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It’s never too late to start exercising. Simple tips will help older people organize their workouts properly, make them safe and comfortable.
For natural reasons, physical activity decreases with age. This can be caused by health problems, overweight, decreased stamina, loss of mobility, flexibility.
Some older people are firmly convinced that playing sports during this period of their lives is harmful. However, the older a person gets, the more important it becomes for their health to maintain an active lifestyle.
Attending group classes by older people often creates a pleasant communication environment for them, helps them find new acquaintances, and relieves them of feelings of loneliness.
Creating a Balanced Training Plan
The combination of different types of physical activity helps to improve overall health, make training more interesting. Properly organized exercise is based on the four basic building blocks of fitness.
Movement is one of the factors of longevity: regular feasible workouts are useful for maintaining not only physical fitness, but also cognitive abilities, a healthy psycho-emotional background.
Balance
Balance exercises develop the ability to maintain stability, regardless of whether a person is in a static position or moves.
- In addition, they improve posture, reduce the risk of falls.
Cardio
When performing cardio exercises for a certain time, large muscle groups are involved. At the same time, there is an acceleration of the heartbeat, increased breathing, increased blood circulation.
Regular cardio training helps to reduce excess weight, reduce shortness of breath, increase endurance. For the elderly, it is better to choose supportive simulators – recumbent bikes and steppers.
- Walking is often the best cardiovascular exercise for older people.
Power training
Regular strength training helps build muscle through repetitive movements using weights or external resistance from machines, free weights, elastic bands, or body weight. Often, strength training is a set of exercises performed at high speed to increase strength and reaction time.
This type of training helps prevent bone loss, builds muscle and improves balance, which is important for staying active and preventing falls.
- Standard machines help older people build muscle mass with less chance of injury. Expanders are also effective, which are also comfortable and easy for the elderly.
Flexibility
In addition to limiting range of motion, tight muscles, tendons, and ligaments can cause pain, discomfort, and even falls in the elderly. Simple stretching exercises improve the ability of the joints to move freely through a full range of motion.
- This exercise system will help improve the quality of daily life by keeping muscles and joints flexible and less prone to injury.
Safe Start
Getting physically active is one of the healthiest decisions you can make as you get older, but it’s important to do it safely.
- Before embarking on an exercise program, medical clearance should be obtained, especially if there is a chronic illness. You need to ask your doctor if there are any restrictions for playing sports.
- It is important to consider how current health issues may affect training. For example, diabetics may need to adjust the timing of their medications and meals when scheduling their classes.
- Exercise should never be the cause of pain or feeling unwell. Stop exercising immediately if you experience dizziness or severe shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure, or excessive sweating.
If the pain syndrome after training is regular, you can try to reduce the time for performing a set of exercises, but do it more often during the day.
And a few more tips
Many older adults are finding that regular physical activity not only helps stop the decline in bodily functions that comes with age, but even improves them. In order for training to have a healing effect, follow simple rules.
- If you are new to the sport, start by doing the exercises slowly, smoothly, from workout to workout, increasing the pace. If you’re afraid of falling or have persistent heart problems, start with seated exercises to gradually improve your fitness and confidence.
- Prevent injury and discomfort by avoiding both hypothermia and overheating. To do this, sportswear should be appropriate for the time of year and the place where classes are held – in the gym or in an open area.
- Stick to the training schedule exactly for three to four weeks so that classes become a habit and a need for you. Always carry a bottle of drinking water with you to replace the loss of moisture during training.
- Experiment with mindfulness. Don’t get distracted while exercising, try to focus on your own sensations while moving, such as breathing rhythm or muscle flexion. Practicing mindfulness will improve your physical condition faster, relieve stress and anxiety more effectively, and help you avoid accidents or injuries.
- Maintain your activity levels with a proper diet that ensures you get enough high-quality protein. Don’t forget to reward yourself when you successfully complete a workout and achieve each new goal.
- Focus on short-term goals, such as improved mood, increased energy levels, reduced stress, rather than weight loss, which can take longer to achieve.
- Keep a workout log. Record all your activities and mark all stages of progress. You can also enter marks about your condition when performing exercises there in order to correct their pace or technique if necessary.
Changes in hormonal levels, metabolism, bone density and muscle mass mean that over time, the level of physical strength and activity, performance inevitably decreases. But this does not mean that it is no longer possible to enjoy the movement or improve your health.
It is important to evaluate and set age-appropriate goals. The main thing to remember is that a sedentary lifestyle has a much stronger effect on athletic ability than biological aging.