Fitness For Seniors: Simple Exercises For Seniors To Stay Healthy

Getting old and enjoying retired life is fun and games until health issues make daily chores stressful. If you are keen on not letting this happen to you or your loved ones, it is highly advisable to include some simple but effective exercises in your or your loved ones’ daily routine. The exercises, as mentioned earlier, need not necessarily be intensive ones. 150 minutes of moderate endurance activity a week will do wonders in a way you can only imagine. 

Seniors are expected to focus on strength and mobility exercises, balance exercises, and aerobic activities. This will help them improve their strength, flexibility, and balance. Below are some such easy exercises exclusively for seniors.

Simple Exercises for Seniors to Stay Healthy

For your legs

Knee lifts and toe taps are two simple exercises that help strengthen the lower legs and thighs. These exercises must be performed after sitting on a chair. 

• Toe Taps: Keep your feet parallelly on the floor and raise your toes without moving your heels high enough to feel the front of your leg muscles. Repeat the exact process 20 times

• Knee Lifts: Rest your arms on the chair without applying pressure on your arms, lift each of your legs slightly and maintain the posture for 3 seconds before lowering your knees. Repeat it 10 times on one leg and do the same on the other leg 10 times.

For your lower back muscles

• Pelvic tilts help in strengthening and stretching your lower back. Kneel and keep one of your legs bent for this exercise. 

Inhale, tighten the buttocks, tilt your hips forward and keep the posture for 3 seconds. Exhale, push the hips backward, and hold the pose for 3 seconds. Repeat the same 10-12 times.

For shoulders and back

Shoulder and upper back stretching help stretch the shoulder and back muscles, which is why this is commonly done as a warm-up exercise. You must be standing while doing this exercise. 

• Keep the left arm straight, and then bend it to the chest level towards your right shoulder. While doing this, bend your right hand, hold the elbow of your left hand and slightly push towards the right shoulder. Keep the posture for 20-30 seconds. Repeat the same on the right hand using the left hand.

Mobility Exercises

• Hip Flexor Stretch

This exercise helps improve your walking and makes it feel effortless. 

Lie on your back on a bed, letting one leg hang off the side of the bed. Bend the other leg towards your chest and hold it using your hands for 30 seconds. Do the same with the other leg.

• Knee extension Stretch

This exercise will help straighten your knee while walking, thus making walking more easier. Additionally, this exercise will also help in reducing lower back pain. 

Sit on a chair and keep one of your heels on a lower stool placed in front of you. Lean forward without bending your knee and hold the posture for 1 to 3 minutes. Repeat the same on the other leg.

• Balance Exercises

Balance exercises help reduce accidental falls, which can be a common occurrence as you age. Yoga, Tai Chi, etc., are balance exercises that you can perform every day. Apart from that below exercises will also help in boosting your balance.

• Shifting exercise

Stand straight, keep your legs hip-width apart, relax your hands, and lift one leg for 10-30 seconds. Come back to the starting position and repeat the same with the other leg. Repeat the same 3 times.

• Single leg balance

Stand straight, keep your hands on the hip, bend a leg backward, hold the posture for a couple of seconds and come back to the starting position. Repeat 10 times. Do the same with the other leg.

Aerobic Exercises

Performing moderately-intense aerobic exercises 3-5 hours a week will keep you physically active.

• Walking

Walking is an effective cardio workout for all seniors. 30 minutes of brisk walking can do wonders for your overall physical health. 

• Cycling

Cycling helps in dealing with joint and muscle pain or dysfunction. You can use an outdoor bike or a stationary indoor bike for cycling. 

• Dancing

This is a fun cardio workout that can be equally beneficial and enjoyable. Dancing can be of any form like Zumba, tango, or just moving your body, including your hips. Let the beats guide you!

If you find it challenging to do everything at a stretch, you can break it down to 10-15 minutes of workout twice or thrice a day. Primus is a senior community living facility that takes care of all these. Primus senior citizen home in Bangalore has a comprehensive approach to taking care of seniors. While working out is important at every age, let your body guide you. There is no pressure to be as healthy as the next person. Listening to your body is very important. People often fall into the trap of becoming healthy overnight and end up injuring themselves. Instead, take it slowly, do what feels right and you will become the healthiest version of yourself. The senior citizen apartments in Bangalore, like Primus, are working towards helping you in achieving this. Primus is starting their senior citizen homes in Chennai too. Check out Primus website to know more about this senior citizen living facility.