Physical activity Healthy Life allows you to enjoy the uninterrupted work of the body longer, improves blood circulation, and strengthens the heart. When we walk, our body also releases serotonin, called the hormone of happiness.
So it’s important to move! The form of exercise is very individual. It is better to choose one that gives you pleasure. The type and intensity of the exercises should be adapted in accordance with your health and working capacity of your organism. Exercise should improve your efficiency and not worsen your health.
1. Scandinavian walking – Healthy Life
It is simple and very pleasant and, at the same time, effective, a form of activity in the open air, especially recommended for older people. During walking, it is not only the muscles of the legs that work but also the muscles of the upper parts of the body.
The sticks are a support for the spine, helping to relieve the joints and skeletal muscles during the march, and they also help to keep the balance – provided that their length is adjusted to your body height.
Scandinavian walking is a sport for all, regardless of age, illness and preparation. The big advantage of this sport is that you can train in the company of other people, which helps to support each other in the regularity of exercises.
2. Aqua aerobics
This is a water type of exercise with music. Water, displacing the body, helps to relieve the spine and joints and makes the exercises less tedious, despite the fact that most muscles participate. Aqua aerobics is a rest for the spine. In water, each exercise seems simple to perform.
To make the muscles work, you do not need to be able to swim at all. Aqua aerobics allows you to strengthen the muscles, positively affects the joints and is an effective form of weight loss. This is an excellent form of recreation for the elderly, because aqua aerobics does not belong to power sports and is, therefore, safe.
It’s especially recommended for people with obesity, diabetes, or heart disease. It is best to enroll in group sessions conducted by a specialist.
3. Bicycle riding
This physical activity perfectly strengthens the muscles of the legs and promotes weight loss, so it is especially recommended for people who are overweight. This is a good form of active outdoor recreation.
Only an hour’s ride 3 times a week will help significantly reduce cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, cycling is not a sport for everyone. It should be avoided by people with backbone and joint problems. Old people should remember that they should be comfortable while cycling.
4. Yoga – Healthy Life
Yoga is becoming more popular with every year and it is taught to the elderly by many gyms. Why yoga? Some of the main problems of this age are the reduction of mobility, joint pain, and muscle degradation.
Yoga helps prevent joint diseases, strengthens tendons and muscles, and even relieves pain. It’s a great way to relax and unwind. Yoga helps in the fight against pain during the stretching of the body which does not work as well as before. The most important thing is the exercise technique, accessible to people of all ages, regardless of their physical preparation.
5. Muscle stretching
This is an interesting form of exercise, aimed at stretching the muscles. The goal is to tighten the muscles and tendons and improve the performance of joints.
Such exercises can increase joint mobility, reduce muscle tension, help you maintain proper posture, and help you achieve psychological balance as well. Stretching is a great form of activity that can be successfully done by elderly people under the guidance of a specialist.
6. Basic sports
American scientists from the Human Performance Laboratory tested nine high-performance athletes who never dropped their training program. All of them were skiers and they were 80+-years-old. Tests showed that the circulatory system and heart of the respondents were like those of 40-year-olds who did not do any sports.
7. Dancing
A sensational conclusion was made by neurologists studying the effect of exercise on the development of Parkinson’s disease. Two groups of elderly people and the impact of motor activity on improving their health were compared.
One of the groups was engaged in sports exercises, another danced. Dance, especially tango, may prove to be the most effective method of optimizing movement in old age. The effect was most pronounced in persons suffering from Parkinson’s disease.