Seniors especially benefit from stretching exercises. As a person ages they should only be doing easy stretching exercises to maintain flexibility and prevent injuries.
Simply put – exercising helps us all age more gracefully. Almost everyone knows the sort of problems we face when aging – slower metabolism, bone loss and stiffness in joints, muscle loss, balance problems, less endurance and heart and lung problems. We all want a quick fix to aging, such as injections and facelifts or a pill we can take to halt or reduce the aging process. But, in reality, easy stretching exercises are one of the most important things we can do for ourselves that will increase our overall health and well-being. Exercise can help us maintain the ability to do things we love and to accomplish everyday tasks that we need to do rather than depending on someone else.
Even if you’re a very out of shape senior citizen, there are simple exercises you can do that will make you feel better and enjoy your life. Stretching is simple to do (you can even stretch while sitting) and can make remarkable strides in improving your joints and muscles. You can find online stretching exercises, choose from the many television shows that promote exercising or get a book from the library or bookstore.
You’ll want to be sure to choose exercises that stretch your back, arms, calves, thighs, stomach and chest – but don’t overdo it. Stretch for 5 to 20 minutes per day or whatever you feel up to. Any activity that increases your endurance is great for senior citizens. Those exercises might include gardening, biking, swimming or simply walking the dog. Try to increase your breathing and heart rate, but don’t exercise so strenuously that you lose your ability to talk. Take it easy and you’ll benefit more than you realize. Strength exercises are very important to engage in as you age. The more you can strengthen your muscles, the better able you’ll be to increase your metabolism (maintain a normal weight) and keep your blood sugar at normal levels. Strength exercises can be in the form of machines at a gym or fitness center – or, you can even use items around the house, such as books and cans of food.
Exercises designed to strengthen your back should be an important part of your exercise program. Back pain can be excruciating and life-changing and is common in senior citizens. Ask your doctor for a list of exercises you can do to strengthen back muscles or research on your own to find some that are right for you. One of the worst maladies that can affect senior citizens is balance problems.
Aging can cause loss of balance, but so can certain medications. There are easy stretching exercises designed to build your leg muscles and increase your perception of balance so that you’re less likely to fall. Keep in mind that in the United States, hospitals admit over 400,000 people per year for broken hips – and most are senior citizens. Remember a lot of balance receptors are in the bottom of your feet. Exercise is a key piece of the brain fitness puzzle too. Remember, this is not an olympic training that we are doing, just strenuous enough to get the breathing deep. That gets the neurogenesis and neuroplasticity going so that we have replacement parts popping online everyday. So not a sore muscle routine, but definitely regular. Daily is best.
Personal fitness trainer Joe Tong teaches proper and easy stretching exercises for seniors focused on shoulders. Exercises: The shoulders. If you have any fitness questions, please submit them for our video Q&A section at www.instructionalfitness.com.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
Omg I had to do something like this last year. Guess what I did? I volunteered at a horse riding therapy center! It was so much fun I exercised horses, and taught mentally and physically impared children how to ride. (I’m 14, I was 13 then.) It’s really fun, and this was you’ll actually do something for your community. I know it seems a little scary at first, but the kids are really sweet. One of these girls I taught had fractured her spine, so she had to have a metal pole instead. She was really brave though, and in a couple months she was trotting around no problem. It was really worth it.
Edit: Okay if you can’t do a therapy center, you could always volunteer at a horse show. They always need cross country judges and starters, people to sell food, people to help set up jumps, etc. etc. etc. I volunteered at a couple local schooling shows last summer.
Horses? Photography? *DING!* Lightbulb moment!
Show a slideshow of hurt or abused horses and put them together in a power point or windows movie maker and make the message say: “No more abused horses!” or something like that. Hope that works!
Or, you could always volunteer at 4-H.
Also, a horse camp for sick kids to volunteer at would be great! I remember helping someone that had down syndrome out at the stable I go to!
How about taking a few weeks and getting your horse, and offering mentally impaired kids riding lessons for free?
It would help the community, and raise awareness to mentally impaired children. And it would show everyone that they aren’t so different from us. That would definitely get you an A! I think it would be great! And you wouldn’t have to do too much. Just lead them around, let them walk on the lunge line, trot on the lunge line, and depending on their level of comprehension (since some don’t understand things very well) maybe you can let them trot over some poles, weave in and out of cones and do figure eights. Then you can take them on trail rides too!
I think that would be very rewarding for the kids, their families, and even yourself! And you would definitely get an A!
Hope I helped! Best of luck!
~Hannah
You could give free lessons to kids that can’t afford to take lessons :]
Or something against slaughter? and horse abuse?
Or you could do the horse show and have it be like a fund raiser? So u would have some money to put towards the cost, and have some money for a horse charity ect.
Whatever u do, be creative! i love the ideas you have so you couldn’t go wrong!
idea! or you could have this little group thingy to teach kids how to take care of a horse, and how much responsibility it is!
good luck :] hope i helped!
Do you have any public trail systems in your area? You could organize a trail work day, where you recruit people to come out and trim up the brush, move logs, trash, etc. I think it would be a better project if you organize a work day (with other people) than if you just go work on the trails yourself.
1. Take photos at a horse show. Make sure they’re really good.
2. Don’t sell them. Just get them printed and give them to the riders for free.