Third Age: Keep young at heart by exercising daily

Rachel Borrill says age is no barrier to fitness. If you are over-50, start now.

IT’S never too late to start exercising. Start slowly, even if it is just a five-minute walk, and you will be surprised how quickly your fitness improves. That’s the advice of Mairead McLaughlin, a mentor for the Go For Life FitLine, which is aimed at the over-50s.

Mairead, 61, is a mother of seven and grandmother of 13, from Kilcross, Sandyford, Co Dublin, and has been encouraging and motivating older people to get active for the last two years.

“I would always have been very active. I walk every week with the Kilcross over-50s group and when I was approached to be a mentor, I felt it was a great idea,’’ she says.

“And how can I motivate people and encourage them, if I don’t get up off my own backside and be active, too?’’

The Go For Life FitLine was established by Age and Opportunity, the charity for older people, and is a free telephone service offering exercise advice, tips, support and help to the over-50s. Currently, the service operates in Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny, Meath and Wicklow.

Age and Opportunity has plans to run the service in other counties.

Every fortnight, Mairead, and the other volunteers in the Kilcross group, are given a list of up to 45 names by Go For Life, to ring and to support. She never rushes the call; for some people, it prompts them to increase their exercise routine; for others, it is a conversation with a friendly person.

“We have a general chat about their exercise routine, perhaps offer advice on joining a local group — it could be anything from walking to bowling. We have a set list of questions to ask, too, like how much exercise they have done since we last spoke and for how long. Everything is then put on the computer, so we can see their progress and offer tips and advice,’’ she says.

“Because people know we are going to call, it motivates them to get out and to do some exercise. So they can tell us what they have done.’’

Many participants complain that they find exercise boring, that they are losing their motivation to get out, so Mairead will suggest varying their routine, perhaps by joining a group, maybe by changing their walking route, or by adding another five minutes of exercise.

“We always say ‘enjoy it, you never know who you might meet’. There are a lot of lonely people out there, so even if they just walk to the shops rather than drive, they might meet someone to stop and chat too,’’ she says.

The emphasis is on slow and steady progress, with each person setting their own goals.

“We would recommend to take it slowly, maybe join a local exercise group, maybe their local resource centre or retirement group,” Mairead says.

“Sometimes, people just need a bit of companionship to take up exercising.”

¦ www.ageandopportunity.ie and the freephone FitLine, 1800 303 545

GET UP AND GO

GET MOVING: To celebrate National Iyengar Yoga day there will be free yoga classes for all levels of ability across the country tomorrow.

The classes, which will be held at over 60 different locations in 22 counties, are suitable for all ages and will be one hour long. They will focus on posture, seated work and relaxation.

Annette Cahill, a Iyengar Yoga teacher from Dublin, says yoga benefits people both mentally and physically and the classes are an opportunity to experience this. “January is the perfect time to get the body active and start the new year on a healthy note,” she added.

¦ Call Susanne on 087-7521783 or see www.myyoga.org for further details on times and locations.

MIDWINTER MUSIC: The annual Music for Galway Midwinter festival opens today at 6pm in the Town Hall Theatre and will play host to a wide range of world-class musicians over the weekend.

Now in its 33rd year, the festival organisers want people to immerse themselves in the ‘fin-de-siecle’ decadence of the concert halls of Paris and Berlin by enjoying the works of Debussy, Schoenberg and Stravinsky.

Tickets cost €20 each day or €55 for the weekend event.

¦ www.musicforgalway.ie; Town Hall Theatre 091-569777.

QUICK BAKE: Do you love baking? Are your cakes, biscuits or shortbread revered? Then why not dust down your apron and enter TV3’s Great Irish Bake Off? But be quick, applications close today.

To take part in this ultimate baking battle, interested applicants can enter online — simply log on to www.tv3.ie/ bake off.

Filming this second series of the Great Irish Bake Off will begin in April and all applicants must also be available throughout the month. ALCOHOL FREE: Give up booze for a month and reap the health benefits. According to the latest research, as well as feeling in overall better health, your cholesterol levels will have lowered, and your sleep patterns should have improved.

Perhaps surprisingly, this research by medical staff at the Royal Free hospital, London, is the first in the world to investigate the health benefits of abstaining from drinking alcohol for a month.

Doctors found on average the volunteers lost 3.3lb in weight, cut their cholesterol levels by 5% and their blood glucose levels by almost a quarter. They also felt more alert and fitter.