Endurance activities help you:

• Keep up with your grandchildren during a trip to the park.

• Dance to your favorite songs at the next family wedding.

• Shovel snow. Sweep the front step. Rake the yard and bag up the leaves.

Strength training will make it easier to:

• Lift your carry-on bag into the overhead bin of the airplane.

• Carry groceries in from the car.

• Pick up bags of mulch.

Balance exercises help you:

• Turn around quickly when you’re on a walk and hear a bicycle bell behind you.

• Walk along a cobblestone path without losing your balance.

• Stand on tiptoe to reach something on a top shelf.

Flexibility exercises make it easier to:

• Bend down to tie your shoes.

• Look over your shoulder as you’re backing out of the driveway.

• Stretch to clean hard to reach areas of the house.

Quick Tip

Regularly including all four types of exercise (Endurance activities, Strength training, Balance exercises, Flexibility exercises) will give you a wide range of real-life benefits.

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Information adapted from article by Go4Life National Institute on Aging a division of the National Institute of Health, United States Department of Health and Human Services.

If you would like more information on “Real Life Benefits of Physical Exercise” contact Gail Gilman, Family Life Consultant, M.Ed., C.F.C.S. and Professor Emeritus University of Minnesota at waldn001@umn.edu. Be sure to watch for more Family Living Focus™ information in next week’s paper.