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Physical activity is crucial for older adults. Research shows that it reduces the risk of depression, protects against diseases, improves mental health, delays dementia, and enhances overall quality of life. Resistance band workouts, walking, and flexibility exercises are particularly beneficial. Consistent physical activity from a young age is important, and it helps challenge negative stereotypes about aging. Share this information with others who can benefit from it. Hi, my name is Kenzie. Welcome and thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the podcast. Today we will be talking about the importance of physical activity as an older adult. Do you ever wonder when you go to the gym every morning at 5 a.m. or multiple times a week how long you will be doing that or what that will look like as you start aging? Think about your grandparents. Do they go to the gym every day or do they participate in physical activity in any way? Being physically active throughout your life course is very important, especially as an older adult. There are so many benefits. Let me tell you a little bit about what I have found while researching this topic. But first, let me define physical activity. Physical activity is defined as movement of the skeletal muscles that result in more energy. This can all be done through exercise and sports. It is planned, structured, and repetitive. That is a big part of the definition of physical activity. Some research I found from Journal of Clinical Medicine is that when the total physical activity time increases, the risk of depression decreases. We all know that physical activity can reduce depression symptoms, but especially in older adults. Depression is often overlooked in older adults, especially when they have a chronic disease. With that, here is some other information that I found from the National Library of Medicine. They found that daily physical activity in older adults protects from diseases like strokes, diabetes, some types of cancers, and cardiovascular diseases. It also improves mental health, delays the onset of dementia, and improves overall quality of life. Don't we just love that? Here are some exercises I found that are most beneficial for our older adult population. Resistance band workouts, walking, and flexibility exercises. Most of these exercises or exercises in general for older adults reduce the risk of falling and helps reduce blood pressure. Also, physical activity helps us as a person, as an individual, become more independent, which is just amazing. To wrap this all up, creating the habit of consistent physical activity at a young age can help to motivate and keep that consistency throughout life. Keep going to the gym at 5 a.m. Stay in that routine. As hard as it gets sometimes, it will be so beneficial in the long run. Knowing all of this information about older adults can also stop aging stereotypes and negative views on aging. A lot of people believe that older adults are lazy, but that just is not true. But they wouldn't think that if they had all the good information. With that being said, share this podcast with anybody you think needs to hear this information and would benefit from it. Again, thank you so much for listening, and we'll see you next time.