At 68, Woman got fit by learning to swim—4 expert tips for staying active at any age! – Life News

From just dipping her feet in the water to swimming three times a week, 68-year-old Vijaya Srivastava has transformed her health and social life by learning to swim. During her regular check-up, Srivastava told her doctor that she wanted to lose weight. She was already walking daily, so her doctor recommended she take up swimming.

According to a report by Business Insider India, the apartment complex where Srivastava lived in Albany, California, had a pool, where she regularly watched people “gracefully swimming end to end.” However, she couldn’t swim and she was afraid of water.

The report revealed that she teamed up with a neighbor in a similar position and looked for a teacher. They found a high-school student who was lifeguard-trained and willing to teach her first senior clients.

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At first, Srivastava’s goal was to complete one lap, but as she improved, the goalpost kept moving. Now aged 75, she can swim much further, Business Insider reported.

“The goal went from to do one lap to doing five laps, and then seven, then 10, then 12,” she said as quoted by Business Insider. After a “slow journey,” she reached 20 laps — but doesn’t often do that many regularly, because she runs out of time thanks to chatting between laps.

Here are 4 tips to start exercising at any age:

• Don’t back out: Srivastava maintained that you have to put your mind to whatever you decide to do, or else “you’ll never do it.” Having her neighbour by her side helped her a lot. According to her, She still swims with the neighbor she learned to swim with, who will encourage her on days when she’s having second thoughts. “I would say get some people who are close to you — younger, older, doesn’t matter — and are interested in the same activities” as you, she said as quoted by Business Insider, because “you always motivate each other.” A coffee at the end is her constant motivation.
• Exercise with people: A community of people to stay motivated is also very helpful. Srivastava has built up a community of people who live near her to do physical activities with, and meets them most days. She swims three days a week, do yoga at least once a week, and go for long walks or hikes with her friends. She’s also gotten friendly with others who use her community pool, who give her swimming tips and compliment her progress, which really pumps her up, she said as quoted by Business Insider.
• Add exercise to your routines: Srivastava’s decision to include her exercise routine into her social life has been very helpful too. The members of her friendship group, who call themselves the “Divine Nine” (even though there are now more than nine) do something most days. She also walks to coffee shops and the grocery store in the afternoons, building exercise into her daily activities in ways that “don’t have to be intense.” Even studies suggest that incorporating bits of exercise into your day can reduce risks of cancer.
• Your feeling is important: Srivastava noticed that when she got fitter and exercised more, she started feeling better. She said she feels more muscular — “and I have good posture and more stamina, better lung capacity. I can hike much more than I used to, I have more confidence,” she said as quoted by Business Insider adding, “And that there’s a sense of belonging when you have a community, and we have fun.”

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