There is no age bar to look and stay fit and healthy. So if you have the stereotype belief that older age means it’s your retirement time and you are supposed to sit and lie in your bed all the time then, you are carrying a wrong perception. You can stay healthy, strong and live longer by keeping yourself mobile around the home.
Yes, you heard absolutely right and there is nothing to be surprised regarding this. You can easily keep your body mobile and independent even in your older age if you follow a more active daily life routine instead of a sedentary lifestyle. Then no one can stop you from keeping your body and brain youthful throughout your life.
Keep yourself busy in positive works especially the works which require your physical participation. This you can ensure even by doing small- small household works. In this way, you can give good support and favor to your family members and your dear ones and at the same time can benefit your overall health.
An idle body and mind are quite likely to get older even though by age they are young enough. A planned and busy everyday life schedule will reduce your older age health-related difficulties to a great extent and will protect you from developing many aging-related health issues such as diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, depression, anxiety, loss of body balance, weight gain and many more.
So if you are wondering the ways which can help you in keeping fit, independent and mobile in your older age then below are some tips that can help you in this context to a great extent.
Tips to Keep Your Body Fit and Mobile in Older Age
Practice the Physical Activities That You Love
Keeping your body busy doesn’t always imply to a hardcore workout at a gym or with exercise equipment. There are many daily life activities that you can practice without getting bored for longer duration as these are activities of your choice in for which you have a keen interest and there is no need to prepare your mind and body for doing them.
You can do them effortlessly at any point in time of the day. Some of these activities include gardening, driving, playing badminton, cricket or golf at your house boundary itself or you can go to a nearby local park.
These activities or your hobbies can work as an amazing tool in your older age when you have enough free time to enjoy your hobbies which in the earlier age of your life due to busy life schedule you have missed or compromised.
This is the time when life has given ample opportunity to you to cherish your favorite hobbies which will also work as physiotherapy methods to improve your body balance, strengthen your muscles mass and prevent bone loss caused by aging.
Also, it will reduce body aches and will keep your overall body and mind strong and healthy so that you won’t have to remain dependent on a fixed medication routine as average older age people do.
Stay More Active in Your Day To Day Life
In order to be more active and mobile, you do not need to go out of your home because within your home boundary you can do lots many activities which will be nothing but an easy way to keep your bones, muscles and overall organs more strengthen, flexible, and independent.
In order to ensure this, we have some tips for you that you can incorporate in your day to day life and can prevent the risk of older age health-related difficulties, such as the risk of falls, bones, and muscles pain, stiffness, weakness, lack of strength and endurance, etc.
Move more for pursuing things instead of preferring lying down or sitting in a couch or chair. Use the staircase instead of an elevator or escalator as it will keep your bones more mobile by ensuring smoother blood circulation all over the body.
Similarly, make a habit of walking to reach your nearby destination places such as bus stop or nearby local markets for the shopping purpose. Bend down often while doing some normal household activities as it will prevent the risk of stiffness in joints which is the major cause of immobility and joint pains in the older age.
Find a Buddy for You
Find a buddy or partner for you of your age as together both of you can make this journey a wonderful experience. Human is a social being and isolation kills them even though medically you are alive. Whenever you will feel discouraged or think for giving up your loyal buddy will boost your enthusiasm.
Similarly, you can give the same support to your buddy as well at every situation. Also having a buddy has another amazing benefit as they will not let you feel boredom during your regular exercise routine. You can do chit chat with them along with keeping your body busy in different physical exercise without getting bored for a longer duration.
Chat with them during jogging or walking in a treadmill instead of sitting and chatting in mobile or through calls. Also, it will create a healthy competitive environment for both of you as you can compare your improvement in different activities with them which will create an inner excitement and energy to beat your buddy every time.
Having a fixed buddy has another health benefit as because in certain circumstances if you feel unhealthy or any other sudden concern you faces, your buddy will be there to offer you necessary help and to move you towards your destination safely.
Also, the social gathering will increase when your circle will get bigger. This will save you from the fear of isolation which is a very common scenario in older age people. This often leads to anxiety and depression mental health issue in older adults.
However, with a fixed buddy and social group and gatherings with people of a similar age group will prevent all these health concerns and make your life journey more pleasing and healthful.
Avoid the Sedentary Time by Indulging In some Active Works
An idle mind and body create a favorable environment for the growth of minor to major health issues which in later stages will be quite difficult to deal with. So make sure that you utilize the time you usually spend sitting or lying on the bed in some active and positive works which can keep your brain and body engaged in the right direction.
People who live a sedentary lifestyle are the primary victims of major health problems. First of all, it increases your risk of putting more weight which is another major reason for developing multiple chronic health concerns such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, high cholesterol level, high blood pressure, reduced metabolic functions rate, arthritis, etc.
So to avoid these major health problems and to keep you mobile and independent in your older age make sure that you spend most of your time in doing household works like cleaning, gardening, cooking, playing with your grandchildren or teaching them, read some books, listen to some soothing music, etc.
These small-small changes and activities will not only keep your brain and body active all the time but will also not let your brain and body get older throughout your life.
Prepare a Good Exercise Regimen for You
Success in any endeavor or process depends on its quality of planning. So before jump starts a daily exercise routine you should prepare a well-structured exercise regimen so that you can follow them flawlessly every day to achieve and fulfill your ultimate goal or target.
If you are the one who has not workout since a very long past then don’t start with a vigorous exercise routine as it can do more harm than good to you. Start slowly with light exercise forms and slowly increase your speed or pace in them.
Also, don’t stress your body too much initially as it can hurt your muscles and bones negatively leading to longer duration rest thereon. So be very wise neither start with vigorous workouts nor give so much time for exercise initially as nothing can be done within a few days with such kind of practices.
Also, you might feel boredom or may get anxious if in the initial phases of fitness routine your body requires to stretch and stress for too long. Begin with a 10-minute aerobic exercise routine or you can spread it into different timings in a day like a workout for 2 to 3 times that you have planned to do at the single session. This will reduce the burden from your shoulder.
As time will pass you can increase your exercise regimen up to 30 minutes. Start with warm up to release the stress from your body then start your workout. Take necessary breaks whenever you feel its requirement as because too much stressing even at the time when your body craves for rest can cause a negative impact on your health.
Make sure that your body doesn’t get dehydrated in between because of excess sweating. So to ensure this drink enough water or any other health drink in between the workout session. End your workout session with light and cooling stretching work to move your body into a normal state.
You should aim to practice at least 150 minutes in a week, or 30 minutes workout in five days. In the gaping period or days, you can practice moderate workouts at least for 10 minutes. Include weight training in your regimen especially if you are an obese or overweight person.
Take the suggestions of a physical therapist as they can guide you better which kind of exercises are good for your health especially for dealing with arthritis or other bone and muscles related health issues.
Include Aerobic Exercises in Your Daily Routine
The most common health issue among older adults found is their cardiovascular health risk which also increases your early age death risk to a great extent with a comparison to other major health problems. However, you can prevent your risk of developing cardiovascular health problems and keep your heart in a healthy position by incorporating aerobic workouts in your daily routine.
These activities can increase your heart rate and improve the overall body blood circulation which is the primary need and requirement for a healthy body and mind irrespective of all age groups people. Some vital aerobic exercises that you can easily include in your day to day routine without cutting or saving any extra time from your daily life busy schedule include cycling, swimming, jumping ropes, jogging, dancing and playing tennis, etc.
It will also reduce your obesity risk by keeping your weight in a balanced position. Otherwise, in the cases of heavy-weight, you have a greater risk of developing bone health issues which will obstruct your body movements. Also, excessive body weight raises your risk of developing health issues which gets a trigger out of increased body weight.
It will keep your blood sugar level in check if you are already a diabetic patient. Also, it will increase your flexibility and raise bone strength and endurance level which will prevent the risk of fall, body aches and bone loss which are the very common concerns among older adults.
Incorporate Strength Training in Your Routine
Weight or strength training helps to build your muscles mass and increases your bone density to bring more stability and strength to your body motions and movements. The repetitive movements during the strength training sessions along with using a weight or load not only help you in toning your muscles but also prevent the risk of developing older aging-related health problems.
That means it ensures fitness along with improving your appearance and look. It will improve your body balance and will enable you to do your day to day activities freely without any risk of fall or misbalancing.
You can use small weights or exercise bands for lifting. Also, you can use food cans instead of weights if you don’t want to invest in weight equipment for your exercise routine. Engage yourself in household activities which require lifting heavy weight as that will also work similarly to the strength training routine.
As you get comfortable in lifting weight increase the rep. numbers to improve your endurance level. You should practice strength training at least for 2 to 3 days in a week. Remember don’t avoid the 30 minutes of aerobic exercise routine for 5 days in a week if you are doing strength training. This should be an addition to your fixed aerobic routine.
Improve your Brain Health
Dementia or memory loss is a very common brain health concern associated with the older age issue. This makes the living of affected person very problematic as they have to rely on or remain dependent on others because of their forgetful nature. However, this issue can be prevented if you keep your brain active by engaging in different brain exercises.
To ensure this you can practice brainy games which will help to boost your brain cells and increase the blood circulation level in your brain areas to keep your memory sharp even in the older age. You can play puzzles, online games, brainstorms, Sudoku, etc. Also, these brainy games increase the chances of growing new brain cells even at an older age.
Take Less Stress
Taking excessive stress in the older age can cause you major mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, memory loss, etc. Also, it will reduce your ability to live freely and energetically because a stressful mind also affects your overall health.
So to avoid your stress level practice some mindful activities such as yoga, meditation, deep breathing, etc. These practices will develop peace in your kind by suppressing your stress level. Also, it will teach you how to remain calm and stable even in the negative or unfavorable situations of life.
By keeping yourself mobile around the home with the help of above-mentioned tips will ensure that you stay healthy, independent, energetic and live longer peacefully with full of health.
[expand title=”View Article Sources“]
- https://www.wikihow.com/Remain-Active-As-You-Get-Older
- https://www.everydayhealth.com/senior-health-photos/exercise-ideas-for-seniors.aspx
- https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/physical-activity-for-seniors
- https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-as-you-get-older/
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