No matter your age bracket, staying fit is always a great idea. For those who belong to the older generation, the benefits of staying fit are numerous.
It doesn’t matter if you weren’t really a fitness person during your youth, it’s never too late to start.
Understandably, old age may bring along certain illnesses. Older people are also generally weaker than younger people and may not have all the energy to expend. But staying fit isn’t about exhausting all your strength, rather it’s about building it up.
A recent study revealed that staying fit contributes to the life span of senior citizens. As an elder, you would also get more fun out of life when you are fit.
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Benefits of Staying Fit
I’d like to list out a few benefits of staying fit in your old age.
Read on!
It Helps You Lose Or Maintain Weight
It is known that as a person gets older, metabolism will begin to slow down. Engaging in physical exercises can help increase metabolism. It also helps you increase muscle mass and burn off unwanted calories.
It Helps Reduce The Impact Of Illnesses
Improved immune & digestive systems are a huge advantage of doing exercises. Also, exercises help you maintain a stable and healthy blood pressure.
It also reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart diseases & osteoporosis.
It Improves Stamina & Flexibility
As a person exercises regularly, their strength and balance becomes greatly improved. As an older person, such stamina and flexibility is needed as it will help reduce the risk of falls and injuries.
Strength training also builds up the muscles, which will allow you perform certain tasks that would have tired you out if you weren’t exercising.
It Helps You Sleep Better
Engaging in healthy physical activities can help put you to sleep faster. Those who partake in exercises are also known to sleep deeper and better.
The good thing is, when you wake up, you’ll feel stronger than ever, and ready to take on the tasks for the day.
It Improves Your Mood And Self-confidence
When you exercise regularly, there is a tendency that you will mostly be in good moods. Exercise is a known stress-reliever, and the less the stress, the happier you will be.
Exercise also boosts your self-confidence, since you’d probably look better after all the training you’ve been doing.
It Improves Mental Health
Physical activities like golf and bowling help you increase your focus, especially when you do them regularly.
You will become mentally sharper and your ability to multi-task would be greatly improved.
It also reduces the risk of cognitive decline, memory loss and dementia.
It Improves Sexual Performance
Many people are of the opinion that older people do not partake in sexual activities, but that is very untrue. Elders in their 60’s can still be active sexually and regular exercise can improve their sexual performances.
Muscles, strength and stamina are all needed to have sex, and since exercise builds all 3 up, it means even in your old age you can still put in great sexual performances if you work out regularly.
Overcoming the Obstacles
As an elderly person, you may think there’s really no point keeping fit, since you’re already old, or in the aging process. Thoughts like that are the obstacles that keep many elders away from physical activities.
To be fair, some elders may also be discouraged from doing exercises because of an already existing illness or physical condition. While some are just afraid, they’ll fall and get injured.
As there are reasons for you to shun exercises in your old age, there are better reasons to embrace them.
Exercises help boost your mood, increase your strength, improve your mental abilities and help reduce or manage the risks of chronic illnesses.
Myths About Old Age And Exercise
- Those who won’t exercise because they’ve concluded that they’ll age all the same need to remember that exercises make a person look and feel younger
- Seniors afraid of falls should remember that exercises build up strength and stamina, which will actually reduce your chances of falling
- Those who feel they are too old to start exercising should remember that age doesn’t count, it is physical ability that does. You can start working out right now
- Those who are disabled can still do strength exercises like weight lifting. They could also do chair yoga or chair aerobics. There’s also wheelchair basketball.
- Those who think they are too weak or have pains in their joints need to know that exercises actually help to manage such pains. Just start of gently and improve gradually
It is true that at an old age you’re not going to be the NBA rookie of the year, but you could still achieve great things within yourself if you do.
I believe everyone wants to have a better quality of life, and exercises will help you achieve just that. And that is a personal victory.
Don’t forget that you can monitor your physical activities in detail, all you need is a fitness tracker for seniors. You could also ask a fitness expert to help you pick out the best fitbit for seniors.
A Balanced Exercise Plan For Senior Citizens
These include –
Balance training – Yoga and Tai Chi are recommended. These improve both standing and walking postures.
Cardio – Swimming, cycling and walking are recommended. They help your heart pump better and improves blood circulation.
Strength training – Lifting light weights is recommended. It builds up your muscles and overall strength
Flexibility training – Yoga and other forms of stretching exercises are recommended. Stretching helps improve flexibility in your body movements. This helps you walk better, and Improves your reflexes. Sharp reflexes can help you avoid domestic accidents such as falls.
Conclusion
Being a senior citizen, the best way to enjoy the rest of what life has to offer is by engaging in physical exercises.
It improves physical and mental health. It also Improves self-confidence and it slows down the aging process.
Happy workout!