Age should not stop older people from engaging in exercise and other healthy, physical activities, the chief medical officer of Aspetar has said.
Dr Scott Gillogly said it is important for older people, even those who are nursing ailments like arthritis or diabetes to stay fit and lead a healthy lifestyle.
“It (age) should not stop you for any reason and even if you have arthritis or diabetes, it’s even more important to be able to exercise and stay active,” Gillogly told Gulf Times on the sidelines of Aspire Zone Foundation’s National Sport Day celebrations held yesterday. Among different age groups, particularly senior athletes and people over 30 or 35, Gillogly said their concern is how to prevent injury when engaging in any type of exercise. 
“It is important that your general doctor approves you from a heart health standpoint and clears you for exercise. And although it’s difficult to be able to talk exactly about the host of exercises available, I think the best advice is to do things gradually. In other words, you don’t come out and say ‘On my first day I’m going to walk 5km or 10km’ just because you want to make up for lost time. 
“You don’t start doing more than you can possibly do and then make your muscles sore. You start with something that’s comfortable, keep your form good and then gradually increase,” he said. He added: “The biggest mistake that people make is they want to start on Monday and be in shape by Friday. It doesn’t work like that. Pick something that’s realistic in your lifestyle – 30 minutes, three times a week; it’s so easy to do that if you just plan and are committed to it. I think that’s the key thing.
“I think that certainly a lot of the things online often give parameters of what to be cautious for like certain kinds of activities. And the one thing that I would caution everyone is if you have some pain or ache like shoulder pain for example, then you do need to be careful about what activity you do.”


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