"You don't get old and stiff, you get stiff and then you get old." This mantra of Jack England, a yoga instructor in Florida, gets to the sinewy reality of fitness and comfortable use of our muscles and joints.

The triad of fitness is flexibility, stamina and strength.

We need strength exercises to preserve lean body mass and the muscle tone that allows us not only to do, but also to react. It has become clear that the elderly fall more often not because of balance problems but because of weakness. The quick twitch response that we depend on to catch us as we stumble on a step or slip on the ice relies on a toned, responsive muscle. Nursing homes that incorporate modest strengthening programs have reduced serious injuries from falls by as much as 80 percent.

Stamina, or aerobic fitness, is self-evident in its role for cardiovascular health. Every fitness program should include ideally a daily aerobic program, or at least a total of 2-3 hours/week of aerobic exercise.

Flexibility is less obviously important, be we ignore it at our peril. We strengthen our muscles so they can respond quickly and contract maximally, and we increase our stamina to allow us to sustain this effort and enhance cardiovascular health. But the muscle is not attached to bone Ð it is attached to the ligament, the tendon or the sinew that attaches the muscle to bone. These too need attention with promotion of blood flow and improved range of motion. Otherwise they become the weakest link in the system and injuries occur. Tendonitis, ruptured tendons and muscles, and persistent daily stiffness limiting comfortable range of motion are the natural outcome of ignoring Jack's mantra and stretching as part of our fitness routine.

There are about a dozen basic stretches, which can be mixed with your daily fitness regimen after your muscles have been warmed up and your circulation awakened. It is especially important for arthritis sufferers to exercise and stretch daily. Preservation of function is impossible without range of motion and adequate strength. In fact, research has shown repeatedly that an exercise and strengthening program for the muscles of the leg reduces the symptoms of arthritis in the knees by 25-50 percent.

After determining with your physician your safe aerobic capacity, begin a daily fitness program with 15 to 30 minutes of non-impact aerobics (walking, NordicTrack, biking, stair-stepping, etc.). By then your muscles and ligaments are warmed up and you can proceed to your strengthening program, either with or without free weights, Nautilus, bands, push-ups, etc. Work different muscle groups every other day allowing 48 hours recovery between specific muscle group workouts. You only need do one set of a resistance exercise, 8-12 repetitions, at a setting that allows for a little muscle burn at the end, in order to achieve 95% of what youÕd achieve with three sets. By doing only one set, you get the benefit, are less likely to injure yourself with an overuse syndrome, and are able to incorporate more of different muscle groups in a given workout session. Be careful about doing too much too quickly.

Include stretching everyday between your strength training sets and hold the stretch long enough to relax and succeed at lengthening and loosening the muscle/tendon group. The commitment to fitness is a daily routine, not an impulse or a competition.