Physical activity and exercise are great for just about everybody, including older adults. No matter where you are health wise and physical ability, you can gain a great deal from a little exercise and staying active.

Staying active as we age is even more important and in many cases a lack of physical activity can be a risky option and can lead to more visits to the doctor, hospitalizations and more reliance on medications for a variety of illnesses.

There are many types of activities and exercise and most people tend to stick to one, but research has shown that it is important to focus on four main types of fitness.

In this article we will explore these four different types of fitness, why they are important and answer the question,

How does exercise improve physical health?

The 4 Types of Exercise:

1. Endurance
2. Strength
3. Balance
4. Flexibility

Endurance

The activities that improve endurance are often call aerobic which work on increasing your breathing and heart rate, keep you healthy, improve the fitness of the heart and lungs and improve your ability to complete day to day tasks a little easier without getting out of breath.

Regular aerobic exercise can improve your cardiovascular health(heart and lungs) and can delay or prevent many diseases that are common in the older adult such as diabetes, colon and breast cancer and others.

Great endurance exercises and physical activities:

• Gardening (mowing, raking)
• Dancing
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Climbing stairs or hills
• Playing tennis or basketball
• Brisk walking or jogging

All the above are great ways to improve your endurance and help keep up with your children and grandchildren in the park, dancing to your favorite songs on a night out or at a family wedding, or doing the gardening or working an allotment.

Start easy and gradually build up to at least 150 minutes of activity that leaves you slightly breathless trying to be active throughout the day to reach this goal. Try to avoid long periods of sitting and try to vary your activities during the week.

Before we move on here are just a few safety tips in relation to starting an endurance activity

• Do a warm up such as easy walking before your activity and after to cool down
• Listen to what your body is telling you. There should be no dizziness, chest pain or pressure or feeling like heart burn
• Make sure you drink water if you are likely to be doing an activity that will make you sweat
• If exercising outside be aware of your surroundings and let people know where you will be and take your phone
• Dress in layers that can be removed as you warm up and also put back on when you cool down
• Use safety equipment where necessary such as a cycle helmet when cycling

Strength Exercises

Muscular strength can make a big difference in everyday activities especially as we age. Activities such as climbing the stairs, carrying shopping from the car into the house, getting up in the morning become easier and create a feeling of achievement and independence. Strong muscles also help with balance and prevent injuries due to slips, trips and falls, increasing the rate of recovery and being able to reduce the occurrence of injury due to strong legs, hips and upper body strength.

There are various methods and equipment you can use to help improve your strength however when you start keep things nice and light until you are confident you know what you are doing, then increase the weight or resistance a little at a time but do not over do it. If using resistance bands, which are basically a piece of elastic of various lengths and thicknesses, start with a thin band and then progress gradually to a thicker band as your strength improves.

A rough guide is use a weight or band that you can achieve 20-30 repetitions of an exercise with a short rest had the 10-15 repetition point. If you can do more increase the weight/resistance, if you can’t complete 20-30 repetitions, reduce the weight/resistance. Try to complete a strength routine that targets all the major muscle groups of the body at least twice a week, but leave a rest day between working the same muscles. This will give them chance to recover and get stronger between exercise sessions.

Safety tips

• Be aware not to hold your breath during strength exercises and breathe regularly and in a controlled manner.
• Make sure you are breathing out as you lift or push, and breathe in as you relax.
• If you are unsure about doing a particular exercise always consult your doctor

Balance

Although you probably don’t think about it good balance is needed to do just about everything from walking, getting out of a chair and standing for an extended period. Balance training strengthens muscles that allow you to perform everyday tasks and keep yourself steady on a daily basis.

To improve balance exercises are performed that strengthen the muscles that keep you upright such as your legs and core helping to prevent falls due to an increase in stability on flat and uneven surfaces

The exercises that can be used range from yoga poses to something as simple as standing on one leg.

Examples of Balance Exercises:

• Yoga
• Tai Chi
• Standing on one foot
• Heel to toe walking
• Standing from a seated position.

Flexibility

With increased flexibility the body can move through an increased range of motion allowing for easier and more fluid movements and performing of everyday tasks. This leads to a reduction in fatigue, less or no pain when moving and an over all sense of relaxation and well-being.

Flexibility training is often overlooked and is very beneficial to the performing of daily tasks as well as increasing the performance of people who exercise. It is can also help with the reduction of fatigue, limited range of motion of a stiff joint and stiff tight muscles.

Benefits of flexibility include:

• Improved muscle condition and increased function and efficiency leading to less fatigue and tiredness.
• Improved balance
• A reduction in the risk of injury with less chance of straining a tight, stiff muscle due to over stretching.

Regular flexibility work with activities such as stretching, Yoga or Pilates will improve joint health, muscle efficiency and the feeling of overall well-being.

It is better to stretch multiple times a day however if you do suffer from recurring pain within your joints or any type of flexibility training becomes increasingly painful, please contact your doctor before continuing.

So as we can see from the above article exercise plays a large role in the improvement of physical health.

It improves our strength to perform everyday tasks easily and more efficiently,

It improves our endurance to perform tasks over a period and delays the onset of fatigue.

It improves our balance leading to less risk of trips and falls and the resulting injury.

It improves our flexibility which leads to an increased range of motion and healthier functioning of our joints as we age.

These a just a few of the benefits of exercise and we can all take advantage of these benefits by following a structured routine of physical activity and or exercise.

Team Thomas