Hayley Wickenheiser explains why staying active is essential to building resilience, protecting independence, and aging well.
1. What does healthy aging mean to you?
Healthy aging to me means maintaining your independence and having the ability to have a quality of life that enables you to be active, to live, and still be able to enjoy and explore the world.
It means being pain-free. We only get one chance at our health and our life, so being able to have that independence, to age gracefully, and live on your own for as long as possible is healthy aging.
It also means adapting to your body as it changes and as you go through the different decades in life, knowing that you maybe can’t do what you did when you were younger, but being able to adapt. Specifically, that includes healthy joints, good sleep, diet, social supports, fun, and being able to explore the world.
2. What simple habits help people stay active as they age?
I would start with sleep. It’s an incredibly important thing, and making sure you have good sleep hygiene. Rest is a weapon. I really believe in that.
Food and diet are also important. What we put in our body is like fuelling the Ferrari. Do you want a Ferrari or a Pinto? The fuel we put in our body helps keep the Ferrari tuned up.
Very simply, every day, do something active. Get outside, get into nature, and watch screen time and sedentary time. A lot of people, as they age, sit more, move less, and become quite rigid and stiff in their bodies.
The other thing is the relationships we have and the social supports we have around us. That is really important.
3. How does movement support mental health and confidence?
Movement supports mental health and confidence because you feel better about yourself. You are likely to engage in more social activities, have positive supports around you, manage stress, and be resilient.
I think there is a direct correlation with physical fitness. The fitter and healthier you are, the more you are able to withstand stress and create protective mechanisms so that when things happen to us, and as we age things do happen to us and the people around us, we may start to lose loved ones, family members, friends, and those types of things.
Movement gives us the confidence that we will not be broken, or if we do get broken, we can fix ourselves back up. It also gives us the resilience to get through difficult things in life.
4. What advice would you give someone who is nervous to start exercising again?
All you have to do is start. Literally, just stack one good day on top of the other. There is no perfect plan or perfect workout. Doing something is always better than nothing, and there is no judgment.
I remember training alongside Marty Gelinas, one of the fittest players to ever play in the NHL, and we trained in a gym every day with a gentleman who was 80 years old and on an oxygen tank, riding the exercise bike at probably only about 10 kilometres an hour. He was just as inspiring to us as we were to him. Frank was his name.
So I think just know that if you’re nervous about going to a gym or starting a program, no one is judging and no one is looking, because they are too worried about themselves. All you have to do is start and stack good habits.
It doesn’t have to be long, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Doing something is better than nothing.
5. How can Canadians build strength, mobility, and independence over time?
You just have to move. Movement is medicine. I really believe in that.
In terms of strength, you don’t have to lift weights per se, but you have to lift your body weight. Whether that is squats, pushups, getting into the mountains to hike, chopping wood in the backyard, or shovelling, you have to do things that strengthen and stretch your muscles.
For capacity and mobility, that can include stretching, swimming, getting in the pool, yoga, Pilates, and those types of movements that lubricate your joints through fluidity and movement. It can also include things like dance, play, fun, and enjoyment.
As Canadians, we live in this beautiful, amazing country. Over the past week, I had the chance to travel right across it, literally across it, and just view it. It is striking how beautiful our country is.
So get out there and explore. There is so much to do and see. Sometimes we are afraid to do things that are outside of our comfort zone, but it is when you do those things that you really gain strength, mobility, and independence, not only in your body, but in your mind as well.
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