Aging and exercising: feel like you are 35 again!

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Just because you are getting older doesn’t mean you can’t feel younger. You may find that it’s not your age making you feel old but your lifestyle. You will never be too old to change your lifestyle and adopt new eating habits. Changes in your lifestyle will not only slow down your aging process but keep you healthy.

Ways to be more active

Lowering Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, some cancers, and reducing the risk of heart disease can all be helped by exercise. By exercising regularly, you can stay healthy in your later years longer. Plus, spending time active is one of the best ways to help prevent cognitive changes in seniors, such as dementia.

If you have certain medical issues that prevent you from doing specific exercises, it’s time to become creative. If you have arthritis in your knees and can’t go running anymore, then try swimming instead. The more activity you do, the greater you will feel.

Exercise three times a week will help build healthy muscles. It will increase your flexibility, strength, reduce joint pain, and help you to combat feelings of fatigue. Plus, exercising will keep your weight in check, so there is less pressure on your joints.

You can find fitness programs at the local senior center. Or you can start walking with a friend, going a little further every day. You need to fit some kind of exercise activity somewhere in your day. But always talk to your doctor first before you start any type of exercise routine.

Types of exercise for seniors

Most likely, the exercises you did when you were younger aren’t what your body needs now. Having an exercise program is crucial, but where do you begin? Below are some suggestions to get you started:

Water aerobics

Water aerobics are perfect for seniors who have joint pain and other types of arthritis. It’s because the buoyancy of the water lessens the amount of stress placed on your joints.

Plus, water has a natural resistance when moved through it, which does away with the need for strength training weights. Water aerobics exercise will improve your balance, flexibility, and strength and will put less stress on your body.

Chair yoga

Chair yoga is another form of low-impact exercise. It improves mobility, flexibility, muscle strength, and balance. These are all vital health aspects if you’re a senior. Chair yoga puts less stress on joints, bones, and muscles than the conventional form of yoga.

Plus, chair yoga improves mental health. You will sleep better, feel less depressed, and have a general sense of well-being.

yoga pour les seniors sur chaise yoga for seniors on a chair

Resistance band workouts

A resistance band is a stretchy band of rubber that will give you resistance when you work out. It has less stress on your body, is user-friendly, and easily accessible if you’re a beginner.

These bands are ideal for seniors because they are cost-effective, perfect for an at-home workout, and the band can strengthen your core. When your core is strengthened, then your mobility, balance, and posture improve.

Pilates

Pilates is another low-impact form of exercise. When you do Pilates, your alignment, breathing, core strength, and concentration are emphasized. The equipment usually involves Pilates balls, mats, and other accessories to help build your strength. Pilates has been shown to increase flexibility, improve balance, and develop core strength.

Walking

Walking is still the all-time favorite of most people, including seniors. It’s less stressful, you don’t need special equipment, and it’s accessible. Your distance and step goals may be different from someone else. But generally, 10,000 steps a day can lower your mortality rate by 46%.

Walking will help promote a healthy lifestyle, lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, colon cancer while strengthening muscles. The fresh air can place you in a better frame of mind if you suffer from depression.

Exercising is great for the body, to stay healthy and active, but as the saying goes “healthy in body and in mind”. It is as important to keep your memory and brain sharp as to remain strong and active.

Brain training programs

There are a many different ways to work on your memory and cognitive functions. Doing daily brain exercises reduces the chance of having neurological disorders, as some programs work on all cognitive functions.

The Clint program was designed specifically for adults to keep the brain healthy with fun and stimulating brain exercises. It counts more than 26 games and targets concentration, focus, reflex, languages and many more cognitive functions.

DISCOVER

brain traning program for adults with your brain coach clint

Focusing on the diet

As you start to age, the bad news is that your body’s ability to process food into energy slows down. So, you may pile on weight even if you eat the exact amount and type of food as always. You don’t want to eat not enough calories at your meals because then you may feel starved. If you eat more calories than needed, then you can feel sluggish.

Make sure that you eat fiber every day. Fiber-rich food includes fruits, whole grains, and vegetables. Limiting refined carbohydrates and fats is essential because those foods will give you a boost of energy but shortly leave you feeling drained.

Proper hydration, especially during exercise, is essential too. The cartilage inside your joints is composed mainly of water which helps to cushion your joints. When you are dehydrated, the water is removed from the cartilage, and it makes it weaker. Drinking six to eight glasses of water daily is essential to keep your cartilage healthy.

Exercise and diet are the two critical factors to keeping fit and healthy. Decide to make a healthy lifestyle change and not let your age stop you.