There are many components to a healthy fitness program:

Nutrition

Sleep or Rest

 Cardiovascular Endurance

Muscular Endurance

Muscular Strength

 Flexibility

Neuroplasticity

Nutrition is very important for good health and wellness. Eating a balanced diet with a wide variety of nutrient rich foods provide our bodies with the energy, protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals to live, grow and function properly.

Cardiovascular Endurance is the body's capability to do large muscle work over a period of time.

Endurance is dependent on the cardiovascular system's ability to pump blood and deliver oxygen through your body. Cardiovascular endurance should be the most vital element of your overall fitness program. Improving cardiovascular endurance not only increases the supply of oxygen and energy to your body, it decreases your risk of diseases that are life threatening, such as heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. When a heart is well conditioned, it is like any other muscle - it becomes stronger and more efficient. A well conditioned heart can supply oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body while performing less work. Strength is the ability of any muscle or a group of muscles to exert a certain amount of force in a one-time burst of effort.

Weightlifting (or resistance training) is a typical type of strength training which increases muscle strength and mass and bone strength. When you make muscles work harder, you will actually injure these fibers. But as they rebuild, they get stronger and bigger, resulting in harder, tighter and larger muscles

Muscular Endurance is the ability to resist fatigue and continue to exercise over long periods of time

Strength training is required to maintain muscle strength, endurance training is necessary to attain stamina.

Flexibility is the ability of joints and muscles to reach complete breadth of motion. Flexibility will help prevent injuries and will keep you feeling comfortable after exercise. You do not need to lose flexibility as you build muscle. The aging process will deprive you of muscular strength, endurance and flexibility, if you do not maintain. A regular fitness regimen becomes extremely important as you age.

Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to modify its connections or re-wire new connections. As we age, the rate of change in the brain declines but new neurons can appear in the brain until we die. Brain plasticity is the ability that brain training takes advantage of to try to slow down the aging process.

**I encourage a weekly fitness plan which consists of cardiovascular fitness training and muscular endurance/strength training 4-6x/wk and flexibility conditioning every day, particularly after workouts as well as practicing yoga.