Tips to Help Stay Active as You Age

Lee Health Physical Therapist Assistant Joe Bores is a big advocate for staying active throughout life. “As we get older, we start to lose muscle mass and bone mass, and we see things like osteoporosis, osteopenia. It’s important to try to do something as we age to maintain those masses, to maintain our strength, and maintain our health, so we don’t have fractured bones with a fall.”

Your body loses muscle mass from age 30 on, and every decade it multiplies. It’s one of the reasons Bores recommends resistance training. “Like a squat or like a push-up or a pull down cable machine, it’ll stimulate the growth of the muscle tissue, muscle applies more force to the bone, so that encourages the bones to strengthen as well,” said Bores.

Weight lifting is just one element, you also need proper hydration and nutrition to age gracefully. “Trying to get back to basics, eating whole foods, non-processed foods, and I really place a high emphasis on proteins for our patients, because we don’t really eat enough proteins and I don’t think we can eat too much protein.” Bores recommends about 45 grams of protein per day for a 100 lb person.

Everyone, even those who have been sedentary for much of their life can change their ways, it’s all about starting small. Even something like walking can have a major impact on your health. “Make a simple goal that’s easy to achieve, maybe it’s just one day a week, two days a week, and walking, try to pair that new activity or habit with something that you already do every day,” said Bores.

Lee Health has fitness trainers at our Healthy Life Centers who can help guide you on your fitness journey. Rehab is also available for those dealing with injuries. You can learn more on leehealth.org.



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Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries. Lee Health - Caring People. Inspiring Care.


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