Article written by Kimberly Sea, our administrative assistant and fitness expert!
While exercise may get more challenging with age, that is no indicator that you should move less. On the contrary, adults that are 65 and up should remain as active as possible. Maintaining an active lifestyle as a senior can bring numerous health perks including increased independence, weight management, stress relief, and better balance—hence less falls. According to the National Council of Aging, an older adult is admitted to an emergency room for a fall-related injury every 11 seconds, and every 19 minutes, a senior dies from a fall.
Regular exercise can also help ward off diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. We also cannot overlook the numerous findings in health science that demonstrate the strong link between the mind and body. When the body is healthy, the mind is most likely to be in similar condition. Research shows that regular exercise decreases your risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease by almost 50%. Movement can also energize you more throughout the day, especially if the form of movement is challenging. Now, this is not to suggest that you take yourself to the point of straining and potentially injuring yourself. What’s critical to understand is that “challenging” is subjective and unique to each person’s abilities and limits. Therefore, you want to ensure that whichever activity you pursue, the intensity fits YOUR personal level of fitness.
Here is a simple checklist that you should follow when approaching your activity goals each week. This checklist aligns with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for adults aged 65 and older:
- Be active each day, even if it’s doing light activity at the bare minimum.
- Do 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week OR 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity if you are already an active person OR a combo of both.
- Do an activity that improves strength, flexibility, and balance at least 2 days of the week.
Some of these terms and points may not be clear so let’s break down each one so that you have a clear picture of what kind of physical activity you want to try to do each week.
If you’re a beginner to exercise, it’s a good idea to start slow. Before attempting any new form of exercise, speak with your doctor. This is especially true if a lot of time has passed since you last exercised or if you have medical conditions and/or concerns. At the very least, you want to minimize the amount of time spent sedentary (sitting or lying down). Older adults should aim to be do light activity daily. When you hear “light activity” think moving rather than sitting still. This can look like getting up to prepare a cup of coffee, cleaning around the house, making your bed, and walking around your home. Each day, your goal should be to decrease the amount of time you spend sedentary. A helpful strategy that you can implement to achieve this would be intentionally breaking up long periods of resting with some of the suggested activities. Over time, try to gradually increase how long and often you move until you are ready to bump up the level of intensity of movement.
After light activity, the next level is moderate intensity activity. This category includes activities that make your heart rate go up and speed up your breathing. A good indicator that you are working at a moderate level would be if you’re able to talk but not sing. Moderate intensity activities can consist of a brisk walk, riding a bike, taking a hike, and mowing the lawn with a push mower. If you have issues with your joints, water aerobics would be a great choice given that the water provides support while you move around. Meshing moderate intensity activity into your day can be as simple as walking to shops, walking your grandchildren to their bus stop, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and doing a regular walk with a neighbor. To reach your 150-minute mark per week of moderate exercise, you could do one of these activities for 30 minutes, 5 days a week. Feel free to mix it up though and do multiple activities a week for different times.
Our last category of activity is vigorous intensity. This kind of activity causes fast and hard breathing. If you’re moving at this level of intensity, you shouldn’t be able to say more than a handful of words without having to take a pause to catch your breath. Generally, 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week can give way to health benefits that are similar to that of 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week. If possible, you want to aim to achieve one or the other each week for optimal health benefits. Most moderate intensity activities can be turned into vigorous simply by bumping up the amount of effort you put into them. Examples can include running (rather than walking), riding a bike at a faster speed and at an incline on hills, hiking uphill, martial arts, swimming, and playing singles tennis rather than doubles.
In addition to these kinds of activities, your last goal should be to incorporate activities in your routine that improve flexibility, strength, and balance at least twice a week. This kind of physical activity can make you stronger and more confident in your ability to avoid falling. It can also help maintain muscle mass. This is very important given that as we go up in age, so does our loss of muscle mass and thus strength. This occurrence in our muscles over time is a major cause of disability in seniors. You need to use them so you don’t lose them! Not sure where to begin in terms of incorporating strength training exercises in your week? Here is a great video from SilverSneakers that takes you through 5 exercises that seniors should do every day. This 9-minute routine can be done in the comfort of your home in a chair. It’s a great example simple movements that help improve the strength while also helping to progress your mobility and balance. Do you need something with a greater focus on improving flexibility? SilverSneakers also provides this video which goes over 5 stretches that seniors should do each day.
For further guidance and ideas on how to carve out a workout routine for adults over 65, visit this online guide. Remember, exercise is vital to your health and temple. It could be the one thing you start today that brings forward increased longevity and stability in the future.