Move Baby Move

Move Baby Move

Song : ‘Move Baby Move’ – Johnny O’Keefe

This post focuses on the ‘E’ in The acronym DEBS- Diet EXERCISE Balance and Stress Management.

Movement, workout, training, rucking (yes RUCKING- carrying a weighted backpack while walking or hiking), calisthenics, activity… Whatever you call it, it is EXERCISE and absolutely beneficial if you are going to live a long healthy life.

Exercise benefits the whole body including muscles, bones, respiration, circulation, brain function, mood and a heightened feeling of well being.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends adults undertake at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity each week. Exercise should include muscle strengthening activities at least 2 days per week.

WHO asserts that physically INACTIVE people have a 20% to 30% increased risk of death compared to sufficiently active people.

Benefits of Exercise

Exercise helps reduce weight, reduces risk of heart disease and high blood pressure, improves bone density and muscle mass, helps to improve sleep, reduces anxiety and depression, increases feel good hormones, improves cognitive function and provides social interaction when exercising in a group.

Exercise also decreases the risk of stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer, and helps reduces the risk of falls and fractures.

Walking

Walking is one of the easiest way to get exercise; it is free and can be done alone or with family or friends. Most people have access to some safe public walking track or cycling track. I have known some people who, in inclement weather, head to their local shopping complex and do laps inside to get their daily walk done!

Depending on individual fitness levels, some seniors also jog, run or engage in HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training – a workout that alternates between high intensity exercise followed by a period of rest)

Getting together with a few friends, family or neighbours to walk is a great motivational tool. It’s simple to set a regular day, time and place to walk. Chatting as you walk also makes the walking time go faster and is a great way to stay connected with friends.

Strength Training

Gyms conduct senior classes for cardio and/or strength training. Most senior citizen centres or community centres have regular classes for seniors such as aerobics, Zumba, yoga, pilates, and high intensity circuit training.

Fitness Bootcamps are often arranged by personal trainers and gyms. They are usually tailored for all age groups and fitness levels. They are great for burning lots of calories as well as providing a full-body work out and a fun group activity.

Most community pools offer water aerobics classes. Water activities are low impact and provide a full-body workout with a wide range of muscle strengthening activities. Most importantly, water aerobics are perfect for seniors of any age or fitness level.

Many seniors participate in social sport activities such as golf, lawn bowls, indoor bowls, dancing, cycling and hiking to name a few…

Technology to Aid Exercise

My last post I focused on the use of technology as a great tool for seniors to use and embrace. You Tube has a wealth of exercise programs you can search to suit your age and fitness level. And if you get bored with a particular exercise program, just search You Tube until you find something else you like. All you need is a smart phone or smart TV.

I am not a gym person. I walk regularly with friends but for strength or combination cardio/ strength workouts I use YouTube. The positives of YouTube are that you can exercise at a time that suits you, it doesn’t depend on the weather, it is free, you can wear whatever you want, you can exercise for as long or little as you want and there are a huge variety of programs to choose from. You can also organise friends to do a YouTube home workout together, outdoors or indoors.

Important Information to Prevent Injury

Always listen carefully to advice/reminders from the You Tube trainer such as soft knees, break from the hips when doing squats, don’t lock in elbows, posture tips, using correct levels of weight for your personal strength ability and never doing an activity that causes pain or does not feel comfortable for you. Also don’t forget the warm up, cooldown and stretching on the videos to prevent injury.

Keep a water bottle close by to sip water during any exercise to prevent dehydration.

Be mindful of keeping yourself safe during outdoor exercise such as wearing light coloured or reflective clothing, comfortable non-slip footwear, checking for likely changes in weather conditions, avoiding exercise in the hottest part of the day and avoiding uneven or slippery terrain.

It is also recommended to check with your doctor to ensure the exercises are suitable for your level of fitness.

You tube exercise videos

These are some of my favourite programs that I regularly use for exercise.

Paula B – Paula loves to chat. I find the information she gives while exercising to be interesting and helps to keep you focused while doing a workout. Paula also incorporates some exercises to improve balance. https://pahlabfitness.com/

Hasfit: combines strength and cardio and has various levels of workouts.

HAZfit. https://hasfit.com/workouts/home/senior/exercise-for-seniors/

Reps to the Rhythm – Step count through walk, dance and latino music without any talking.

https://repstotherhythm.com

Lucy Wyndam Read – Short strength workouts using weights. Whole- body workouts, booty, legs & arms.

HOME

Improved Health – Gentle chair exercises, low impact walking to HIIT exercises. These are fun workouts to music from the 60’s onwards.itness.com

https://www.improvedhealthforseniors.com

To find many more just search You Tube -FITNESS FOR SENIORS.

CONCLUSION

Without a doubt, exercise improves muscle strength, bone health, reduces the risk of many cancers and improves sleep and mood.

Exercise is essential for anyone who has a mindset to live a long healthy life. The more you move and add strength training, the chances of living a long life and perhaps even living to be a healthy Centenarian, greatly increases!

Till next time- Keep on Rockin’ and Rollin’ and MOVE BABY MOVE!

Kim