The main reason seniors are interested in fitness is health. While there are those that might go beyond a therapeutic workout or regimen and delve into bodybuilding, that was never my interest. Since we have many threads on various fitness disciplines, I won't be repetitious and I am starting this thread to discuss how one can get started with a routine that fits their disability or other limitations. The reason so many seniors get started in exercise is because of doctors' or physical therapists' recommendations. While the basic and most common recommendation is to walk, seniors may struggle with getting in a walk of any value due to joint replacements, bad feet, respiratory, heart, or balance. I hope this thread might serve as a guide to seniors seeking an exercise regimen to pick one that works for them without spending hundreds of dollars on online trainers, videos, or personal trainers at gyms only to find the program was not formulated with the senior in mind. Many programs claiming they are designed for seniors aren't. One, in particular, a friend bought had a middle-aged guy demonstrating how seniors can sit in a chair and build their legs up to aid in walking and balance. He started slow and then wanted seniors to keep up with him at a rapid pace. She could never achieve his rapid pace and got discouraged. While a rapid pace may work for middle-aged, it won't for most seniors. It can be counterproductive. The point I made to her was he didn't have a knee replacement, so how could he know what one with a replacement could achieve? I hope this thread will help seniors searching for workable information connect with seniors that have achieved a level of fitness with the same disabilities or concerns. My experience as a former senior fitness trainer is centered around natural-born females. Why does this make a difference? It is important because the female muscle is estrogen fueled and the male is testosterone-fueled. The female muscle stretches more than the male. As we age, females find themselves lower in estrogen than they once were and their muscles are not as flexible and so some exercises may need altering. All the impressive moves and workouts some young or middle-aged women fitness experts may demonstrate will need to be modified for the senior woman to achieve benefits instead of damage. The same, to a degree, with men but women especially need to be aware that menopause has made some changes and limitations that are important to address. My advice to get started is for one to search this category and read about what others here are doing and have tried. Would weightlifting work for you? How about trampolines? Tai Chi? Yoga? Search YouTube for videos specific to what you desire to achieve. Learn to modify regimens to fit you rather than follow them verbatim. For instance, I wanted to increase my hip and leg size back to what they once were before cancer. I watched a young super fit lady doing side scissors using resistance bands on her legs. Resistance bands and weights I have found don't work well for most seniors, whereas repetition does. I used the same exercise without resistance and keep increasing repetitions on each side. Now 3 months later I increased my hip size by 1" using this exercise while all other routines stayed the same. Another exercise I devised years ago instead of pushups, pullups, or other disciplines that were said to build chest muscles and pull up sagging breasts, was to use high-top compression bras or a simple very compressive bandeau and do deep breathing while pushing out my chest. Over a year's time, I increased my bust size by one inch just because the over-breast arm muscles were built up and pulled my breast back up. This resulted in a lot less shoulder pain and sagging back muscles. I devised my ab building exercise because strong abs protect an old worn out back. Surgery was never an option for me unless there is no other way and the pain is disabling. I do a few moves I took from Tai Chi and Yoga. I used Tai Chi to warm up and Yoga for the final stretching. I feel better physically and mentally. I look forward to hearing about your experiences and journeys or concerns.
I try to do a some type of exercise daily. Walking is probably my main aerobic type exercise; a regular walk and then all the chore walking I do inside and outside the house. I also do some balance exercises daily, wall push-ups and I try to do some floor planks. (I can't hold the floor planks very long), a few leg exercises, a couple of yoga moves, some stretching, and hand weights. I don't need to gain inches anywhere! Menopause kicked my ass in that department. When I was younger in my twenties, I use to roll my eyes at the older ladies that I worked with that was always complaining about how they couldn't lose weight no matter what they did and how their body shape was changing. I would think to my young skinny self, you all just need to quit eating so much and exercise more. Today at this age, I would like to slap my younger self into next Tuesday for that thought.
Nearly every paper I have read, every doctor I have talked to and the loads of videos I have seen have attested that the main reason for a senior to have diminishing health is only partially due to how that senior lived when he or she was younger and almost fully due to how the senior is living now. Age certainly has it’s contributions but living like one can’t do anything because of age is where the rubber meets the road. Even bedridden and wheel chair bound people can do isometric exercises and use tension / resistance bands so someone with the ability to be totally mobile can do the same. Note; My wife is totally dependent upon a pace maker and she walks about 10 laps through the house every hour or so and hits the pool for an hour when we go to the gym. Stretching out and walking is always good because it can eventually lead to running again or at least, a slow paced jog but it doesn’t have to. Just moving those stretched out legs for 30 minutes or so will greatly improve one’s physical and mental well being. Abdominal vacuums (ref. YouTube) are great for strengthening the inner stomach muscles and the muscles that govern the diaphragm. Put on some Chubby Checkers and do the twist for a couple of songs. Pretend you’re climbing a ladder and lift the legs and arms in unison as if going for the rungs. Stretching the mouth like you’re putting on the biggest smile you’ve ever made whilst leaning your head back and turning it from side to side helps to control that turkey neck. (never to be done in public) Practice standing on one foot and then the other for a bit to help improve one’s balance. I’ve already mentioned it before but try not to use your hands whilst dismounting the throne. Lean forward and stand up and as time goes on, lean less forward and stand up without putting the hands on the knees or a balance bar. Whilst standing straight, squeeze your butt cheeks together for at least 10 seconds at a time. If you can’t do 10 seconds, build up to it. Believe it or not, by doing so, one won’t be as apt to dislocate a hip when there is a fall. ……………….. The reason I do what i do isn’t just to build muscle mass but because I do NOT want to be in the shape like some of the oldsters I see when I go into a doctor’s office or the VA. I don’t want type II diabetes or be all stove up from a sedentary life or look dead before I die. Basically, there’s probably hundreds of things a senior can do to get physically fit without going to a gym but there is ONE major way to stay unfit and that is to do nothing at all.
I want to know where my waist went??? No matter how thin I am or how much exercise I do, I don't have a waist anymore. So annoying.
Thanks @Bobby Cole All very good info and ideas and I know you and Yvonne work at staying strong. I hope if this thread is found on a search and we have some joining seeking ideas, you and others will share your experiences freely. Staying fit is so important for the mind and body. I think senior fitness needs more visibility on the forum.
That is a major concern for most senior women. When I gained 70 lbs it all went to my waist. I went from 27" to 34." I noticed as I lost weight from working out that my waist measurement didn't go down proportionally. I must sign out now, but do some research on ab-building exercises. The idea is to target the waist. I can suggest 3 simple exercises that I do that got me down to 27". It took time but results by measure are more important than weight watching. I will see what I can find to give you an idea of the one that worked the best for me. More later if interested. Situps never did me much good. How is your back?
Faye, Faye, Faye. You know I love ya but I'm not going to do any research on ab-building exercises. I already walk, do stretches for the radiation damage, and bounce on a mini-trampoline every day; I just don't have any interest in more exercises. So elastic waist pants are my friend. Oh, and my back is fine. I'm actually in pretty good shape for an old gal; I walk fast and have good balance so a thick waist is the least of my worries. Thanks for the offer to help, though.
Hahaha! I knew that was coming! I did expect a bit more sarcasm, however. Yes, stretch pants. Mine are all a four-way nylon/spandex stretch with a couple of pair in a looser fuller leg fit and then several leggings. With a good back, good balance, and a fast walk, I would agree you should forget the waist measure and "just keep on keeping on the keepers" as Kamala would say. That mini trampoline is a great aid. Now swing the hula hoop while tramping. Ok, I apologize that wasn't nice but in my defense, Bobby is the one that suggested the hula for seniors. If you don't believe me, just ask his wife. Actually, the hula hoop is a great tool. It does help the waistline to some degree but the main benefit is aerobic. Two basic components of an exercise routine. A. Aerobics B. Strength Building A senior with breathing problems and heart disease as the main concern might want to do aerobics while one with a bad back and poor balance might focus on strength-building with target exercises to address special needs. Depending on individual needs, exercises can be generalized for some benefit in all areas of general health or targeted to address special needs. As Bobby said doing any exercise is better than doing nothing. Walking (even using a walker) either indoors, outdoors, in place, or covering distance, (not sure about sleepwalking ) is a number one recommendation for all seniors. If you are walking you aren't dead.
I haven’t seen her in a while but there was a female octogenarian at the gym who liked to play “fetch”, by herself. I guess any ball would work but she would pick up a balance ball and throw it then walk until she caught up with where it stopped, bend over and retrieve it, hold it and twist at the waist side to side with it a couple of times and then throw it again. Note: Sometimes in that process she would squat and pick it up and other times she would pick it up whilst keeping her knees straight to stretch out. The other thing I noticed is that she practiced great form by keeping her back as straight as she could whilst walking.
I used to be pretty physically fit, some lifting, biking, running, about 17 years of martial arts. Now…not so much. I have a range of exercises that I have selected that should be good for developing my strength and balance. I selected things I can do without discomfort. I had spinal surgery a few years ago that took care of acute, debilitating pain but I think I waited too long. I have lingering numbness and weakness especially in my left leg and some loss of muscle control in my toes. So, there are things I will not do, face down plank, standard push up, anything that puts to much stress on my back. I’ve selected alternatives to work the same muscles. I think at our age, we have to listen to our bodies and do what we can.
One of the reasons that the pool at our gym is frequented so much is that swimming and water aerobics is a low impact medium that nearly anyone can do.
I like this meme because I have seen so many people who quit exercising because they set goals too high for a short period of time. Nothing ever happens over night and no pill will ever replace exercise. Within reason, any goal a person wants to achieve can be done but it takes time.
LOL. My goal is just to keep at it and make it through another session. I actually hate exercising just to exercise. It was one of the things that got me into martial arts. If I was going to work out hard, I wanted to get something useful from it.
I know what you mean. I studied Kenpo on and off for several years and if anything else, I stayed stretched out. The thing is, people have to set goals in order to make exercising more “palatable”, as it were. For me, the first goal was to prove a few young bodybuilders wrong when I was told that building any substantial muscle mass naturally was highly improbable given that at the time I was around 65 years of age. My next big goal (maybe) is to compete in the amateur masters but that’s still in the air.