Exercise is an essential part of living a healthy life for every person, but as you age, exercise becomes more and more important each year. While many seniors think that they can’t start an exercise program or continue their current one, the truth is that exercise has many different health benefits.
Whether you already have an exercise routine or not, it’s never too late to get active and make your body healthy and strong. Use these tips for exercising at home to make sure you stay fit well into your golden years.
Better Physical Health
It might sound obvious that exercise boosts physical health for seniors, but there really isn’t much more that you can do to stay healthier. In fact, exercise really is the healthiest thing most seniors can do to help fight disease and delay the onset of illness.
Exercising on a regular basis can also help you to strengthen and tone your body, making it less likely that you’ll injure yourself while taking care of day to day tasks. For seniors, accidents like falling or hurting a muscle when reaching for something are common, but exercising regularly can help you keep those aggravations at bay.
Weight Loss
For many seniors, excess weight or weight gain can become a serious health problem. It might go without saying that exercise can help you lose weight, but for many seniors, adopting a routine to combat their sedentary lifestyle can be difficult.
As you age, your metabolism slows down, so even if you never had a weight problem and you eat healthy, you may find yourself with a few extra pounds. Even simple exercises like walking, light strength training or playing a sport you like a moderate intensity level can help you burn enough calories to maintain a healthy body weight.
Improved Mood
Exercise is good for your body, but it’s also good for improving your mood because it creates chemicals known asendorphins in your brain that help to reduce feelings of sadness and depression. While exercise may not be a cure for clinical depression, which needs to be treated by a doctor, getting out and moving your body can help you feel better on a regular basis.
In addition to improving your mood, exercising on a regular basis can also help you fall asleep faster at night and help you stay asleep.
Reduced Stress Levels
Stress affects many adults, and seniors are not immune to the pressure of life, especially if health concerns are starting to creep up. However, when it comes to day to day stress that doesn’t have to accumulate and drive you nuts, exercise can be a great way to lower your stress to a tolerable level.
Along with reducing mental stress, exercising on a regular basis can also help you reduce physical stress and pain in your body because it releases endorphins. Of course, you may have to get past the aches and pains of a new exercise routine before you reap those benefits if you haven’t exercise in a while.
Exercise should be a healthy part of life for everybody, including seniors. If you haven’t exercise in a while, however, you should talk with your doctor to make sure you are healthy enough for physical activity.
Your doctor may be able to recommend specific exercises and programs that could benefit you if you do have health problems as well.
Source: http://presidiohomecare.com/
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