Best Aerobic Exercise Seniors Should Do To Stay Healthy

Exercising, as we all know it, is a sure way to ensure healthy and prolonged living. The benefits of exercising for people of all ages cannot be over-emphasized enough. Being a senior, you are more susceptible to many old-age diseases. Exercising can prevent this so, here are the best aerobic exercises for seniors.

Best Aerobic Exercise Seniors Should Do To Stay Healthy

Aerobic exercises are an efficient way to get your heart beating faster. Studies have shown that people who engage in aerobics have improved flexibility, balance, lung capacity, heart strength, and so on. Seriously, you’d be missing out if you ain’t doing some cardio.

There are various aerobic exercises you can do at home as a senior. However, remember that while choosing an exercise, you should consider the impact on your joints, also you should talk with your doctor if you have health concerns that might prevent you from engaging in certain activities.

Nevertheless, here are a few aerobic exercises you can engage in:


Rebounding on a mini-trampoline

Rebounding is everyone’s favorite form of exercise, especially seniors. The reason being the low-impact on joints and the extra fun to engage and follow. A rebounder is a piece of equipment you can use to get a good outdoor or indoor workout without the jarring effect on the joints.

Rebounding has many health benefits from flushing the body of toxins to improving coordination and balance. Lastly but not less important improve bone mass and as a result prevent osteoporosis. You can also see the best exercises you can do here…


Chair Yoga

Best Aerobic Exercise Seniors Should Do To Stay Healthy - Yoga

Chair yoga is a low-impact form of conventional yoga. It improves muscle strength, mobility, balance, and flexibility. Because this form of yoga provides less stress on muscles, joints, and bones, seniors can really key into it. Examples of chair yoga are the overhead stretch, seated cow stretch, and seated twist. Check out some cool chair yoga poses here.


Walking Indoor or Outdoor

Best Aerobic Exercise Seniors Should Do To Stay Healthy - Walking

Walking is one of the readily accessible forms of exercise. It is less stressful and can be done anywhere. No piece of equipment is required for this exercise.


Water Aerobics

Best Aerobic Exercise Seniors Should Do To Stay Healthy - Yoga

Water aerobics is a popular exercise among seniors’ reason being the friendliness on joints. The buoyancy of the water puts less stress on joints. Additionally, water provides natural resistance eliminating the need for weights during strength training. Some examples of exercise you can do in water are aqua jogging, flutter kicking, arm curls, and leg lifts.

Do seniors need to perform any other type of exercise than aerobics?


Aerobic might be efficient and all but your workout routine would not be complete without a little strength training.

Muscle loss or sarcopenia is one of the disadvantages that come with adulthood. As we grow, our muscles start to disintegrate leading to serious loss of muscle. This can lead to falling and hormonal imbalance in adults. When there is less muscle, it would be hard for the body to support itself hence leading to instability.

The good news is you can gain and retain some muscles by doing some strength training. Strength training ensures that your muscles are kept taut and work-ready always.

Best Way For Seniors To Become Stronger at Home?


As a senior, you can become strong at home by engaging in both cardio and strength training exercises as well. While it is not ideal to engage in heavy weight-lifting, there are a few exercises you can engage in without fear of injury.

Resistance bands

Are exercise bands good for Seniors - Exercises with Bands

The resistance band is an awesome low-impact piece of gym equipment that delivers efficient strength workouts. Its joint-friendly characteristics, like the rebounder, make it a seniors’ favorite. The resistance bands are portable, easy to use, and highly unlikely to cause injury. There are wide varieties of exercise you can perform with the resistance band, click here to find out.

I would highly recommend the resistance band though as it is rare to find a piece of equipment that is as efficient and inexpensive as it is.

Weight-Bearing

Is another form of strength training. The way it works, it utilizes the force of gravity in the form of weight so your bones adapt to the weight and pull of the muscles by building more bone cells and becoming stronger.

Weight-bearing exercises are good for seniors because it makes the bone stronger and increases the chances against osteoporosis. But be careful, some high-impact weight-bearing may not be safe since you don’t want to compromise your bones.

Examples of this type of regimen are: Yoga, Tai Chi, and the ultimate is rebounding. Yes! rebounding on a mini-trampoline improves strength, balance, and muscular development which is essential for seniors. Moreover, the up and down movement activates the lymphatic system like any other form of exercise.

If you ask me which mini-trampoline is best for seniors, I would like to pull your attention to the cellerciser. My mother and I have been using it for months now and the result is pretty impressive, you can see our CELLERCISER REBOUNDER Full Review Here…

Bodyweight workout

Bodyweight exercise is also a readily accessible form of exercise as no equipment is needed to engage in it. Just grab a piece of workout cloth, a mat, and you’re good to go. Some examples of bodyweight workouts are squats, step-up, bird-dog, and side-lying bridges. Click here to check out bodyweight exercises you can engage in.

Dumbbell training

Dumbbells can also be used by seniors to get some essential strength training, just make sure you employ enough care. The dumbbells are good alternatives because they can focus on select muscles. Check here for examples of dumbbell strength training.

The benefits of exercises are numerous but seniors will particularly enjoy the following 4 benefits.

4 Important Benefits of Exercise For Seniors


Independence

Research has shown that elders who exercise regularly are more capable to live an independent life. Since exercise ensures balance and coordination, seniors need not rely on others to cook, walk, bathe, eat, and do other basic activities for them. If independence is your priority (who doesn’t want that?), then you had better start working out immediately.

Improved brain function

Exercise has been shown to improve brain function. Common old age diseases like Alzheimer’s can be prevented or delayed with regular exercising. In fact, research conducted by Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation showed that regular exercising reduced the risk of developing amnesia or dementia by a solid 50 %.

Improved balance

Falling is a serious issue among elders. Most adults have been injured by falling related accidents, many have even died for the same reasons. Exercising, according to Harvard Health, can reduce the likelihood of falling by 23%.

Prevent disease

Disease like Osteoporosis, heart diseases, depression, and diabetes are more rampant in adults. The bad news is these diseases are deadly but the good news is they can be ward off with regular exercising. Exercising can prevent your risk of developing these diseases, and if you already suffer from one, then sufficient exercise would reduce the symptoms.

Amount of Exercise Required by Seniors


The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has maintained that 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise is required in a week to maintain a healthy living. These exercises can be broken down to 30 minutes for five days a week. However, you can push the 30 minutes to 60 minutes to gain even more health benefits.

If you would be engaging in vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise, however, you only require 75 minutes of exercise every week. For optimal results, you can mix it up and get both moderate and vigorous-intensity exercises.

To know the difference between moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity exercises you can check this article by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Seeing a doctor

If you have underlying health issues, you should see a doctor before exercising. The doctor would, through your diagnosis, tell you the kind of exercises you can engage in without hampering your overall health.

If you don’t exercise before, you should see a doctor before exercising. Remember to take the workout journey slowly. It takes time to get fit.

Takeaway

Seniors are more prone to many diseases and illnesses like Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and so on. Regular exercising has been shown to gradually decrease the likelihood of getting these ailments.

Reference:

  • Can exercise extend your life www.health.harvard.edu, March 2019
  • Age-Related Diseases and Clinical and Public Health Implications for the 85 Years Old and Over Population, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/, study 2017 Dec 11
  • Staying Active Encourages Independence in Seniors, eniorlifepa.com/
  • Voluntary exercise increases axonal regeneration from sensory neurons, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/, study, 2004 May 24.
  • Physical Activity Prevents Chronic Disease, www. CDC.gov

Leave a Comment