Blog > Fitness Tips for the Elderly – Daily Ideas for Staying Active

Fitness Tips for the Elderly - Daily Ideas for Staying Active

Is your elderly loved one quite inactive? Maybe, they do go on a walk every Sunday with you when you come over, but the other days they are watching television or resting most of the day. If this is the case, there are some fitness ideas for your senior that can help them to be more active. As always, consult with your senior’s physician before beginning any exercise regimen. Home care providers can help encourage your senior to pursue their exercise goals and ensure they do it safely.

Get Moving

If your elderly loved one isn’t moving much lately, it is time to encourage them to get up and do things. There are numerous activities that can provide your elderly loved one with the physical activity they need. Some of the best options, according to senior citizen fitness studies that have been done, include:

Daily walks
Jogging
Riding bikes

If your elderly loved one even begins doing one of these activities 3 or 4 days a week, it could help to improve their physical and mental fitness.

Taking an Exercise or Fitness Class

Did you know there are some fitness and exercise classes that are designed to help senior citizens to be more active? If your elderly loved one isn’t very active these days, this may be something that you want to check out for them. If you can’t drive them to and from the classes, you can hire home care providers to do that. Who knows, your elderly loved one might end up enjoying the classes and even make some friends while they are there.

Yoga and Pilates

Research shows that two exercise options that are very beneficial for senior citizens are yoga and pilates. The studies basically explain that these fitness activities help elderly people in the following ways:

Easy way to get moving
Improves immune health
Improves breathing rate
Boosts energy
Increases strength
Boosts endurance
Reduces memory loss

There are many other benefits, as well. You or a home care provider can help your elderly loved one to find basic yoga and Pilates exercises to help them to be more active.

Conclusion

These are some of the fitness tips that your elderly loved one can use daily to stay active. It may be a bit difficult for them to add these things into their routine. However, if you and home care providers encourage them to stay active, that could help a great deal in getting them to start and keep doing these activities. If your elderly loved one doesn’t like doing one of these things, they can always replace it with a different physical fitness activity. It might be trial and error for a while until they find the ones they enjoy the most.