Essential exercises to maintain physical attributes and appearance

Priority list is as follows in no particular order of importance as all are interrelated and form the framework on which to build a positive physical profile into late middle and old age.

Strength. This is the touchstone as without it everything else becomes unattainable.
Strength in this context means maintaining and improving our current strength as opposed to mere muscle building with no specific aim in mind other than cosmetic.We can leave the cosmetic aspects for the younger set. In later and older age we still require a reasonably high level of strength to enjoy life in all its aspects.

Mobility. This can be linked with strength which must be our first priority. Mobility is the reward if you will for our efforts in maintaining our strength level.
Mobility takes on a much more important role the older we get especially as we strive to maintain our independence.


Flexibility. This is also essential and is largely up to us to maintain and improve in our later years as often this attribute along with strength are the first to show signs of deterioration unless we take active steps to both maintain and improve.


I would term the 3 attributes previously mentioned as being foremost and indeed critical to any meaningful attempt at a physical maintenance program. To a large extent one is dependent on the other and the absence of any single one will be the weak link leading to failure.


Other essential factors that all lead in some way from the aforementioned.

Balance. essential in late and old age.
Posture. Also of increasing importance especially in women suffering osteoporosis but also of general importance as the natural tendency in old age is the tendency of shrinking and stooping to a degree which we must continually fight against by keeping a straight back with head erect.
Our legs and our backs are the keys to mobility in later life but this requires active efforts to keep both in as good a shape as possible. If either one breaks down its stifles our efforts to improve our strength and mobility and makes our independence that much more unlikely.
There are many simple exercises designed to protect our legs and back the simplest being walking for our legs and keeping an upright posture for our backs. Sounds simple but then most things are it is only us that make them complicated.

Is physical condition and maintenance vital in later life?.

The question of physical condition and appearance is central to the ongoing debate on anti aging and the benefits resulting from a health and exercise induced lifestyle conducive to living an extended lifespan naturally as opposed to a chemically assisted enhancement. The bulk of the most recent anti aging discussion and research has been largely centred around the notion that if science can find a way to extend our lifespan by the some magic bullet, to coin a phrase, then our involvement in the process is minimal. This then lets us off the hook in so far as maintaining our physical condition is concerned as most imagine that this new supplement will do it all for us and we will somehow magically, live through later mid life and well beyond in much the same physical condition as we now are. This scenario, enticing as it may seem, will simply not come about,because to enable us to enjoy this promised life extension we need to maintain our physical condition through our own actions to then be in a position to enjoy this promised nirvana. The process, to be effective, must, in my view, involve a tandem approach with the emphasis firmly placed on our own individual efforts in the area of physical conditioning and maintenance. We can take advantage of any new advance that comes along in terms of supplements and other scientific aids but we must take responsibility for our own longevity now and not wait hopefully for science to save us the effort. To do otherwise, in my view, prevents the majority of us from both realising and enjoying what may be termed a viable extended lifespan. What really is the point in living to 120 through artificial means and being incapacitated and unable to enjoy those extra years. Life to normal people means an existence coupled with a certain expectation of enjoyment and fulfillment. This enjoyment and fulfillment may take a different form to what we experience in our mid and early years but to condemn someone to a life devoid of any enjoyment is to make a mockery of the whole notion of anti aging and life extension.In other words, the primary question must be, for what reason are we attempting to extend our lifespan? Is it just to numerically increase our time in this time capsule to convince and prove to science that it is possible, regardless of the consequences, or is it to genuinely increase our viable lifespan.In this context viable means our ability to enjoy as opposed to a mere existence. In the absence of a dual debate, as I have suggested, I am tempted to think the whole notion of somehow being able to artificially extend our lifespans is, to say the least, critically flawed if it does not include an appreciation and acceptance of the foregoing hypothesis in the affirmative.