2022 Men’s Health Month
I’m sure you’ve heard the tired old sayings about everything going downhill after you turn 50, or that at a certain point pain and discomfort is just supposed to be there. That truly isn’t the case. This month is all about raising awareness about preventable health problems and the things that you can do to achieve a level of wellness that will keep you happy and healthy. Prostate cancer is one of the biggest concerns for men as they grow older. While there is no full-proof way to prevent prostate cancer, making choices that benefit your overall health can reduce your individual risk. Whether for cancer prevention or just overall health, there are a lot of steps you can take to reach a higher level of wellness.
It is extremely important to listen to your body and receive regular check-ups. Going along with the notion of check-ups, it seems like a simple idea but when you’re feeling unwell, whether it is pain or illness, seek treatment. Being “the tough guy” isn’t worth the potential of worsening your condition for the long-term.
Healthy eating is something that everyone is taught to practice while they’re children, however in many cases that teaching falls on deaf ears. Bodily maintenance and function it is one of the most important things to do as you age. As men get older, their dietary needs change a bit to needing more calcium, vitamin D, fiber and potassium built into their daily eating habits. These help to promote bone health especially which in turn reduces the chance of injury. The increase in potassium intake has the added benefits of lowering the risk of high blood pressure. Experts have also deemed the amount of fat calories in your diet to be limited to about 20-35% in order to maintain a stable healthy diet.
Eating healthy isn’t the only thing that has been preached since you were young. Exercise is the other basic but important piece to the puzzle. A common rule-of-thumb when it comes to working out is to shoot for around 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day which ends up being around 150 minutes of exercise each and every week. This should include a variety of different exercises ranging from cardio to full-body strength sessions. This may look like longer runs and heavy weight training for younger men, however as you age a regular brisk walk or jog can cover the cardio end, while a hike on a trail can do wonders for maintaining strength.
For things such as alcohol and smoking, it is very important to manage your lifestyle given your usage of either of those substances at a given time. For starters, it is never too late to quit smoking. Your body will begin healing itself whenever smoking has stopped. Quitting smoking lowers the risk of hearth attack, stroke, and high blood pressure, all of which are diseases that are typically more prevalent in men aged 50 or older. This then allows you to become more active and continue to be at a higher level of wellness. As far as alcohol is concerned, if you drink alcohol it is recommended to limit it to no more than two standard drinks a day. Limiting and stopping these two things to the best of your ability will in turn lead to overall better health.
While none of this guarantees the full-proof prevention of illness or injury, it does reduce your risk drastically to help you be the best version of yourself. Here at Premier Physical Therapy Services we are able to offer a multitude of services that can further reduce your risks. If your focus is on strengthening and exercise, we have personal training as well as group fitness classes geared toward many different fitness levels and needs such as Stronger Aging which is geared specifically to benefit adults aged 60 or older. Of course we have more one-on-one and hands-on physical therapy treatments from our outstanding staff of therapists.