More than ‘just’ Personal Alarms, Bora Health’s series on Independent Living advice for Seniors. This week – exercise and fitness over 65, Part 6.
Community interest company, Bora Health, is the exclusive Australian distributer of the SureSafe Personal Alarm. As part of its continued commitment to elderly Australians in their quest to maintain independent living, Bora Health is launching a series of articles aimed at promoting the health and wellbeing of the baby boomers as they look to make the most of their hard earned retirement years. This week we talk about exercise and fitness over 65, part 6.
As you grow older, an active lifestyle is more important than ever. Regular exercise can help boost energy, maintain your independence, and manage symptoms of illness or pain. Exercise can even reverse some of the symptoms of aging. And not only is exercise good for your body, it’s also good for your mind, mood, and memory. Whether you are generally healthy or are managing an illness, there are plenty of ways to get more active, improve confidence, and boost your fitness.
Exercise and Fitness over 65: Tips for frail or chair–bound
Even if you are frail or chair–bound, you can still experience the mood-boosting effects of exercise. Chair–bound adults can improve fitness with strength training, flexibility, and even some cardio activities. If being chair–bound has prevented you from trying exercise in the past, take heart knowing that when you become more physically active, the results will amaze you. Like any exercise program, a chair–bound fitness routine takes a little creativity and personalization to keep it fun.
Chair–bound Exercise and Fitness
- Strength: Use free weights (“dumbbells”) to do repetitive sets of lifting. Don’t have weights? Use anything that is weighted and fits in your hand, like soup cans.
- Resistance: Resistance bands are like giant rubber bands designed to give your muscles a good workout when stretched and pulled. Resistance bands can be attached to furniture, a doorknob, or even your chair. Use these for pull-downs, shoulder rotations, and arm and leg-extensions.
- Flexibility: By practicing mindful breathing and slowly stretching, bending, and twisting, you can limber up and improve your range of motion. Some of these exercises can also be done lying down. Ask your doctor or search online for chair-yoga possibilities.
- Endurance: Check out pool-therapy programs designed for wheelchair–bound seniors. Also, wheelchair-training machines make arm-bicycling and rowing possible. If you lack access to special machines or pools, repetitive movements (like rapid leg lifts or sitting pushups) work just as well to raise your heart rate.
Talk to your doctor or physical therapist about chair–bound exercise programs.
Who is Bora Health?
Bora Health is an Australian, British and American owned and operated community focused company, providing elderly Australians and their families with access to the information, products and services necessary to support affordable independent living. It is the exclusive authorised distributor of the SureSafe Personal Emergency Call System; a non-monitored personal alarm (otherwise known as an auto-dialer or smart-dialer medical alert), telephone based medical alarm system for Seniors.
Please visit our UK website at www.personalalarms.org and our US website at www.suresafemedicalalerts.com.
Click here to buy a SureSafe Personal Emergency Call System for only $229 (including GST and Express Postage). Peace of mind for you, safety and security for your loved one.
