How Much Exercise Should Seniors Get Every Week?

To stay in good health as age sets in, it's important to get exercise on a regular basis. Healthy people are generally happier and more energetic, which ultimately leads to better relationships and greater accomplishments in life. Unhealthy people, by contrast, tend to have poor energy that leads to inactivity, depression and illness. Poor health can also lead to debilitation and early death, which makes it crucial to stay healthy and active as you advance into older age.

To be amongst the healthier senior citizens, it's crucial to workout every muscle group in your body at least two times per week. By working out regularly, you'll maintain a good heat-rate while keeping your body strong and toned. If you're simply looking to keep your energy and health up, these exercises could involve simple cardio routines of 20 to 30 minutes a day. But if you're looking to build muscle-tone throughout your body, you can achieve that too by slowly working your way into a strength training program.

While exercise is both wonderful and essential, you'll never want to overdo it with any particular part of your body. Unless you're an avid fitness person, you should slowly work your body up to greater repetitions of cardio and resistance training. At the outset of your regimen, never isolate the same muscle groups more than two days in a row.

Getting Stronger as You Age

Strong abdominal muscles are a physical plus for all people, but especially for seniors. A strong mid-section can help you achieve good posture and decrease your risk of suffering lower back pains. Fat gets stored in the mid-section of the body, where it worsens with age and causes some folks to die early from weight-related problems. There are several exercises that are good for targeting the mid-section, such as sit-ups and curl-ups. Abdominal exercises should be done two to three times each week for consistent results.

Muscle mass goes into decline when a person reaches their fifties. Even though it's harder for seniors to build muscle, strength training is one of the most important things that older people can do to stay in good health. By the time you've reached your sixties or seventies, however, you won't be able to workout in the same way that people in their twenties and thirties do. Therefore, you'll want to find a gym that's staffed with trainers who have experience in working with older people.

Motivating Seniors to Exercise More

People often find it difficult to motivate their senior relatives into exercising. A lot of people grow resistant to new ideas once they settle into their habits, which only intensify with age. Therefore, you'll need to make the idea of working out seem exciting to them while answering any questions they might have.

To get your senior relatives into an exercise program, tell them about the various health benefits of working out. You could explain to them how working out will give them more energy while reducing their risk of bodily pain and incapacity. For a more authoritative input, you could ask their doctor to encourage them to exercise. Seniors often take the things their doctors say far more seriously and are therefore likely to follow workout advice if stated by their doctor.

A further way to get your senior relatives exercising is by exposing them to a program. Do a local search for senior workout programs and then take your older relative along to witness things. Once they see their peers exercising, they'll be more enticed to join in on the fun.

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