The American Heart Association recommends that every adult gets at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. This exercise has to be strenuous enough to get the heart pumping. Only 20 percent of Americans are getting enough exercise. Is your dad one of them?
What’s the Best Exercise for an Elderly Man?
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to exercise. What is recommended is that you mix things up. Your dad should walk at a brisk pace a few days a week. The other two days should involve muscle-strengthening activities. Get some weights or resistance bands and introduce him to those.
If he’s able to get more than 30 minutes of exercise each day, that’s even better. He could attend a Tai Chi class one day, swim laps at home every day, and join the grandkids a couple of days a week for a hike up an easy trail or a walk through a natural area.
What if your dad isn’t mobile or has limited mobility? He doesn’t have to give up all hopes of being able to exercise. Chair exercises can help him stretch out muscles and get the heart pumping. He may also find an exercise program in a public pool that helps him get a workout while his buoyancy reduces strain on the legs or back.
How Does Exercise Benefit Him?
One of the important aspects of exercise is that it works out the heart muscle. It gets blood flowing and oxygen moving around the body. That’s not all, however.
Exercise helps strengthen muscles in the legs, back, and hips. That improves your dad’s balance. He lowers his fall risk, which can keep him from hitting his head or suffering a severe fracture that makes it hard for him to be mobile.
Daily exercise also helps ease stress. Depression is a risk in senior citizens. With daily exercise, stress dissipates and the chance of becoming depressed is reduced. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America polled people with depression or anxiety and found that walking, running, and Yoga are reported to be the most effective exercises for reducing stress.
It’s time to bring in support to help your dad live a healthy, happy life. Home care services aides are one way to make sure this happens. Home Care services providers can get him engaged in activities and make sure he’s getting exercise each day. Call our home care services agency now to discuss companionship services.
Sources: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/aha-recs-for-physical-activity-in-adults
https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/other-related-conditions/stress/physical-activity-reduces-st
If you or an aging loved one are considering Home Care Services in Walpole MA, or anywhere in Eastern Massachusetts, please call the caring staff at CARE Resolutions – (508) 906-5572.
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