4 Essential workout styles for seniors!

Aging is a slow process, and as you age it can feel like you are slowing down. Though you may not have the endurance and strength of a 20 year old, exercising can still be a beneficial part of your regimen. Endurance, strength, and balance training, as well as flexibility exercises on a regular basis, can help you stay fit and healthy even as you reach your golden years.

Unlike many younger people who exercise because they want to lose weight, those that are into their later years usually have different priorities. Usually, their main goal in exercising is to stay fit, healthy, and independent for a longer period of time. According to the National Institute of Health, seniors largely benefit from four different types of workout styles.

Endurance

Endurance workouts increase your heart and breathing rates. They help improve circulatory and respiratory function, thereby decreasing the risk of developing cardiovascular problems, which are more common among elderly people. There are many light endurance exercises too, such as brisk walking, dancing, cycling, gardening, and swimming.

You don’t have to force yourself to do these activities for a long period of time either. You can just start with five minutes of exercise and then gradually increase the duration over time. The ideal duration is around 30 minutes per day.

Keep in mind to warm up and cool down before and after every activity, and always drink lots of water to replace what you’ve lost through sweating. Make sure that the activity you choose doesn’t cause chest pain, dizziness or difficulty breathing.

Strength training

Strength training helps to build muscles and increase muscle strength, thereby allowing you to improve your performance in simple everyday activities, such as carrying the groceries or even just getting up from a chair. These workouts require resistance, such as weights and resistance bands. At home, you can also use objects like full water bottles and sandbags to provide this muscular challenge.

You can start with light weights, then gradually increase the weight over time, depending on what you feel comfortable with. If the weights are too heavy or the repetitions too much, you run the risk of injuring yourself, so be sure to know your limits.

Seniors can strength train at least two days per week, using all the major muscle groups – arms, buttocks, legs, and core. Examples of exercises that focus on strength training include side arm raises, arm curls, chair dips, knee curls, and toe stands. Remember to breathe while doing these exercises, and use steady movements, not jerky ones.

Balance

Exercises for balance can help prevent falls. Lack of stability and falls can lead to fractures, especially in the hip area, and this can limit your ability to live independently and function as you would like..

In general, you can do balance exercises anywhere and anytime you like since they are pretty simple. For instance, you can try standing on one foot, back leg raises, and side leg raises. When doing balance exercises, make sure that you always have a person or a steady object like a chair or a wall nearby to help you just in case you wobble.

Flexibility

Stretching exercises can improve flexibility, which allows you to have better freedom of movement and be active even as you age. Activities like getting dressed or reaching for up high can be easier if you improve your flexibility. Since these are mostly stretching exercises, they can be incorporated into your normal workout session and focused on around 3- 5 times per week.

Exercises that improve flexibility include neck, shoulder, chest, back, thigh, hip, calf, and ankle stretches. Just remember, that as you perform each exercise, stop when you feel any sharp stabbing pain. This means that you are stretching too far. To avoid this make slow and steady movements and avoid locking your joints.

Ask your doctor about the exercises that are safe for you, especially if you have undergone surgery for your hip or back. And make sure that you include a little bit of each exercise in your workout plan which we can help you with.