Cardio/Endurance Exercises
Physicians recommend 30 minutes of cardio respiratory endurance exercise each day for your elderly mom or dad. This means getting the heart rate up and breathing faster. Walking, cycling and swimming are all examples of cardio/endurance exercises. If the elderly person tires easily and for those just starting to exercise, it is OK to do three 10-minute periods of exercise.
Cardio respiratory endurance exercise increases the body’s ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissues and to remove waste over sustained periods of time. After exercising consistently for a few weeks, there will likely be an improvement in the person’s ability to exercise and ability to perform everyday tasks without getting winded and out of breath.
Strength/Resistance Training
Strength training uses and strengthens muscles with repetitive motion exercises. Your elderly parent can do strength training with weights, resistance bands, nautilus machines or by using walls, the floor and furniture for resistance. Two to three strength/resistance training workouts a week will provide the greatest benefits. Exercise all muscle groups by doing 1 to 2 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions at moderate intensity. Progressively increase size of weights used during workouts.
Strength training helps prevent loss of bone mass and improves balance. Both of these things will help avoid falls and broken bones among seniors.
Stretching/Flexibility Exercises
Stretching is vital to exercise. Stretching helps muscles warm up and cool down gradually. Stretching improves and maintains flexibility, prevents injury, and reduces muscle soreness and stiffness.
Stretching can also be a time of meditation and a time to appreciate how the body feels. Activities like yoga or Pilates can provide a good form of stretching as well as strength training because they focus on isolating and developing different muscle groups. A number of exercise programs, like yoga and Pilates, focus on developing a strong ‘core,’ a term which refers to the set of muscles connecting the inner stomach to the lower back and spine. Because the core muscles provide the foundation for all movement and strength, having a strong core can help with all movement, encourage better posture and reduce allover muscle pain.
Of course, there are some people whose physical abilities are limited by medical conditions or frailty in the elderly. These seniors have to go about exercise more carefully than others, but don’t have to dismiss it entirely. With proper instruction and guidance, the elderly can learn activities and exercises that improve mobility and reduce frailty. Especially for those who are frail, it is particularly important to be careful, but to find a way to move the body, because regular exercise greatly reduces the risk of falling and broken bones. Try exercise in a class setting with proper supervision and definitely consider swimming or another form or water exercise as it can be less jarring to the body – the local YMCA or YWCA are good places to start when looking for exercise programs that address special needs.
Print a Checklist: Tips for Seniors Beginning an Exercise Program
Related Links
Strong Women
This website offers different exercise programs for women specifically designed for strengthening bones (and preventing osteoporosis), staying slim or aging well.
Exercise for the Elderly
This website by the American Academy of Family Physicians presents basics of starting an exercise program for seniors and some sample exercises.