Exercise for Older Adults : Endurance Exercises

by National Institute on Aging

(Page 5 of 5)

Endurance exercises are any activity - walking, jogging, swimming, raking - that increases your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time. Build up your endurance gradually, starting with as little as 5 minutes of endurance activities at a time, if you need to.

Examples of moderate endurance activities for the average older adult are listed below. Older adults who have been inactive for a long time will need to work up to these activities gradually.

• walking briskly on a level surface
• swimming
• gardening, mowing, raking
• cycling on a stationary bicycle
• bicycling.

The following are examples of activities that are vigorous. People who have been inactive for a long time or who have certain health risks should not start out with these activities.

• climbing stairs or hills
• shoveling snow
• brisk bicycling up hills
• digging holes.

Gradually working your way up is especially important if you have been inactive for a long time. It may take months to go from a very long-standing sedentary lifestyle to doing some of the activities suggested in this section.

Safety tips:

• Stretch after your activities, when your muscles are warm.
• Drink water.
• Dress appropriately for the heat and cold.

Safety tips:

• To prevent injuries, use safety equipment such as helmets for biking.
• Endurance activities should not make you breathe so hard that you can't talk and should not cause dizziness or chest pain.

How much, how often?

Your goal is to work your way up to a moderate-to-vigorous level that increases your breathing and heart rate. It should feel somewhat difficult to you. Once you reach your goal, you can divide your exercise into sessions of no less than 10 minutes at a time, if you want to, as long as they add up to a total of at least 30 minutes on most or all days of the week.

How much, how often?

Doing less than 10 minutes at a time won't give you the desired cardiovascular and respiratory system benefits. The exception to this guideline is when you first make the decision to begin endurance activities, and you are just starting out.

Quiz

1. Your goal is to build up to ___ of endurance exercises on most or all days of the week.

A. 5 minutes
B. 10 minutes
C. 30 minutes
D. 60 minutes

C is the correct answer. Your goal is to build up to 30 minutes of endurance exercises on most or all days of the week. More is better, and every day is best. You can divide the 30 minutes into 10 minute segments. Try not to do less than 10 minutes at a time or you will lose the desired cardiovascular and respiratory system benefits.

2. If you have been inactive, it is best to

A. do as much exercise as you can right from the beginning.
B. take your time and gradually build up the amount of endurance exercises you do.

B is the correct answer. Take your time and gradually build up the amount of exercises you do. It may take months to go from a very long-standing sedentary lifestyle to doing some of the activities suggested on this web site.

3. Which is not an example of an endurance activity?

A. walking
B. jogging
C. swimming
D. surfing the web

D is the correct answer. Surfing the web is not an endurance activity. Endurance activities are any activity - walking, jogging, swimming, raking - that increases your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time.

4. Endurance activities should

A. make your knees ache.
B. cause dizziness or chest pain.
C. make you breathe so hard that you can't talk.
D. increase your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time.

D is the correct answer. An endurance activity should increase your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time. One doctor who specializes in exercise for older adults says that, "If you can't talk while you're exercising, it's too difficult. If you can sing a song from an opera, it's too easy."

Charting Progress

It can be very motivating to chart your progress. These simple tests measure endurance, lower-body power, strength, and balance. Test yourself before starting to exercise to get a baseline score.

For endurance exercises, see how far you can walk in exactly six minutes. Write down how far you walked - in feet, blocks, laps, miles, number of times you walked up and down a long hallway, or whatever is convenient for you. Test and record your scores each month.

For lower-body strength, time yourself as you walk up a flight of stairs as fast as you can safely. Test and record your scores each month.

For upper-body strength exercises, record how much weight you lift and how many times you lift that weight.

For balance exercises, time yourself as you stand on one foot, without support, for as long as possible. Stand near something sturdy to hold onto in case you lose your balance. Repeat the test while standing on the other foot. Test and record your scores each month.

About the Author

www.nia.nih.gov
NIA, one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of NIH, leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life. In 1974, Congress granted authority to form NIA to provide leadership in aging research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs relevant to aging and older people.