Benefits of Exercise for Older Adults
Exercising for seniors is more than just adding years to your life, it’s all about adding more life to your years. You’ll look great, feel great, be more energetic, and have a greater sense of overall well-being, no matter your age.
Did you know that exercise is the number one contributor to having a longer life? And it doesn’t matter whether you’ve just started exercising during your senior years. To help you get started, it’s important to know about the physical and mental benefits of exercising for seniors.
Physical Benefits:
- Improves balance, mobility, and flexibility. Strength, flexibility, and good posture are improved during exercise. Which greatly helps with coordination and balance – lowering the risk of falls and any fall-related injuries. Strength training is also known to prevent symptoms of various chronic illnesses, such as arthritis.
- Reduces the impact of different chronic diseases and illnesses. Regular physical activity is proven to improve the body’s immune system and digestive functioning. It helps lower the risk of dementia, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, certain cancers, and heart disease. It also promotes better blood pressure and bone density.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Your body’s metabolism slows down as you age. Which is why maintaining a healthy weight is more difficult. Regular physical exercise helps boost metabolism and build muscle mass, which helps in burning more calories.
Mental Health Benefits:
- Better brain health: While mentally stimulating activities such as Sudoku or word puzzles helps in keeping your brain running, exercise can do more wonders. It helps to prevent or slow down the progression of memory loss, dementia, and dementia by tapping into multitasking and creativity.
- Good night’s sleep. Adults should be able to sleep for at least six hours every night. Exercise helps you be able to sleep quickly, sleep more deeply, and wake up energetic and ready to face the day.
- Boosts self–confidence and mood. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins – a hormone that can help lessen feelings of depression, anxiety, or sadness. Therefore, exercising is a huge stress reliever and helps you feel more confident.
Most Common Myths about Exercise and Aging
Myth 1: I have too many aches and pains in my body. I’m too weak.
- Fact: Regular physical activity can actually help you manage aches and pains in your body. It also makes you stronger. Not only is there an improvement in strength, exercise also helps combat a decline in vitality that comes with age. The secret is to start slowly and gently.
Myth 2: It doesn’t matter if I exercise – I’m getting old anyway.
- Fact: Exercising promotes independence and makes you look and feel younger. It also reduces the chances of developing various health conditions, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, diabetes, certain cancers, heart disease, obesity, and high blood pressure.
Myth 3: It’s so frustrating. I’ll never be as agile as I once was.
- Fact: Your body changes as you age. Your hormones, bone density, metabolism, and muscle mass may change. That said, strength and performance level may inevitably decline as you get older. However, it doesn’t mean that you can no longer benefit from health improvements the sense of accomplishment you get after exercising. It’s best to start slow and to tailor your exercises to your lifestyle goals that are age-appropriate. Always remember that being sedentary can do more harm than good.
Myth 4: Exercising increases the risk of falling.
- Fact: As a matter of fact, exercising regularly can promote muscle building, improve strength and stamina, and prevent the loss of bone mass. As a result, your balance will improve, reducing the risk of falling. Every senior should incorporate balance exercises into their exercise regimen.
Myth 5: I won’t be able to exercise since I’m disabled.
- Fact: People with disabilities face certain challenges when it comes to physical activity. However, there are many exercises that tailor to their needs. They can lift weights, stretch, do chair aerobics, chair yoga, and chair Tai Chi to help improve range of motion, muscle tone, and flexibility, as well as their cardiovascular health. Many gyms or swimming pools may offer classes and other adaptive programs to people in wheelchairs.
Myth 6: I’m too old.
- Fact: You will never be too old to exercise. It will never be too late to get moving and improve your overall well-being. As a matter of fact, people who become active later in life reap more physical and mental benefits as opposed to younger people. If you haven’t tried exercising before or if you haven’t exercised in a long time, it’s best to start with gentle and simple exercises and build it up from there.
Exercising is for everyone. However, before you begin any form of exercise, be sure to consult your doctor or your healthcare team. They will most likely refer you to a reputable personal trainer or they may prescribe you with the right exercises for you.
How to Overcome Obstacles that Prevent You from Being Active
Did you notice your elderly loved one becoming more sedentary as they age? Many seniors tend to slow down as they grow older due to many different reasons, such as feelings of pain, weight changes, health problems, or worries about falling. Or maybe your elderly loved one thinks that exercising for seniors isn’t for them.
With everything that’s going on with our daily lives, it may be hard to maintain a regular exercise routine that you can stick to. And it won’t get easier as you get older due to body pain, health problems, and concerns regarding falling or other injuries.
If you think you’re too old to exercise or if you haven’t exercised before, you may feel that these are legitimate reasons to slow down and give up exercising altogether. However, these are exactly the reasons why you should get moving.
Keep in mind that whether you’re 9 or 90, it’s never too late to keep your body moving.
At Vista Living Senior Care and our team helps seniors improve the quality of their life by making our purpose built 10 resident Luxury Senior Care Homes in the Phoenix Arcadia area something special. Sit and Be FIT exercises start our days and attendance is impressive with no one showing up late.
Seniors exercising at Vista Living Senior Care
We urge you to consider Vista Living Senior Care for your family, please schedule a tour, we know we have something special. Let us show you. For more information please call Vista Living Senior Care at 480-456-1919 or Visit VistaLiving.net.
