Aging is a very real part of life. We have all been around the elderly at some point, whether it’s your own parents or grandparents, friends parents or grandparents, or the little old lady in the grocery store inching along with her cart.

Aging is not something we can control, but our fitness as we age is something we absolutely have a say in! In this blog, Sadie recounts her experience of watching her grandmother, Shana, grow old, and the heavy accommodations her family had to make to account for her physical limitations. Lucky for us, physical limitations as a result of aging can be slowed (or reversed!) by adding a few functional movements into a consistent workout routine. 

“When it was time for family outings, however, I remember my parents always having to work around Shana’s immobility and chronic health problems. My Shana was a fierce woman who grew up navigating the aftermath of the Great Depression. A single mother to six girls, she didn’t necessarily have time to think about taking care of her health — she only had time to survive. As a result, she developed a cocktail of diet-related diseases and spent most of her late life avoiding excessive movement so as to not deepen her suffering of chronic joint pain and nerve and neurological problems…

So, what movements should we be incorporating into our fitness routines now that will keep us moving through the ages? Hint: you’re probably already doing them.” 

Check out this full article here to see if you’re already doing these movements consistently, as well as why each of them are important! Also, scroll all the way down for a sample workout so you can get to the gym and get movin’!