Exercise without the risks.

Exercise and nutrition are essential parts of a healthy lifestyle throughout one’s life, and as we age, our requirements are ever changing. A growing body of research illustrates how regular exercise is especially important for seniors, and how more seniors are opting for an active lifestyle instead of a sedentary one. This article will show you the benefits of exercise for older adults, the seven best forms of exercise for seniors, and a few exercises that may be hazardous to seniors’ health.

1. Water aerobics

In the past years, water aerobics have become an extremely popular form of exercise among all ages, but in particular to seniors. Exercising in the water is ideal for those living with  arthritis and other forms of joint pain, as the buoyancy of the water puts less stress on your joints. Additionally, water brings natural resistance, which eliminates the need for weights in strength training. Water aerobics exercises improve your strength, flexibility, and balance with minimal stress on your body.

Great water aerobics exercises for seniors include:

1. Aqua jogging
2. Flutter kicking
3. Leg lifts
4. Standing water push-ups
5. Arm curls

2. Chair yoga

Like water aerobics, chair yoga is a low-impact form of exercise that improves muscle strength, mobility, balance and flexibility, all of which are crucial health aspects for seniors. Chair yoga is an accessible form of yoga that provides less stress on muscles, joints, and bones than more conventional forms of yoga.

As an added bonus, chair yoga has been shown to improve mental health in older adults. Regular chair yoga participants have better quality sleep, lower instances of depression, and report a general sense of well-being.

Great chair yoga exercises for seniors include:

• Overhead stretch
• Seated cow stretch
• Seated cat stretch
• Seated mountain pose
• Seated twist

3. Resistance band workouts

Resistance bands are stretchy strips of rubber that add resistance to workouts with reduced stress on your body. Resistance band workouts are user-friendly, and accessible for beginners. This form of exercise is growing more popular among seniors because of the relatively cheap up-front costs of materials, which makes resistance band workouts ideal for at-home exercise. Additionally, these exercises are ideal for strengthening your core, which improves posture, mobility, and balance.

Resistance band workouts for seniors include:

• Leg press
• Triceps press
• Lateral raise
• Bicep curl
• Band pull apart

4. Pilates

Pilates is a popular low-impact form of exercise that was developed a century ago. In pilates exercises, breathing, alignment, concentration and core strength are emphasized, and typically involves mats, pilates balls, and other inflated accessories to help build strength without the stress of higher-impact exercises. Pilates has been shown to improve balance, develop core strength and increase flexibility in older adults.

Some great pilates exercises for older adults include:

• Mermaid movement
• Side circles
• Food slides
• Step ups
• Leg circle

5. Walking

One of the least stressful and accessible forms of exercise is walking. For some seniors, walking is a bigger challenge than others, so distance and step goals differ from person to person. For the general population, 10,000 steps per day is advised for a healthy lifestyle, but those with difficulty walking or joint pain may settle for a smaller number as a goal. A PLOS One study found that walking 10,000 steps lowered the ten-year outlook for mortality by 46%. Walking promotes a healthy lifestyle, while strengthening muscles, lowering your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and colon cancer.

Ideas for walking exercises for seniors:

• Find a moderate trail through a park
• Find a walk-friendly race to train for
• Walk the perimeter of a familiar building
• Find an audiobook or a playlist for stimulation during your walk

6. Body weight workouts

Muscle loss can be devastating and debilitating for older adults. Around a third of seniors live with severe muscle loss, which can lead to hormone problems, a decrease in the ability to metabolize protein, and other problems. Body weight workouts are one of the best ways to counteract the effects of muscle atrophy in older adults. One of the key benefits of body weight workouts is the affordability. The materials required for body weight workouts are minimal; most body weight workouts require workout clothes and a mat to soften impact with the floor.

Some great body weight workouts for seniors include:

• Squats to chair
• Stepup
• Bird dog
• Lying hip bridges
• Side lying circles

7. Dumbbell strength training

Strength training has been shown to alleviate the symptoms of diabetes, osteoporosis, back pain, and depression, while helping you manage your weight. Strength training also contributes to a higher metabolism and enhanced glucose control. Dumbbell exercises are some of the best ways for seniors to strength train, if they are performed with the proper precautions. Dumbbells allow seniors to isolate muscle groups to strengthen, while improving balance and flexibility.

Some ideal dumbbell workouts for seniors include:

• Bent-over row
• Tricep extension
• Bicep curl
• Overhead press
• Front raise

Exercises Seniors Should Avoid

A good percentage of popular mainstream workouts are not ideal for older adults. These popular workouts are well-suited for younger adults looking to bulk up or shed weight in a hurry, but they may put an unhealthy strain on older adults with joint pain, atrophied muscles, posture problems or issues with balance.

The following exercises should probably be avoided if you’re over the age of 65:

• Squats with dumbbells or weights
• Bench press
• Leg press
• Long-distance running
• Abdominal crunches
• Upright row
• Deadlift
• High-intensity interval training
• Rock climbing
• Power clean

No matter your age, there are plenty of things you can do to improve your health and keep your body well. Unsurprisingly, nutrition and exercise are at the top of that list.

Have you heard of Ginette Bedard? At age 68, she began running as her new hobby. By age 86, she has now run hundreds of races, including nearly 20 marathons.

Or how about 82-year-old Ernestine Shepherd, the world’s oldest competitive female bodybuilder, who didn’t start working out until she was 56? Both of these women are redefining what can be expected in senior health, and their nutrition and exercise routines are critical pieces of how they do it.

Here’s a look at the kinds of foods seniors should consider, as well as a few to avoid. Read on for research insights and health tips, and find out more about senior communities that can help support health and well-being.

Why Nutrition is Especially Important for Seniors and Longevity

Even the healthiest among us often deal with arthritis, hearing loss, cataracts, loss of muscle, memory loss, back pain, and changing hormone levels. As the prevalence of disease increases; many older adults must manage health problems arising from heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, or the onset of brain-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Nutrition for seniors is vital to help keep the bodies health at its best.

Common nutrition issues for elders

Whatever your age, remember that your organs, your teeth, your skin, your bones, your nervous system, and your brain are the same age. Sure, new cells regenerate constantly, but it’s a fact that there are more challenges for 70-year-old bones or a 70-year-old heart than for their younger counterparts. This is a big reason why seniors need to fight nutritional deficiencies and eat with health in mind. Some specific nutritional issues that older adults must face include:

• Atrophic gastritis: The most significant change in how an estimated 20% of the elderly population uses nutrients is atrophic gastritis, which causes you to malabsorp such things as folic acid, vitamin B-12, vitamin D, iron, and calcium. Even more people (up to 50%) have chronic gastritis, which can lead to atrophic gastritis.
• Excess calories: As we age, our metabolic rate generally becomes slower, resulting in a need for fewer calories overall.  If we consume too many calories without burning them off with exercise, we accumulate fat. In older people, this fat tends to accumulate in the abdominal area, which can interfere with proper liver function and can cause issues with glucose (sugar) and lipids (fatty acids). Some of these issues can be minimized with proper nutrition and exercise.
• Hormone changes: In women, hormonal changes brought on by menopause (which typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, though it can go later) are associated with increased total body fat and abdominal fat. This extra weight raises the risk of cardiovascular disease and affects sexual function and quality of life.
• Muscle loss: It’s common to lose muscle and strength as you age (called sarcopenia), unless you regularly exercise and use weight-bearing routines to help counteract the tendency. Without this deliberate strength-building, bones become weaker which leads to an increase of falls and fractures. Approximately 20% of those younger than 70 but 50% of those over 80 are affected by sarcopenia.
• Constipation: Constipation is a common problem as people age, especially those over 65, and more often in women. The reasons? Less exercise, and more medications that list it as a possible side effect. A diet rich in fiber not only helps relieve constipation, it can also help prevent diverticular disease, which can develop into diverticulitis and may present a need for surgery.
• Dehydration: As we age, we are more prone to dehydration; it is the most common fluid and electrolyte problem found in the elderly. Dehydration “affects large numbers, contributes to or exacerbates other severe medical conditions, may cause acute confusion and disorientation, and severely impairs the elderly individual’s quality of life,” according to the journal Clinical Nutrition Espen. We may also lose our regular feelings of hunger or appetite, due to lower levels of hunger hormones, higher levels of fullness hormones, and changes in taste and smell.

Nutritional deficiencies of any kind (whether it’s because you don’t take enough of the nutrient in, or because your body isn’t processing it like it used to) can help contribute to inefficiencies in the body’s ability to fight disease. We all know that habits like smoking, drinking too much, being obese, and a sedentary lifestyle are unhealthy. But we also know that quitting smoking, losing weight, and getting more movement into our lives will benefit us at every level (Don’t forget the two amazingly healthy women we introduced you to at the beginning of this article!).

As baby boomers continue to age, the number of seniors with Alzheimer’s disease continues to grow. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, about 5.8 million Americans are experiencing the disease. By 2050, the number is expected to grow to 13.8 million.

In fact, some groups are being hit harder than others.

• One in 10 people ages 65 and older has Alzheimer’s
• Women account for almost two-thirds of American Alzheimer’s cases
• African-Americans are about twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s
• Hispanics are about 1.5 times as likely to have Alzheimer’s

Dementia is the sixth leading cause of death in America, killing more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. The Alzheimer’s Association says that every 65 seconds, someone in the United States develops the disease.

Senior Lifestyle has developed award-winning programs and care to help cope with the effects of the disease. Senior Lifestyle’s memory care and Alzheimer’s care specialists work directly with staff, residents, and their families to ensure residents receive the comprehensive care and attention they deserve.

Find out more about Alzheimer’s warning signs, stages, symptoms and what to do next.

What Alzheimer’s Disease Is and Isn’t

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disorder causing brain cells to waste away and die. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is the most common cause of dementia, which is a continuous decline in the ability to think, along with impacting behavioral and social skills. This decline disrupts a person’s ability to function independently. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 60% to 80% of dementia cases.

Alzheimer’s is not, however, a normal part of aging. The greatest known risk factor is increasing age, but Alzheimer’s is not just a disease of old age. It’s estimated that 200,000 Americans under 65 have early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

The disease generally progresses in stages, from mild to severe symptoms.

Aging brings with it some cognitive changes. Forgetting names, misplacing keys and other everyday annoyances are common, but not all of these changes point to Alzheimer’s. Here’s a look at typical age-related changes and how they relate to signs of Alzheimer’s, according to alz.org.

Stages and Symptoms of Alzheimer’s

Detecting the progression of Alzheimer’s can be challenging because the disease affects everyone differently. There is also an overlap between the stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Generally, experts such as the Alzheimer’s Association divide Alzheimer’s into three stages: mild stage, moderate stage, and severe stage.

Mild or Early Stage

The mild or early stage of Alzheimer’s related dementia can be easy to miss because it is gradual. This stage generally lasts 2 to 4 years, and symptoms may be mistakenly dismissed as a normal part of aging.

At this stage, a person may function independently, may still drive and work, and may take part in social activities. However, this person may be aware of their own increasing memory failures.

Friends and family may begin to notice some difficulties. If medical help is sought out at this stage, doctors may detect problems in memory or concentration.

According to alz.org, common symptoms include:

• Trouble remembering the right word or name
• Difficulty remembering names after being introduced to new people
• Challenges performing tasks at work or in social settings
• Forgetting material that has just been read
• Misplacing or losing valuable objects
• Increasing difficulty with planning or organizing

Moderate or Middle Stage

As Alzheimer’s progresses to the middle or moderate stage, symptoms of dementia become clearer. A person may have greater difficulty performing routine tasks but may still remember significant details about their life.

At this stage, an Alzheimer’s patient may confuse words, get frustrated or angry, or act in unexpected ways, such as refusing basic hygiene. Damage to nerve cells in the brain can make it difficult to express thoughts and perform routine tasks.

The moderate stage of Alzheimer’s is typically the longest and can last for years. As the disease progresses, the Alzheimer’s patient requires a greater level of care.

At this point, symptoms will be noticeable to others and may include:

• Forgetfulness of both current events and personal history
• Increased moodiness or feeling withdrawn, especially in social or challenging situations
• Being unable to recall details, such as addresses or telephone numbers
• Confusion about the location or the current date
• Difficulty choosing the proper clothing for the season or occasion
• Possible trouble controlling bladder and bowels
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Increased risk of wandering and becoming lost
• Personality and behavioral changes or compulsive, repetitive behavior

Severe or Late Stage

The late or severe stage of dementia is most difficult for the family, as the individual now is nearly totally dependent on care and is otherwise inactive. Memory disturbances are serious, and the physical signs and symptoms become more obvious.

People with late-stage Alzheimer’s typically cannot respond to their environment, carry on a conversation or, eventually, control their own movement. Significant personality changes can be expected. These people usually need extensive help with daily activities.

According to alzheimers.net, this severe decline is characterized by:

• Confusion or lack of awareness of the environment and surroundings
• Inability to recognize all except the closest relatives and friends
• Inability to swallow
• Loss of the ability to communicate
• Loss of physical abilities such as sitting and walking
• Increase in infections (such as pneumonia)
• Loss of ability to control movements
• Loss of bowel and bladder control
• Major personality changes and potential behavior problems
• The need for assistance with basic daily activities
• Wandering

This decline can increase to the point where constant professional supervision is required. In this last stretch, patients are nearing death because of the terminal nature of Alzheimer’s disease.