Fitness for Seniors:
Staying Fit and the Importance of Doing So
Have you been wondering about how to stay fit in your golden years? In many cases, Senior Exercise is vitally important for our overall health and well-being as we age, allowing us to grow old gracefully and make the most of this newfound time.
Why is Staying Fit Important During our Later Years?
As we grow older, it’s easy for aching joints and sore muscles to leave us feeling unmotivated to lead an active life. Strengthening those very same joints and muscles is very important in your later years. We can always find a good muscle and joint pain relief cream to work on those sore muscles as we get back into shape. Staying fit is vitally important for everyone, including those in their golden years, and there are numerous important reasons for this.
Just a handful of the core reasons you might want to focus on fitness include the following points:
- Encourage good health: Making sure you get plenty of exercises is essential for good health
Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash overall. Regular exercise can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications while promoting a healthy weight and strengthening your muscles and bones.
- Support balance and coordination: Active exercise is highly important to help support your balance and sense of coordination, making this highly important in many cases for individuals struggling to stand unassisted. Even gentle exercises can be effective for this goal.
- Promote well-being and positivity: Did you know that exercise can release endorphins (and help you feel good about yourself after, too)? Endorphins are the body’s “feel good” hormone, meaning that when you take part in physical activity and fitness, you’ll begin feeling a little more optimistic overall – ideal to help stave off feelings of depression.
- Provide opportunities for socializing: It’s estimated by the CDC that around one in three older people feel lonely, while around one-quarter of individuals in the over-65 age group are classed as “socially isolated.” This can be incredibly distressing to experience – but getting out for a little activity and fitness can help you explore new places, meet new people, and stay connected.
If you think these might be relevant to your lifestyle, taking a few simple steps to promote your fitness can make a big difference.
Senior Exercise and Fitness Tips
By now, we’ve clarified just how important staying fit and active can be – but how can you go about this as an elderly individual? Well, there are plenty of simple ways that you can stay healthy in your later years.
#1 Start Slow
If you’ve been looking to start again with your own fitness goals, starting slow can be a great place to begin. Indeed, you don’t need to head out for a marathon run just yet! Integrating a few gentle exercises, such as yoga or walking around the block, is a good option to begin getting your fitness up a little.
Some excellent stretches you can try to keep things feeling loose and supple include:
- Neck stretches
- Shoulder rolls and stretches
- Overhead stretches
- Upper back stretches
- Chest stretches
- Side stretches
- Hamstring stretches
These are just a few simple options you could try. Any gentle stretches are a great way to start your new fitness regimen.
#2 Try Swimming
As you get back into the world of fitness, swimming can be a brilliant option to consider. The water helps take the weight off your joints, allowing you to continue to strengthen your muscles in a manner that won’t place excessive pressure on your body. Better still, even gentle swimming can be an excellent way to begin burning calories if you want to lose a little weight.
#3 Join a Pilates Group
If you’re looking to improve your coordination and balance, joining a Pilates group – or trying it at home with friends is a great Senior Exercise
Pilates is a form of mind-body exercise that focuses heavily on posture, stretches, and strengthening your muscles.
#4 Head for a Brisk Walk
By now, you’re hopefully feeling a lot more energetic – which is where a brisk walk comes in. Whether this is at your local gym on a treadmill or if you opt for the more scenic option – heading out and about – is entirely up to you. Try to pace yourself and steadily increase the distance you walk each time to increase the efficacy of your workout and give you something to work toward.
#5 Try Body Weight Workouts
Once you’re a little more confident in your fitness and want to take things to the next level, bodyweight workouts can be an ideal progression. These aren’t overly taxing, so you shouldn’t be at risk of straining your muscles if you’ve already focused on improving your fitness.
Some common examples of exercises used in these processes include step-ups, squats on a chair, and lying hip bridges, to name a few.
Final Thoughts
Senior Exercise and Fitness Tips
Aging gracefully is something that can often seem difficult. Still, this shouldn’t stop you from achieving your fitness goals and leading a happy, healthy, and rewarding quality of life. So, don’t leave this to chance; make sure to try some of today’s simple tips and tricks and see how much difference they can make for you! Here are a few books you can check out.
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