Exercise and Aging: How Regular Physical Activity Helps Delay Aging and Improve Quality of Life
Continuing to exercise can help you stay healthy, energetic, and independent after you retire. Many elderly adults over 65 are largely immobile by day, spending hours sitting or lying down, making this age group the most sedentary.
What Is the Importance of Exercise for the Elderly?
This inactivity comes at a price: more falls, obesity, heart disease, and early death compared with the general population. With age, staying active becomes even more important, as immobility is associated with poor health and dependence on others.
Elderly people with movement difficulties have difficulty playing with grandchildren, walking to the shops, and meeting friends, all of which combine to reduce their quality of life.
However, at an advanced age, activity does not necessarily equate to exercise. Anything that gets you moving is of benefit, whether it normally requires exertion (eg, recreational sport) or not (eg, walking or gardening).
Try to do something every day, aiming for a weekly target of 2.5 hours or more. Short activity sessions are perfectly acceptable; the objective is movement, not extreme exercise that increases your heart rate too much.
Read more: How can you Exercise with Diabetes in a Healthy Way? 11 Practical Tips
What Are Safe Exercises to Help You Stay Active After 60?
Examples of adequate (moderate-intensity) aerobic activities for the elderly include:
- Fast walking.
- Aqua-aerobics.
- Riding a bike on level ground or lightly hilly terrain.
- Playing doubles tennis.
- Pushing a lawnmower.
How Many Hours Do You Sit a Day? The Hidden Dangers of Sitting Too Long
As well as dedicating time to actively exercising, focus on cutting back on the time spent sitting down during the day.
This doesn’t mean avoiding TV viewing, using your computer, driving, reading, talking, or listening to music altogether. It just means that you shouldn’t spend long static periods of time doing them.
Read more: What’s So Bad About Sitting? Discover the Hidden Health Risks
Can Small Daily Movements Be the Key to Healthy Aging?
In other words, make yourself a cup of coffee, walk the dog, put on a wash, make a phone call, write a letter, etc.
Then come back to what you were doing, if you want to. Whatever activity you choose to do, if you enjoy it, then you’re off to a good start!
