Most of us are aware of the benefits of regular exercise in old age, yet we abstain from regular exercise by giving many excuses. Lack of regular physical activity makes us more prone to diseases such as osteoarthritis, cardiac diseases, endocrine abnormalities, etc.
Here we’ll discuss some of the factors that often restrict us from exercising and ways to tackle those excuses so that we can follow a regular exercise regimen in our old days.
Common Excuses of the Elderly
Some of the common excuses we may give in our old age include:
- Busy Schedule
One of the most common sentences often offered by the elderly is “We don’t have so much free time to exercise.” Our busy routines and schedules may sometimes offer us less time to do regular physical activity; however, is there anything more important than a healthy body?
- Unable to follow the boring routine of exercises
In our old age, we may find it boring to follow the same routine of exercises. Most elders even consider it boring to follow a daily walk routine or do sit-ups in a nearby park.
- Feel tired and fatigued
Some older people often say that we do not exercise regularly because we feel excessively tired and exhausted after doing it.
- On-going diseases don’t let us exercise.
Certain diseases such as osteoarthritis, chronic back pain, diabetes, myalgias, and many others may also let us down from doing regular physical activity.
Now, let’s look at how we can manage these reasons in the elderly.
Ways to Resolve these Excuses
Try to make a routine of doing the exercise regularly in the morning. We can make it a part of our breakfast or other regular activity of the day so that we start counting it within the time we regularly consume.
Exercise is never boring if we combine it with other interesting activities. For instance, we can add cycling, swimming, playing ball games with our grandchildren, or walking with a pet. Combining our exercise routine with any interesting activity would make it enjoyable rather than boring.
Although we may feel tired when we start following a regular exercise regimen, the tiredness and fatigue will permanently fade when we keep on doing the exercise regularly. This fatigue is mainly caused by the accumulation of lactic acid in our muscles. But, when we exercise regularly, our muscle strength increases, and lactic acid vanishes.
Lastly, the diseases of the elderly can be well-managed by specific exercise routines rather than general routines.
Some of the specific exercises for old age diseases are mentioned below:
- Brisk walking for 20 to 30 minutes and 2 to 3 times weekly can help decrease the symptoms of chronic back pain.
- Char Tai Chai exercises, regular brisk walking, riding a stationary bike, and other such exercises can be done and beneficial even if you have active osteoarthritis.
- Yoga, breathing exercises, and standing exercises can be done in elders with cardiovascular diseases.
- Fifteen or ten minutes workouts can be carried out even if you have diabetes, hypertension, or other chronic diseases of the elderly.
Apart from the regimens mentioned above, the Unified Organization has mentioned many other exercises that can be followed to keep ourselves healthy in old age.
Take-Home:
Though we are aware of the benefits of regular exercise in old age, we don’t do it regularly due to busy schedules, boring exercise regimens, medical reasons, et al. To resolve this issue, we can combine our exercise with regular exercise daily living activities and interesting workouts. Considering the common diseases of the elderly, the Unified Organization has mentioned many exercise methods for older adults that can be followed to keep ourselves healthy.