Male in-home senior care providers need to focus on their own health, too!
While men typically aren't the primary caregivers for in-home senior care, we often do participate. Statistically, it is usually the eldest daughter (our wife?) who is the primary caregiver for one of her parents or grandparents. Or she could even be caring for your parent or grandparent. As a man, you may assist by helping with transportation, household chores, lawn care and minor home maintenance tasks.
Regardless of your role in providing in-home senior care, being a caregiver (or being married to one) can give you a real perspective on wanting to maintain your own health in order to extend your healthy years well into the future! And, of course, all the current research points to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise per day as a critical part of that healthy aging.
So, what to do to get that exercise? Men of our generation are frequently grounded in their jobs. This makes them very goal-oriented and results driven. A program called "Couch to 5K" might be just what you need. It gives you a very specific program to build up your aerobic activity to the point where you could participate in a 5k run. And as it turns out, running 5 kilometers takes about 30 minutes! You can find and download specific details on the program at www.c25k.com.
If you are a "techy" kind of guy, there are even iPhone/iPod and Android apps to help you carry out the program. These apps verbally tell you when to walk and when to run as you follow the couch to 5k program.
Now, if you are like me, running a 5k is a bit too much to bite off. If you can't do this, at least try getting 30 minutes of walking per day!
And finally, Congratulations, to all men out there who are providing (or helping to provide) in-home senior care to a relative! Keeping your loved one in their home for as long as possible is a laudable effort!