For people over 40, and especially over 50, fitness becomes an important consideration if they wish to remain healthy and independent. Four types of exercises are recommended for complete fitness. As with anything regarding your health, you should consult with your doctor before taking on any strenuous activity.
The four recommended types of exercises are: strength, balance, stretching and endurance, and each serves a specific purpose in maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle for seniors over fifty. Strength exercises build up muscles, increases metabolism, and this as you know will keep both your weight and your blood sugar in check. A double bonus.
Balance exercises take care of your leg muscles, building them up. This is important for seniors because it prevents falls. No more need to cry out, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Wouldn’t that be nice? Stretching exercises helps you be more active during your later years. Let’s face it. Being a senior doesn’t have to mean planting your bottom on the porch rocking chair, fading away in your twilight years.
Finally, endurance exercises are what most people can and probably are doing on a family regular basis. Things like walking, jogging, swimming, and biking. Really anything that acts your heart racing and your breathing deeper for a while. But here, it’s important to understand that you shouldn’t jump right in to endurance exercises. Gradual is the key word here. Work your way up to a desired level of activity. I recommend starting with 5 minutes of endurance activity when you first start, then move up from there. Again, especially here, it is good to talk with your doctor first.
More than 30% of Americans over the age of 55 have indicated that walking is the primary activity of choice. This is followed , in order of importance, by – swimming, fishing, bike riding, camping, golf, bowling, using exercise equipment, hiking, hunting, aerobics exercises, calisthenics, jogging, and finally tennis. It is interesting to note that women choose more fitness-related activities like swimming and aerobics, while the men, in keeping with the tradition of the race, bind themselves gravitating toward the outdoor exercising, like hunting, camping and fishing.
Regular physical activity. Why is it so important? – not just throughout one lives, but as we get older, why does it become more important than ever? There are several reasons for its importance in our senior lives. It helps the body maintain, repair and improve itself. Think of physical fitness in the same sense as you would fine-tuning car engines. With physical fitness, your “engine” (your body) can perform at its optimum levels.
The best thing about physical fitness is that anyone can do it, at any age, even those people with illnesses and disabilities. Of course, these latter people would need to check with their doctors first, and would probably only be able to handle physical fitness activities in moderation, but it’s a start. Regularly active people are also known to suffer less from bone fractures and other accidents which often plagues seniors.
To be effective, physical exercise needs to become a matured part of your daily life, like waking up in the morning and taking a shower. Once you commit to it, stick with it and your golden years will be filled with memorable activities.