The Four Paramount Exercises for Seniors

The National Insitutes of Health (NIH) states that "Regular exercise can prevent or delay diabetes and heart trouble.  It can also reduce arthritis pain, anxiety and depression.  It can help older people stay independent."  The NIH lists four main types of exercises that are essesntial for staying healthy: endurance activities, strengthening exercises, stretching, and balance exercises.

1. Endurance Activities

Endurance exercises are those that increase your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time.  Increasing your endurance is important because it strengthens your heart and can add years to your life.  If you are just starting to exercise, you can start by doing as little as five minutes of endurance activity at a time.  At your own pace, try to work your way up to doing thirty minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise.  Examples of endurance activities are swimming, bicycling, walking, running, gardening, and jogging - anything to raise your heart rate.

2. Strengthening Exercises

Engaging in strenghtening exercises increases muscle definition and bone mass.  Every extra pound of muscle you have burns 50 calories a day.  Adding four pounds of muscle will burn 200 more calories a day.  Adding muscle increases the amount of weight you keep off and helps you maintains a healthy lifestyle.  Additionally, increased bone mass helps prevent osteoporosis.  Here is a great web site that gives examples of resistance training, or strength exercises, at home: http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Begin/exercises.htm.

3. Stretching Exercises

Stretching is important for a few reasons.  It increases flexibility, which helps you to accomplish activites of daily living; it improves range of motion, which will increase your balance; it improves circulation; and it relieves stress by relaxing muscles that often cause anxiety.  Here are some great stretches for seniors: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/stretching-exercises-for-seniors.html.

4. Balance Exercises

Increasing your balance is important for reducing the risk of falls and loss of ambulation.  Falls pose a serious health risk and can be avoided by working on your balance each day.  Here is a link to a site that gives five great balance exercises: http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/ExerciseGuide/chapter04b.htm.

If you have any exercises that you feel helpful, please add them in the comments section.  Thanks!