ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some basic issues related to “normal” and “successful” aging, and examines the importance of exercise and fitness in later life. In terms of social and psychological functioning, most theorists agree that successful aging and good mental health seem to be related to maintaining an active and meaningful involvement in one’s world. Maintaining involvement in meaningful activities is also an important component of good adjustment for older persons. As Hayslip, B., and Panek, P. E. pointed out, the most important consideration involves an emotional or psychological investment in life rather than formal involvement in specific activities. The chapter considers how cultural expectations about old age interact with cultural attitudes about exercise to produce an elderly population that largely fails to act upon the well-documented importance of regular exercise for a healthful old age.
