Want to Enhance Your Balance, Strength, Flexibility and Overall Health? Try These Exercises for Seniors
A primary health concern among older adults is the risk of injury from falling. With Falls Prevention Awareness Week occurring every year in late September, it’s an opportunity to remind ourselves about the steps we can take as we get older to help lower our likelihood of falling and getting hurt.
Staying physically active is one of the six tips the National Institute on Aging (NIA) recommends to help prevent falls. Regular exercise, according to the NIA, builds muscle and helps keep joints, tendons and ligaments flexible. Certain weight-bearing activities, such as walking and climbing stairs, may slow bone loss associated with osteoporosis.
In particular, the NIA suggests balance and strength-training exercises, which include yoga (and chair yoga), Pilates and tai chi. Like many physical activities that are often recommended for older adults, these can also provide mental health benefits. When done as a group activity, they offer the chance to socialize, as well.
Not Used to Exercising? Start Slowly!
If you’re worried it may be too late to start a regular routine of physical activity, especially if you’ve been sedentary for a long time, take heart. In an article by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) that debunks several myths about falls, the NCOA says even lifelong couch potatoes can benefit from becoming more active in their later years. Even though we naturally lose muscle as we grow older, exercise can restore our strength and flexibility to some extent.
A workout for seniors can incorporate lifting weights or using resistance bands to improve strength, though caution is advised. If you have problems with balance, stiffness, mobility or joint pain, you may want to begin with other types of exercise and gradually add light weights or resistance bands as you become stronger, steadier and more limber.
Perhaps the Best Advice of All?
Talk to your doctor before starting a new physical regimen, especially if you have a chronic disease, have had a recent illness or surgery, or are experiencing any ongoing health issues. They will probably encourage you to follow through on your intentions to be more active and can explain if there are certain types of exercise you should avoid.
How Much Exercise Do You Need?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises getting a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week. An aerobic exercise is one that increases your heart rate and causes you to breathe harder (but doesn’t necessarily cause you to be “out of breath”).
A weekly quota of 150 minutes may sound like a lot, but remember, you can gradually build to that level — and eventually go beyond it, if you want. (Yes, that could happen! Exercise releases endorphins that make you feel good, so you may find you want to do more than you’re “supposed” to do.)
What If You Can’t Keep Going for Half an Hour?
Let’s say you can only manage 10 minutes of exercise at a time. That’s perfectly OK. As noted earlier, start slowly and keep at it. Do what you can, but don’t overdo it. Trying to do too much too soon can lead to soreness, which could discourage you from continuing. It could also result in an injury.
According to Mayo Clinic and other reliable sources, you can do three, 10-minute exercise sessions a day and still derive health benefits similar to what you would achieve by exercising at the same intensity for half an hour all at once.
Even if you don’t reach a point where you can exercise more than 10 minutes per day, that’s still better than not exercising at all!
An Eventual Alternative
As you build up your endurance, you may decide to engage in more vigorous forms of exercise. In that case, you’d be able to meet the CDC’s minimum exercise recommendations in about 75 minutes per week.
Here again, though, it’s best to exercise some caution. More vigorous exercises will likely put more strain on your body.
If you’re relatively healthy and want to step up your intensity, consider trying an activity such as pickleball, which is generally safer for seniors than tennis or running.
You might also enjoy cycling, which allows you to moderate your intensity as you wish. You can choose to ride a stationary or recumbent bike, a traditional bicycle or an electric bike.
Before, During and After Exercising
Each time you exercise, be sure to warm up and cool down.
For example, if you’re going for a brisk walk, walk more slowly for the first 5 to 10 minutes and do likewise at the end. When swimming, do slow laps for the first 5 to 10 minutes and then slow down again for 5 to 10 minutes before you stop.
Incidentally, swimming and water aerobics are typically great exercises for seniors because they’re easier on the joints than higher-impact activities such as running or tennis.
Speaking of water, be sure to stay hydrated when you exercise. Although you may choose not to drink a lot of water or other hydrating beverages beforehand, it’s important to drink plenty afterward. And with some forms of exercise, you can take a few seconds to sip from your water bottle as you go.
Some Basic Moves to Get You Started
These simple movements can help you ease into a new exercise routine.
Knee Lifts (to improve balance)
Stand up straight, using the back of a chair, a wall or a countertop to steady yourself if you feel a little shaky on your feet. Lift one knee as high as you can and then lower it. Repeat with the other knee. Lift each knee 10 times if you can, and gradually build up to 20 knee lifts on each side.
Ankle Circles (to improve flexibility and as a warm-up)
You can do these seated or standing, depending on how steady you feel. Lift your right leg off the floor and rotate your ankle 5 to 7 times in each direction. Repeat on the other side.
Bridge Pose (to strengthen the core, spine and legs)
Lie down on your back (preferably on a mat on the floor, though a fairly firm bed can work, too). Place your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart, with your knees pointing toward the ceiling. Place your arms at your sides, palms facing down. Press your outer shoulders into the mat or bed and keep your neck relaxed, eyes on the ceiling.
Using your outer hips and glute muscles, raise your hips up into the air. Your chest will also rise off the floor. Be sure not to flatten your neck onto the ground as you do this. Hold your hips up for a few seconds if you can and then lower them. Relax for a few seconds and repeat. If you’re able, do this 10 to 12 times.
Shoulder Rolls and Neck Stretches (to improve posture and mobility)
You can do these while standing or seated.
For shoulder rolls, bring your shoulders gently up toward the ceiling (without scrunching them into your neck), move them back and then lower them to where you started. Do several rotations and then reverse directions, pulling your shoulders up toward the ceiling and then moving them forward before lowering them.
For neck stretches, slowly turn your head to the right, stopping when you feel a slight stretch. Hold for several seconds and return to center. Then, do the same thing only turn your head to the left. Repeat on each side 3 to 5 times. Try not to tilt your head forward or backward as you turn it.
What If You’re Exercise-Averse?
Some people would rather go to the dentist than go to the gym. Fortunately, even if you think exercise is absolute drudgery, you can still engage in activities that will help you maintain or improve your balance, strength and flexibility. Dancing and gardening are good examples. The point is to get up and get going!
Exercises Most Seniors Should Avoid
If you’re planning to work out in a neighborhood fitness center, you may see others doing exercises that generally are not recommended for older adults, such as:
- Bench presses (also called chest presses) with free weights
(try modified pushups using the wall or a countertop instead) - Deadlifts
- Leg presses
- Abdominal crunches
- Upright rows
- Overhead presses
- Squats with heavy free weights
(squats without weights can be very effective exercises for seniors, when done properly; to start, you can practice sitting down and standing up without using your hands)
Being Active Is Easier Here, and More Fun!
Sometimes motivation is the hardest part of exercising. It can be tempting to tell yourself you’ll “start one day soon” or to skip too many days once you’ve begun.
But when you have everything you need right where you live and plenty of people around you for encouragement — like you would at Heritage Community of Kalamazoo — the excuses melt away.
Our holistic approach to health and well-being includes exercise programs in both individual and group settings to help you maintain or improve your balance, strength, endurance and cardiovascular health. And, we think you’d have a pretty good time, to boot!
If you’d like to learn more about our amenities, our variety of enriching programs and the vibrant lifestyle we offer, contact us or call (269) 382-1255 and we’ll gladly set up a time for you to visit.
Featured Image: Prostock-studio, BearFotos, Harbucks / Shutterstock
