Importance Of Healthy Exercise Practices To The Elderly

It’s no doubt, but older adults more often forget to exercise. And this is one of the reasons why most of them succumbed to diseases like heart complications, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Sure, studies have linked exercise to many health benefits, including reducing stress and anxiety, improving moods, and increasing energy levels. Also, it helps keep an individual fit, and most importantly, exercise lessens the risk of heart complications.

Therefore, any senior who wants to live a healthy and long life free of various complications should make a routine of doing regular exercise. The following are some reasons that prove the benefit of exercise in improving older adults’ physical and mental health.

Exercise help:

Reduce the Risk of Various Diseases

Studies and research have shown that exercise is effecting in managing chronic complications like:

Heart diseases

Heart complications are one of the leading causes of death in the United States and the most costly diseases that affect the elderly. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines that out of four deaths; one is associated with heart disease. But by exercising, you can manage the chances of heart attacks and strokes.

How? Exercise helps reduce the Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDP) while boosting the HDL- the good cholesterol that eliminates the accumulation of the unhealthy triglycerides causing heart diseases.

Diabetes and Obesity

Without exercise, you risk accumulating too much weight, which increases your chances of getting type 2 diabetes. Also, the elders risk metabolic dysfunctions like obesity and high blood pressure.  Exercise will help maintain a proper weight and help regulate the insulin and glucose levels making the body more efficient.

Dementia

This is a common condition for the elderly. The disease is characterized by a decline or reduction in mental abilities and memory. In most cases, the seniors would be experiencing problems with their language memory, rapid changes of moods, and decision-making issues. Also, the condition presents signs like depression, anxiety, and increased irritability.

Here is the good news! Exercise helps reduce stress, anxiety and improves moods. Physical activities are some of the most emotional lifts that every older person should consider. Whether it’s jumping, walking, or a little run, they would help stimulate the brain’s feel-good hormones and chemicals to improve your moods.

Also, it facilitates the secretion of serotonin responsible for improving moods and memory. Or improve cognitive functions. In others, exercise helps fine-tune the motor skills making people more active and engaged hence reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.

Promotes Social Engagements

Through exercise, the elderly can register into various exercise clubs and fun social events. Such areas help the seniors for social ties and help create a sense of purpose. Also, exercise clubs help the elderly make friends and socialize with various people, thus avoiding depression and loneliness.

Staying Active Help Increase Bone Health and Strength

Physical activities are vital in keeping and maintaining bones and muscles. They ensure a constant and continuous flow of blood and other nutrients to the body’s bones, tissues, and muscles. Thus strengthening and ensuring the endurance of bones and muscles.

Strong muscles and bones would also prevent unnecessary falls, something common with the aged. But through practicing some balancing exercises, seniors would have boosted stamina that enables them to stay balanced.

Exercise Promote Sleep

Sometimes, the aged would have trouble falling asleep. However, staying active and doing some exercise would help improve sleep quality. For instance, seniors may be exhausted after regular practice, meaning they need to have a deep sleep. Also, vigorous physical activities ensure deeper sleep by increasing body temperature. This enhances self-reported sleep and reduces the amount one takes before one falls asleep.

Conclusion

Exercising is suitable for all ages, but it’s more beneficial to the elderly prone to various old-age infections and diseases. Therefore, seniors need to exercise to help strengthen their muscles and bones, prevent or manage chronic conditions and promote their sleep. Most importantly, exercise helps boost their cognitive functions and makes them remember and recall various activities.