On 20th Dec, 2025, Seniors Today hosted their weekly Health Live Webinar with Dipti Mehta, a Senior Physiotherapist who spoke on and answered questions about Safe Exercises for Seniors
Dipti Mehta is the Team Leader Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute, Mumbai. She has over 2 decades of experience in the field. She holds a Masters degree in Physical Therapy which she completed in 2003 and then began her career as a lecturer at St. G S Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai, where she worked until 2008. Her co- specialisation is musculoskeletal rehabilitation. Over the years she has also developed a strong interest and expertise in managing complex chronic pain conditions. She is also trained and specialised in women’s health and rehabilitation, offering holistic and patient centric care.
Ageing is inevitable, however unsafe exercise is avoidable.
Falls are predictable, not accidental. Falls are one of the reasons why seniors today are not ready/ apprehensive of going outside or even exercising.
Remember, whatever you might have, is reversible but once a disability sets in, it is irreversible.
Exercise is medicine but what you need to be careful with is the dodge which is where Dipti Mehta expertise helps you.
Ageing is a process that sets in by the age of 21-22 years, thus, when you start ageing the following physiological processes start setting in:
- Your muscle mass reduces
- Reduced oxygen capacity reduces
- Bone mineral density decreases
- Decreased reaction time
As you age, you might also be suffering from multiple co morbidities and probably also taking multiple medications for the same. This might also raise the question “can I exercise in my condition?”
Safety enables consistency and consistency gives you results.
It is important that you get yourself screened regularly for any cardiac or neurological issue or if you have any musculoskeletal ache or pain.
Once you are screened, the precision towards exercises increases.
Technique of exercise is more important than the quantity/ time of exercise.
Warm up and cool down- both physical and mental, before and after a work out session is very important.
“No pain, no gain” does not always stand true, sometimes pain is also a warning signal.
Exercise should challenge you, but it should not alarm you.
The principles on exercise are:
- Frequency
- Intensity
- Duration
- Type of exercises
- Progress
Aerobic exercises:
Low impact aerobic exercises include:
- Start small. Start with a walk
- Cycling- it is advised even for people who have knee pain
- Climb a flight of stairs case
- Stepper exercises
- Swimming
The intensity for these exercises should be moderate. Keep increasing your intensity every week.
Muscle strengthening exercises
- Try getting up from the chair without the arm support and repeat the activity
- Push up- start with wall push ups, gradually you will progress to the floor
- Marching in place
- Resistance band exercises
- Free weights- start with low weight, low repetition and move to higher weight and longer repetitions.
Avoid holding your breath when you are exercising
Muscles don’t age, they de- train, and you can train them again.
Balance and flexibility
You can be flexible and move around but only when your pain while doing that movement is manageable, you have good strength in your body and great balance
You can do squats
Ultimately, it is your perseverance, practice and consistency to repeat the exercise everyday that helps you reach an advanced level/ your goal
Falls are predictable and preventable- if you do your balance exercises everyday, you can prevent falls. If you can prevent falls, you can prevent disability. If you prevent disability, you improve your self respect.
Simple balancing exercises include:
- Marching in place
- Standing on one leg, alternating between both legs
- Moving your hands up and down while shifting your legs backwards
- Balancing your stick/ cane in your hand while you’re sitting
- Playing lemon and spoon with your grandkids
- Getting up on your toes
Start small. Stay consistent.
Start with 30 – 40 minutes of aerobic exercises everyday
Try doing strengthening exercises 1-2 times/ week
Rest- every Sunday/ once a week
Consistency beats intensity
Sedentary lifestyle is a big factor in your blood sugar levels not being controlled or your cholesterol levels being too high. Limit your sedentary activities
Daily movement is very important in such cases.
Break your sitting every 15- 20 minutes.
Remember to go on short post meal walks- at least 10 minutes
If you are diabetic, take care of the following things:
- Check your blood sugar levels before you start your activity/ exercise.
- Always carry with yourself a small fast acting carbohydrate- chocolate bar.
- Avoid long fasting hours
- Foot care needs to be taken
- Low sugar affects your balance before awareness
If you are hypertensive, take care of the following things:
- Check your blood pressure before you start your exercise. If it is high, do not exercise
- Proper warm up and cool down
If you are osteoporotic, take care of the following things:
- Avoid high impact exercises involving jerking, Zumba, jumping jacks, etc
- Yoga is the best exercise option for such patients
- Try controlled movements and weight bearing exercises such as walking, stair climbing exercises
- If you do weight trading, do it in lying down position, not in sitting or standing
