subject: Popular & Effective Exercises For The Elderly [print this page] Popular & Effective Exercises For The Elderly
It's important for you to get your daily dose of activity as an elderly person. Most of you no doubt looked forward to retiring from your job and taking it easy for the rest of your life. Few people consider health problems like joint issues and cardiovascular concerns to be something they will have to cope with, but performing some low-impact exercises for the elderly can really help make your quality of life easier.
Stretching: Stretching is important before and after any exercise. If you have access to a whirlpool before stretching: Take advantage of the opportunity, as warm water with jets pulsing your muscles can really get the blood flowing like nothing else. Stretches such as toe touches, knee bends, arms crossed over your chest, and side-bends are all great stretching exercises for the elderly.
Water Aerobics: Water aerobics give weary joints a rest, while still getting blood pumping through your heart to the rest of your body. Walking, bending and twisting exercises are all made into low-impact exercises for the elderly when done in waist-deep or slightly higher water.
Exercise Machines: There is nothing wrong with utilizing free-weight exercises into your routine. If you have chronic soreness in any of your limbs, a machine variation of free-weight exercises like: bench press, leg press, bicep curls, triceps extensions -- and many more will provide you with less impact and strain on your joint tissue.
Ball Routines: Doing exercises with a Swiss Ball, or similar apparatus can be a treat to your body. Many of the exercises you'll find used are great at decompressing your spine, shoulder blades, hips, etc. The control needed to keep you body balance on the ball will help strengthen your muscles also, while keeping things low-impact to reduce injury. Ball exercises have been popular for years, but classes and ball routines on DVD have gained popularity in recent years.
