How to Stay Active When Aging in Place

Staying active can greatly improve your quality of life, and your aging in place experience. Here, the aging in place experts at Avila detail how to stay active during the golden years of your life.

As you age, maintaining the quality of your physical and mental health should be one of your primary concerns. According to various studies, staying fit after retirement can add years to life, and is a great way to prevent slips and falls, maintain a strong mind, and ward off a wide array of diseases and conditions.

If you are seeking to improve your health and fitness while aging in place, a combination of activities that promote strength, endurance, balance and flexibility should be implemented through a monitored fitness routine. As with any lifestyle change, it is important however, that you speak with your doctor before engaging in heightened levels of activity to ensure that it is safe.

Seniors who are looking to maintain their health while aging in place should try to get 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week including two or three days of muscle strengthening and flexibility exercises. However, each person’s fitness regimen will be different from the next, and it is essential that you pay attention to your own body and ability to avoid injury. If it is easier, you can get the same health benefits from ten minute bursts of activity spread throughout the day, rather than performing it all at once. Physical activity should be convenient and fit into your life, so schedule your time in whatever way works best.

It is always important to start slow, and work up towards your own individual fitness goals when beginning a new routine. Any type of aerobic activity will elevate your heart rate and cause you to breathe harder, so it is important to be conscious of how you feel to avoid overworking yourself.

Physical activity doesn’t have to leave you stuck inside the gym for an hour. Mowing the lawn is a great way to reach your fitness goals, as is riding your bike or briskly walking to the store. Hiking, dancing, tennis, and yoga are other fun options, and help to make physical activity more social, which is great for those aging in place both physically and mentally. Water sports or swimming are great, low-impact alternatives to activity done on hard ground or concrete. Exercises that you enjoy are those in which you will be successful, so pick whatever activity makes you feel the best.

The more you exercise within your own personal limits, the more health benefits you will reap, and the more pleasant your aging in place experience will be. We hope that this article inspires you to get up and moving. For more information on aging in place, contact the home care experts at Avila.

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