Remaining physically fit in the senior years can prevent heart disease, diabetes, and various age-related conditions. Your elderly loved one needs to develop a good exercise routine and continue to eat healthy to remain in good shape. Take a look at some of the ways to promote physical fitness in seniors.
Suggest a Warmup Routine
Many seniors are nervous about exercising because they fear getting hurt. Doing stretches and other warmup exercises can keep your loved one calm, reduce the odds of an injury, build muscles, and make joints more flexible. In addition to warming up, your loved one should have a period to cool down his or her muscles after at least 20 or 30 minutes of physical exercise. Knowing a warmup routine can lower the odds of an injury may make it easier to promote physical fitness among seniors.
If your loved one needs help exercising safely, hiring a home caregiver may be an ideal solution. Elder care professionals can be a wonderful boon to seniors. Whether they require around-the-clock supervision or just need assistance with exercise and household tasks a few days a week, seniors can enjoy a higher quality of life with the help of trusted in-home caregivers.
Create a Comfortable Pace
Remind your parent to take his or her time when exercising. If your loved one feels rushed, he or she may turn away from physical activity due to feeling overwhelmed. Let your loved one know that even a limited exercise routine offers many physical and mental health benefits. Encourage your parent to adopt more workouts into the routine over time, allowing him or her to go at a comfortable pace.
If you notice your loved one becoming upset or agitated, tell him or her to take a break and reevaluate the routine. Suggest minimizing the number of activities performed each week and only adding more exercises when your parent no longer feels overwhelmed.
Explain the Benefits
Knowing how each workout benefits their health and wellness gives seniors more incentive to exercise. Working out can strengthen bone health and increase safety, reducing the risk of slips, falls, fractures, and broken bones. As a result, your loved one can continue to live a healthy and independent life. Knowing how important physical activity is may make your loved one less reluctant to exercise. Here are some of the benefits of exercise you should share:
- Stronger heart health
- Easier weight management
- Lowered risk of diabetes
- Better brain function
- Increased longevity
If you usually help your loved one exercise but need a break now and then, hiring a respite caregiver to take over on occasion is a great option. In Miami respite care professionals can assist seniors with a wide array of daily tasks, offering family caregivers the chance to focus on other personal responsibilities or take a break to prevent burnout. Whether it’s for a few hours a day or a few days a week, home care is the perfect solution for family caregivers who are feeling overwhelmed.
Make It Fun
The best way to encourage seniors to stay physically active is to make sure they have fun while doing their routines. If exercising becomes more of a task, as opposed to a fun activity with many health benefits, seniors are more likely to give up.
Find ways to make exercising fun. Enroll your loved one in a senior-friendly dance class or water aerobics group, or suggest going to a family-oriented gym within the neighborhood. When your parent has fun, the workout will be more positive and enjoyable. Keep in mind that maintaining the right mental attitude is one of the most significant factors associated with staying physically fit.
Assistance with getting physically fit is just one of the benefits seniors receive when families enlist the help of trained in-home caregivers. Miami home care services experts are available to provide high-quality care to seniors on an as-needed basis. From assistance with mobility and exercise to providing transportation to the doctor’s office and social events, there are a variety of ways professional caregivers can help your aging loved one continue to live independently. Reach out to us at Assisting Hands Home Care if you need compassionate professional care for your loved one. Call one of our dedicated Care Managers today to learn about the high quality of our in-home care services.