Fitness plays a more significant role in health than people usually think, especially for older adults. Exercise is more than just getting stronger or losing weight; it significantly impacts hormone balance, mood, mental health, and brain health. A fitness routine can even prevent cancer. As our bodies age, we must practice flexibility and mobility exercises to combat disability, disease, and issues due to aging. Adapting a fitness routine as an older adult can provide significant benefits and improve general life.
Improved Mental Health
Seniors are particularly susceptible to mental health conditions. Exercise and movement provide an outlet for excess energy, reducing symptoms of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health conditions. Exercise can also improve symptoms of depression. Movement releases endorphins and other chemicals that can improve mood. Fitness is also a great distraction and outlet for negative thoughts or feelings. If seniors exercise in group classes or through sports, it’s an excellent opportunity for socializing, which can also improve mental health.
Better Mobility
Exercise regularly works the heart, muscles, and joints, improving and strengthening their function. Seniors who struggle with mobility may find that maintaining the joints and muscles through exercise can help them walk and move better. Exercise can also improve balance, reducing the risk of falls. Older adults can also improve posture and flexibility, making daily activities such as grabbing, holding, cooking, and reading much more effortless. Through exercise, seniors can become much more independent.
Stronger Muscles
Exercise, particularly strength training, can strengthen muscles. This added strength can improve daily life and allow seniors to grab, hold, and lift certain weights effortlessly. Improved muscle strength can also reduce pain and increase independence.
Abuse Prevention
Fitness allows seniors to maintain better strength, mobility, and brain health. In many cases, strength and mobility can play a huge factor in preventing senior abuse, especially in senior living communities like nursing homes. More mobile residents may be less vulnerable to neglect, such as malnutrition or bedsores. Nursing home abuse can be defined differently according to location, so it’s good to know rights and regulations.
Georgia
Tens of thousands of seniors reside in nursing homes in Georgia. Nursing home abuse in Georgia is defined as intentional harm or risk of harm against an older adult through physical, verbal, sexual, or financial. Neglect is also included, but can be unintentional as well.
Florida
Nursing homes, and unfortunately, nursing home abuse can be common in Florida due to the high population of older adults. Abuse must be a willful act by a caregiver that can cause physical, mental, or emotional harm to a vulnerable or older adult.
California
California is a typical home for retirees, meaning a large older adult population in any city. In California, elder abuse includes false imprisonment and even prosecutes financial harm. The standard definition applies here as well.
Brain Health
As the body ages, the brain does as well. Seniors are particularly vulnerable to cognitive decline, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. Exercise increases blood flow, which can help supply nutrients to the brain. The release of endorphins, proteins, and other substances can promote brain health, maintenance, and growth. The improved mood helps, too!
Cancer Prevention
Due to inflammation, hormone imbalance, and other common conditions, seniors can be susceptible to cancer. A fitness routine can help balance hormones, preventing certain types of cancer. Exercise also reduces inflammation that can lead to excess cell production (cancer). Since movement improves the immune system, it can prevent cancer-causing overactivity.
Heart Health
Everyone is familiar with how the heart races and breathing increases during a good round of exercise. Pumping blood faster helps provide nutrients to the heart; since the heart is a muscle, exercise helps strengthen it. Certain types of cholesterol can clog the arteries, and physical activity can help mitigate cholesterol in the blood. Exercising helps improve mood, including reducing stress, a significant factor in heart disease. Seniors are more vulnerable to heart disease than any other population, and exercise is an excellent way to defend against it.
Weight Management
Since senior citizens can be less mobile due to pain, disability, or mental health decline, it’s easy to gain excess weight. Exercise works the muscles and heart, burning excess calories, which promotes weight loss. A regular exercise routine can also help seniors maintain a healthy weight.
Sleep Quality
A good workout session will tire anyone out. Even if an older adult struggles with insomnia, a common affliction among senior citizens, exercise can improve the ability to fall and stay asleep. Sleep quality will also improve, helping one feel more rested when they wake up. Melatonin, one of the most critical hormones in sleep quality, is produced more significantly due to exercise. Even body temperature will increase, and the temperature drop after a workout mimics the drop before sleep, promoting comfort and rest. Mood improvement can help with relaxation, too.
Bone Strength
Bone conditions like osteoporosis and osteoarthritis are quite common among seniors. Exercise can help improve bone flexibility and strength, mitigating the effects of harmful bone conditions. Bones become more adaptable to a broader range of movements, making daily life easier.
Immune System
Exercise promotes the movement of blood, including immune cells, to ‘station’ them at more body parts. Immune cell mobility dramatically improves the immune system’s effectiveness. When exercise improves stress levels, immune system issues like excess inflammation can also improve.
Confidence
Exercise is fun; the added strength, mobility, and independence can make anyone feel more confident. Improved moods stemming from a good fitness routine can also boost confidence. Daily life can be exciting again, and older adults can be in the mood to be more social.
Pain Relief
Inflammation is one of the most prevalent causes of pain. Exercise pumps the blood and other fluids that cause inflammation in different body parts, reducing pain. Hormone releases can also contribute to pain relief. While exercising may initially cause mild muscle pains, overall pain can be reduced once accustomed to the routine.
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