove wastes over sustained periods of time.
Flexibility allows joints and muscles to move through their full range of motion.
Different exercises affect different aspects of health, and Jette recommends a combination of aerobic, resistive strength, and flexibility exercises. He says that seniors, especially those with a known medical condition, should seek the advice of an exercise expert and their physician before beginning a vigorous exercise program. Whether age or a sedentary lifestyle is to blame, seniors are more susceptible to exercise-related injuries than the general population. To prevent injuries, individuals should start slowly and gradually build up to more strenuous exercises. In the first Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, published in 1996, then acting Surgeon General Audrey F. Manley recommended a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate exercise on most days of the week for seniors who have built up their physical activity level.