Seniors need to exercise to stay fit.

Exercises for senior fitness is something you need to do on a regular basis, especially as you get older.

Exercise is good for you, is something we’ve heard time & again. It’s probably truer for senior citizens than it is for other age groups. A person is never too old to start an exercise fitness program even if it’s just a few minutes a day.

Do little things like parking further away from the store, walking up stairs or working in the garden. These activities will help you increase your stamina, get stronger & improve your fitness overall.

If you are able you should think about doing exercises such as swimming, weight training or any type of sports. This article is designed to explain the 4 kinds of exercise for senior fitness.

 

The benefits of different types of exercises for senior fitness

Putting exercise & physical activities in your day can benefit your life in so many ways. Senior exercises for fitness on a regular basis will help increase your balance and improve or retain your fitness & strength.

Your mood may improve and it could help minimize the impact of depression, heart disease, or osteoporosis.

How many seniors are exercising?

Even with the confirmed benefits, the rates of senior exercises for fitness and physical activities are unusually low. Just 30% of persons between the ages of 45 to 64 admit to regular planned physical activities. Seniors with ages between 65 & 74 is only 15%. Seniors older than 85 see a drop to 5%.

Below you’ll find the 4 types of exercises for senior fitness

Balance

You can help prevent falls with a balanced exercise routine. Falling for a senior is a major health problem. These exercises include many different exercises mainly done on 1 leg. To begin these exercises you will likely have to hold on to something. Once your balance improves enough you can do them without holding on.

Balance is probably the most important type of exercise a senior can do. You must have good balance to do the rest of the exercises correctly. You’ll find balance is also very important in your day to day activities. For seniors falling often causes broken bones. When this happens it usually means you can’t do the rest of your exercise or only on a limited basis,

Strength

Weight lifting & resistance band exercises help increase your muscle strength. This makes it easier to carry groceries or lift the grandkids. Are you doing your exercise at your home? If so  you’ll probably find the resistant band exercises the most convenient.

I use both weights and resistant bands. I could do all my exercises using just the resistant bands but I already had some weights so I do both. Resistant bands come in different strengths and a good grip can handle 3 or more bands. This allows you to simulate just about every weight you can handle.

Flexibility

Stretching and flexing every part of your body are great exercises to aid in flexibility. It makes things like bending down to tie your shoes or reach something on the top shelf easier. Even if you can’t stand to do balancing or strength exercise you can do stretching while seated. If you are wheelchair-bound you should still try to do as much stretching as possible.

Stretching and flexing is a very important element of becoming more flexible. I believe the lack of flexibility is one of the major causes of seniors breaking bones when they fall. Overcoming stiffness lets your joints move and bones shift into positions that basically cushion the fall.

Endurance

Ways to increase your endurance include dancing, brisk walking & swimming. These can improve your heart, lungs & your overall circulatory system. They can also make it easier for you to climb stairs, mow the lawn & engage in your other daily activities.

The ways of increasing your endurance will also help increase your balance, strength, and flexibility.

An expert opinion

Dr. Richard J. Hodes, director of NIH’s National Institute on Aging, stated that “Even if you haven’t been active previously, it’s important to get started and stay active,” he says. “We know that people want to live independently for as long as they possibly can”.

You should try to do one or more of the exercise types on a regular basis. Some of them can be done while you engage in your normal activities while others such as strength will need to be scheduled.

Dr. Hodes also said, “By exercising regularly and including more physical activity in their daily routine, older people can preserve their physical functions,  which is key to doing the everyday things they want to do.”

Free exercises for senior fitness guide

To aid you in getting started with your fitness routine NIH gathered some national leading experts on motivation, exercise & aging. With their expertise, a guide was produced for exercise for senior fitness. It’s a guideline for the campaign for a nationwide physical activity & exercise program for persons 50 older. It’s called Go4Life.

Dr. Hodes says, “Even older persons with physical limits can safely exercise.”

Go4Life is part of a study that shows the advantages of older people exercising more and doing their activities a little more physically. This is true for all older people even those with lingering health problems.

Go4Life has designed the exercises to be done safely at home. It’s not necessary to have any special equipment or clothing to do these exercises.

Pick up the free guide Exercise & Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute on Aging. This is the campaign’s basic resource.

There are more free items, like tip sheets, available. Get the Workout to Go, which is a small guide to exercise, and can be used to be active anywhere & anytime.

To Summarize 

Different types of exercises for senior fitness should definitely be one of your priorities to not only extend your active years but to also feel and look better.

I hope this article has made you realize you need to start exercising. If you have a present program you need to stick with it or even step it up some. Just remember you don’t have to go all out on your exercising. Any amount of physical movement will help. Senior exercise for fitness should be your primary goal, so get started today. Swimming is a great exercise for seniors as its low impact and there is no danger of falling.