Tip #6: A workout will make your day.

Complementing casual physical activity such as walking or gardening with a more structured exercise routine has outsized long-term benefits. And as you enter the later decades of life, maintaining your overall fitness will vastly increase your chances of aging in place with minimal need for assistance.

Fitness experts distinguish four types of exercise: aerobic endurance, resistance, stretching, and balance. Each of these is related to a physiological attribute that they work to improve. Aerobics improve endurance, resistance builds strength, stretching increases flexibility and range of motion, and balance maintains your ability to move about the world without falling down!

Research shows that those getting the least physical activity benefit significantly more from starting to exercise than someone who is already active and increases his or her levels. That’s good news for couch potatoes!

But how much exercise is enough? The guidelines set by the WHO are modest: 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity (around 20 min a day), 75 minutes a week of vigorous physical activity, and muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week.

An added benefit of a structured workout is that it can help prevent injury and joint pain. As we go about our daily tasks, we use our muscles selectively and repetitively. For instance, a right-handed person generally has more strength in the right arm simply because they use it more. If you sprain your left ankle, your right leg will compensate for the weakness by growing stronger.

These imbalances, if left unchecked, can trigger a cascade of musculoskeletal conditions such as lower back pain, the leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the WHO. This in turn causes a vicious cycle of reduced physical activity and chronic pain.

A structured workout should help you prevent these muscular imbalances by building overall strength and flexibility. It should get you breathing hard to build up your cardiovascular health. It should also incorporate stretches to ensure you can maintain a full range of motion.

The key is to devise a weekly workout plan that meets your specific needs, challenges you just the right amount, and is varied enough so you don’t get bored.