It’s never too late to start exercising, according to a report that has just been published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine by French researchers.
Doctor Philippe Perrin of Universite Henri Poincare-Nancy and colleagues recruited a group of 130 men and women, whose average age was 70 years, and put them through a sensory organization test. The test was designed to measure the participants’ balance under challenging situations.
For the test, each participant was first placed into one of four groups: people who averaged 45 years of physical activity; those who started to exercise after retirement, averaging 11 years of activity; those who were active before retirement, but were no longer active; and those who have never been active.
The study found that individuals who exercised in the past, but stopped after retirement, had balance control that was nearly as bad as it was in those individuals who have never been active. And, conversely, those individuals who began exercising after retirement fared almost as well as those participants that had long been active and remained so at the time of the test.
This study appears to support previous evidence that seniors who remain active can better control their balance due to stronger muscles and an increased ability to gauge their position using the inner ear’s balance system. This increased balance can be a real boost as we age, as most of us experience a decline in our balance control, reducing our independence and putting us at risk of falling.
If you are looking for some suggestions about which exercises to try at home, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommend these four types:
– Strength exercises — Balance exercises — Stretching exercises — Endurance exercises
According to the NIH, strength exercises will build muscle and increase your metabolism, helping to keep your weight and blood sugar in check. Balance exercises strengthen leg muscles and help prevent falls. Stretching exercises will give you more freedom of movement, making it easier for you to stay active. And endurance exercises will increase your heart rate and respiratory rate, improving the health of your lungs, heart, and blood vessels.
And the exercises don’t need to be complex or rigorous. The NIH recommends arm raises as a simple strength exercise. Standing on one foot suffices as a balance exercise. And walking is considered an endurance workout.
The NIH also recommends that you check with your doctor before beginning a new exercise program, especially if you are at risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease or diabetes.
Alternatively, if you find that walking and toning exercises are too run of the mill, try tai chi. Tai chi is a sequence of exercises designed to improve your balance, flexibility, aerobic capacity, and tone. The movements are fluid and graceful, and may be especially appealing to seniors, as they are low impact. You can join a group or perform the exercises on your own. In fact, you may even find that there is a group of seniors already in your area doing tai chi outside in a local park.
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