“Why should I stay active? Age has already caught up with me”. My grandmother used to say this a lot. We had to make her understand the value of staying physically active. Most older people don’t understand the value of keeping up with physical activities. They believe it’s only meant for younger millennials. They need support and encouragement from us to help them understand how beneficial it is to all of us. These are great ways to stay physically active;
Exercising
We all know and understand the importance of exercising. Not only do our bodies become stronger, our mental capability is also enhanced. Regular exercising is basal to maintaining a flourishing lifestyle.Elderly adults often ask about the gains and hazards of exercising. Research carried out proved that exercising has no health hazards. Instead, It has numerous health benefits.You can try different activities such as walking, going to the gym, practising yoga, adding more activeness to your normal chores etc.What are some of the beneficial advantages?
- Increases strength and provides better mobility
- Decreases fatigue
- Improves mood e.g less depression
- Helps in boosting self-esteem
- Improves bowel functioning
- Prevents weight gain
Most people expect to see results immediately. You need to keep going and be much more disciplined for you to have positive results. Remember that perseverance pays. As an older adult, it’s important to set your exercise goals. This will help you focus and achieve more than just waking up in the morning and deciding that you want to exercise. Setting your own exercising goals will make you achieve much more than expected.
Start slowly and avoid pushing yourself too much. This will help you avoid certain body aches especially if you have not been exercising for a long time. Always keep this in mind,”If you don’t make time for exercises, you’ll definitely have to make time for illness”.
Eat Healthy
Food is important for our general health and that’s why it’s important for us to watch what we eat. It’s very important that we always eat healthy. Avoid foods that contain too much sugar and calories. Foods that contain too much fat can make us sick. We can end up adding so much weight which might lead to other chronic diseases. We should also avoid sugary foods to avoid catching diseases such as diabetes and blood pressure. Healthy foods lead to healthy lives.
Avoid Stress
Stress is not good for senior adults.Stress kills very fast. Elder adults should keep off stress and anxieties if they want to maintain healthy physiques. Furthermore, stress brings about dangers such as high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke. We wouldn’t want to see any of our seniors suffering from any of the above mentioned illness, would we? Supporting them regularly will help them avoid stress.
We should ensure that older adults practice all these mentioned activities to help them stay physically active.
