Aging is a universal phenomenon that affects us all. Provided we live long enough, we will eventually experience significant sensory, motor, and cognitive changes in response to advancing age. However, although we are all aging, we do not age at the same rate. While some people experience relatively rapid declined in physiological and psychological function as they grow older, others undergo significantly less-pronounced changes over time (Fries & Crapo, 1981).
Genetics play a major role is the aging process; however, in addition to the genetic factors influencing human aging, there is now strong evidence that many aspects of the aging process are related to environmental factors, such as nutrition, stress, smoking and physical activity (Bokovy & Blair, 1994; Armstong et al., 2001).
Individuals who are 50 years of age and older may begin a reasonable fitness program including resistance training, cardiovascular training and flexibility to improve their overall fitness level. The design of the fitness program will depend on the individual but also have some general guidelines that should be followed. Some of these guidelines include training two to three non-consecutive days per week, train all major muscle groups, control exercise speed of movement, use a systematic progression to the training and avoid hard to control exercise that require a high degree of balance. Some of the benefits that can be expected from participation in a comprehensive fitness routine are a reduced body weight, lessen the risk of high blood pressure, certain types of cancer, stroke, improved sleep, and improvements in digestion and elimination.