Exercise is the key to maintaining a healthy life and is helpful in every walk of life. However, when it comes to the elderly, exercise just becomes all the more important.
As per the health experts, regular exercise can help the elderly with great benefits, including an extended lifespan. Regular exercise helps in boosting their energy, maintaining their independence, protecting their heart, and managing various symptoms of illness or pain. In addition to these, a regular exercise routine also helps in keeping the weight in control.
In the case of the elderly, exercise doesn’t mean hardcore gym routines or high-intensity workouts. More than intensity, it is the consistency that matters the most. While you may not be able to plan a regular exercise routine for them conveniently; you can take the assistance of trained and well-qualified attendants through home healthcare services.
Attendants of home health care services are trained in designing easy yet effective exercise patterns for the elderly, keeping in mind their body type and overall health condition. Moreover, when you have professional assistance, managing the exercise routine for the elderly becomes much easy.
Before we guide you through some of the easy to do exercises that can prove healthy for the elderly; let us first have a look at the benefits it has to offer:
Improved healing and body function: Regular exercise in seniors is known to decrease wound healing time by 25%. Moreover, when the body is healthy, the immune system also becomes stronger and it fights off the infection pretty well. Thus, recovery from an injury is quick.
Disease prevention & smooth management of chronic diseases: With a regular exercise routine, a lot of diseases that are common in the elderly can be prevented or delayed such as diabetes, stroke, heart diseases, osteoporosis and a lot many. Also, even if they are suffering from a chronic condition, a light exercise routine will help in coping with the condition smoothly.
Improved body balance and stability: Falls happen to be among the most common causes of injury in seniors. Regular exercise aimed at bone strength and muscle flexibility can help in improving body balance and stability. This will prevent accidental falls, which are known to lead to injuries such as broken hips or other bones, in the body.
Enhanced quality of life and increased life expectancy: As per some of the latest studies conducted, regular exercises not only help in improving the physical fitness of the seniors but also help in improving their psychological state. Exercise aids in alleviating the symptoms of depression and improving their mood in general.
Some Easy to Do Exercise
Now that we have seen the benefits to the elderly from a regular exercise routine, let us now have a look at some of the easy to do exercises which the elderly can do comfortably:
Walking: Walking is great for the joints, and it even helps in improving the functioning of the heart. It’s a simple exercise which the elderly can do either in the morning or evening. As they might be dealing with some health problems or recovering from an illness, they don’t have to walk intensely. Strolling around the garden or down the street can help in giving the body the much-needed energy boost.
Yoga: It’s one of the finest low-impact exercise forms and makes a great choice for the elders. Yoga is good for body flexibility which can further help in improving body balance too. When assisting the elders with yoga, it must be taken care that they don’t exert their bodies much and do light asanas or yoga poses.
Strength Training: If the muscle strength is good, it can aid the elderly to carry out everyday functions with higher comfort and ease. By seeking help from a doctor, a lightweight strengthening program can be designed which will help the elders in building up their muscles.
Chair Exercises: There exists a range of exercises that can easily be done by the elderly while sitting on a chair. Chair exercises are a safer and more effective option that can help with toning and strengthening the muscles, and improving mobility.
Other than these exercises, the elderly can even be encouraged to do meditation which is great for mental health. Moreover, a set of breathing exercises can also help in detoxifying the body and relaxing the cores.
While light exercises are completely safe for the elderly, checking with the doctor can help in planning the most effective and safer option for them. A doctor can assist with the precautionary measures for the safety and healthy healing of the elderly.
With Shalby Homecare, we can help you with the perfect module of exercises and physical fitness for the elderly, focusing on improving their quality of life and overall fitness.
