WHAT
EXERCISE DOES? You lose muscle mass as you get older, and exercise can
help you rebuild it. Muscles also burn more calories than fat, even at rest,
which will offset your slowing metabolism. Exercise helps stop, delay, and
sometimes improve serious illnesses like heart disease, high blood pressure,
diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, and osteoporosis. It can help
your brain stay sharp and keep you from falling into a funk.
TYPES OF
EXERCISE: Young or old, everyone needs different kinds. Cardio or
aerobic exercise gets your heart rate up and makes you breathe harder, which
builds your endurance and burns calories. Strength or weight training keeps
your muscles ready for action. Flexibility exercises help you stay limber so
you can have a full range of movement and avoid injury. Balance training
becomes important after age 50, so you can prevent falls and stay active.
CHOOSE
THE RIGHT ACTIVITIES: Lower-impact exercise, with less jumping and pounding, is
kinder to your joints. Some activities provide more than one type of exercise,
so you'll get more bang from your workout buck. Definitely pick things that you
enjoy doing! Your doctor or physical therapist can suggest ways to adapt sports
and exercises, or better alternatives, based on the limitations of any medical
conditions you have.
WALKING: Simple
and effective! It builds your stamina, strengthens lower body muscles, and
helps fight against bone diseases like osteoporosis. It's easy to work into
your day. You can go solo or make it social. At a moderate pace, you'll get
exercise and still be able to chat with a friend or group.
JOGGING: If you like to sweat a
bit more when you exercise, try jogging to get your heart rate up. As long as
you take it slow and steady, wear the right shoes, and take walking breaks,
your joints should be fine. Soft surfaces, like a track or grass, may also
help. Pay attention to your calves and hips, with extra stretching and
strengthening to lessen your chance of injuries.
DANCING: It
doesn't really matter what kind: ballroom, line, square, even dance-based
aerobics classes like Zumba and Jazzercise. Dancing helps your endurance,
strengthens your muscles, and improves your balance. It burns a lot of calories
because it gets you moving in all directions. Research shows learning new moves
is really good for your brain, too. Plus, you could be having so much fun, you
might not notice you're doing exercise.
GOLFING: Much of the benefit of
this sport comes from the walking: an average round is more than 10,000 steps,
or about 5 miles! In addition, your swing uses your whole body, and it requires
good balance -- and calm focus. If you carry or pull your clubs, that's even
more of a workout. But even using a cart is worth it. You're still working your
muscles and getting in steps along with fresh air and stress relief.
CYCLING: It's especially good when
you have stiff or sore joints, because your legs don't have to support your
weight. The action gets your blood moving and builds muscles on both the front
and back of your legs and hips. You use your abs for balance and your arms and
shoulders to steer. Because there's resistance, you're strengthening your
bones, too. Specially designed bike frames and saddles can make riding safer
and easier for various health issues.
TENNIS: Racquet
sports, including tennis, squash, and badminton, may be particularly good at
keeping you alive longer and for lowering your chance of dying from heart
disease. Playing tennis 2 or 3 times a week is linked to better stamina and
reaction times, lower body fat, and higher "good" HDL cholesterol.
And it builds bones, especially in your arm, low back, and neck. Play doubles
for a less intense, more social workout.
STRENGTH
TRAINING: Muscle loss
is one of the main reasons people feel less energetic as they get older. When
you lift weights, work out on machines, use resistance bands, or do exercises
with your own body weight (like push-ups and sit-ups), you build strength,
muscle mass, and flexibility. It'll make things like carrying groceries and
climbing stairs easier. You can join a gym, but you don't have to. Digging and
shoveling in the garden counts, too!
SWIMMING: You can exercise for
longer in the water than on land. There's no weight putting stress on your
joints (and making them hurt), and the water offers resistance to build muscles
and bones. Swimming laps burns calories and works your heart like jogging and
cycling, yet you're not likely to overheat. The moisture helps people with
asthma breathe. Water-based exercise improves the mind-set of people with
fibromyalgia.
YOGA: Actively holding a series
of poses will stretch and strengthen your muscles, as well as the
tendons and ligaments that hold your bones together. Mindful breathing makes it
a kind of meditation, too. Yoga can help lower your heart rate and blood
pressure and relieve anxiety and depression. Check out different styles and
classes to match your level of fitness and what appeals to you.
TAI CHI: This
quiet exercise is sometimes called "moving meditation." You move your
body slowly and gently, flowing from one position to the next, while you
breathe deeply. Not only is it good for balance, it can also improve bone and
heart health. It may help ease pain and stiffness from arthritis. It might even
help you sleep better.
HOW
MUCH? If you're in
good health, you should get at least 150 minutes of moderate cardio activity a
week. It's better when you spread it out over 3 days or more, for a minimum of
10 minutes at a time. Also spend time at least twice a week specifically
working the muscles in your legs, hips, back, abs, chest, shoulders, and arms. Generally
speaking, the more you exercise, the more benefit you get. And anything is
better than nothing.
START
SLOW: This is especially important if you haven't been
exercising for a while or when you're starting some new activity that your body
isn't used to. Begin with 10 minutes and gradually ramp up how long, how often,
or how intensely you exercise. Need motivation? Track your progress, either on
your own or with an app or online tool like the National Institutes of Health's
My Go4Life.
WHEN TO
CALL YOUR DOCTOR: Chest pain, breathing problems,
dizziness, balance problems, and nausea when you exercise could be warning
signs. Let your doctor know sooner, rather than later. Your body isn't going to
recover as fast as it used to. If your muscles or joints hurt the next day, you
may have overdone it. Dial it back and see what happens. Check with your doctor
if the pain continues.
REVIEWED BY: Carol DerSarkissian, MD, WebMD on August 02, 2021
SOURCES:
National Institute on Aging:
"Exercise and Physical Activity."
Family Doctor.org: "Exercise and
Seniors."
American Family Physician: "Physical Activity Guidelines for
Older Adults."
World Health Organization: "Physical
Activity and Older Adults."
NHS Choices: "Physical activity
guidelines for older adults," "'Want to live longer? Try racquet
sports', recommends study."
MedlinePlus: "Exercise for
Seniors."
CDC: "Five Minutes or Less for Health
Weekly Tip: Be Active," "Health Benefits of Water-based
Exercise."
AARP: "Running After 50: You CAN Do
It!"
Runner's World: "Mastering Running as You Age."
Journal of Aging Research: "Use of Physical and Intellectual
Activities and Socialization in the Management of Cognitive Decline of Aging
and in Dementia: A Review."
Age and Ageing: "Dance-based aerobic exercise may
improve indices of falling risk in older women."
Time: "Why Dancing Is the Best Thing You
Can Do For Your Body."
Harvard Medical School, Department of
Neurobiology, On the Brain:
"Dancing and the Brain."
Harvard Health Publications: "Golfing
can be good for you if done correctly," "The top 5 benefits of
cycling."
We Are Golf: "Fitness Benefits."
NPR: Shots: "Take A Swing At This:
Golf Is Exercise, Cart Or No Cart."
British Journal of Sports
Medicine: "Associations of
specific types of sports and exercise with all-cause and cardiovascular-disease
mortality: a cohort study of 80306 British adults," "Health benefits
of tennis."
Victoria State Government, BetterHealth
Channel: "Tennis – health benefits."
Growing Stronger: Strength
Training for Older Adults,
CDC, 2002.
University of Texas at Austin, College of
Education, .edu: "Making Waves: The benefits of swimming on
aging populations."
Journal of Sports Medicine and
Physical Fitness:
"The effect of a water exercise program on bone density of postmenopausal
women."
Swimming World: "10 Hidden Benefits of
Swimming."
National Center for Complementary and
Integrative Health: "Yoga: In Depth."
Go4Life: "Tai Chi," "Improve
Your Endurance."
Quality of Life Research: "The water exercise improves
health-related quality of life of frail elderly people at day service
facility."
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