We celebrated Christmas this week at Seniors Today, by hosting another one of our weekly Health Live webinars and this merry week on Christmas day, we had with us, Dr Binal Dave who spoke on and answered question about “Younger Next Year: Using the Power of Exercise & Staying Fit in 2022”
Dr Binal Dave is a Senior Physiotherapist and a specialist in Geriatric Care, Women’s Health and Rehabilitation, Aquatic Therapy and has a Fellowship in Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation.
Certificate on Female Sex Health Rehab, Certified Manual Therapist, Mat, Prop and Reformer Pilates Teacher Trainer, Kinesio Taping practitioner, Certified Myofascial Release Practitioner
As we age, our body’s requirements also start to change. Regular exercise is important for the seniors, says research.
Health benefits of exercise in older adults are:-
- Helps you stay as active as possible without over exerting yourself.
- It helps you live longer, healthier and a more joyous life.
- Exercise improves your balance
- Regular exercise means more energy
- Regular exercise also improves your brain function
You can exercise at home, at a fitness studio, in a pool (however this is not advised; given the current situation).
Water aerobics: it is ideal for those living with arthritis and other forms of joint pain. This is because of the property of buoyancy of water, which leads to less stress being put on your joints. It also improves your strength, flexibility and balance with minimal stress on your body and joints. If it is a temperature controlled pool, it helps relax your muscles and your joints are also at ease.
Chair yoga: this is a low impact form of exercise which will improve your muscle strength, mobility, balance and flexibility; all of which are crucial health aspects for all the seniors.
Resistance band workout: this exercise is ideal for strengthening your core; it also improves your posture, flexibility and balance.
Resistance bands are stretchy strips of rubber that add resistance to your workout.
Pilates: this is a popular form of low impact workout/ exercise which was developed a century ago. In Pilates your breathing, alignment, concentration and core strength are emphasized on. It involves the use of equipment such as inflatable balls, mats, pillars, etc. It is called a body-mind workout. It has been shown that it improves your balance, it develops your core strength and increases your flexibility.
Walking: it is one of the least stressful and most accessible forms of exercise. It promotes a healthy lifestyle while simultaneously lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and colon cancer.
If circumstances do pull us back and we do have to go back to our lockdown stages, here’s what you can do instead of going out and putting yourself at risk for the sake of your health- put some music on your television, keep a tab of your steps, clear out a little space and you can walk at a comfortable pace in the hallway, your lobby or any little open space.
The minimum recommendation is 5000 steps a day. And then progressively reach up to 10,000 steps a day.
Body weight workouts: muscle loss is commonly seen in adults, it can be very devastating and debilitating. Muscle loss can lead to hormonal problems, a decrease in the ability to metabolise protein and other problems. Body weight exercises are one of the best ways to counter muscle atrophy. These include squats, lunges, push-ups, etc. These need to be learnt and then done properly and under the supervision of an expert.
Strength training: it has been shown to alleviate the symptoms of diabetes, osteoporosis, back pain and depression while also helping you manage your weight. It also contributes to a higher metabolism and helps in developing better glucose control.
Some guidelines for exercising:
- Some or the other kind/ form of physical activity one must do/ indulge in- this will improve your health and will also reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke which is very common in individuals above the age of 65
- Do activities that improve your balance, strength, flexibility at least twice a week.
- Do at least 150 minutes of moderately intense physical activity in a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity work out
- Reduce your time where you’re sedentary, lying or sitting down or try to avoid long periods of time when you’re not moving or performing an activity.
Stand for a few seconds after sitting for a stretch of 30 minutes. If you’ve been standing for 30 minutes, you need to sit for a few minutes and then you can go back to standing. Same goes for when you’re walking and lying down. The idea is to change your pattern.
A few exercises to avoid if you’re over the age of 65:
- Squats with dumbbells
- Bench press with a barbell
- Leg press
- Long distance running (jogging is preferable and the same in intervals is advised)
- Abdominal crunches
- Upright rope
- Deadlifts
- High interval intensity training
- Rock climbing
Activities that will help you strengthen your muscles:
- Carrying heavy shopping bags
- Tai-chi
- Resistance band workouts
- Heavy gardening- digging, shoveling
