Exercise for Older Adults : Sample Exercises

by National Institute on Aging

(Page 7 of 12)

Making It Work

There are lots of ways to increase your physical activity. Exercising at home is just one of them, and we feature it here because it's within the reach of most older people. Or, you might decide to follow Phyllis Wendahl's example, instead, and do something different.

Ms. Wendahl is 85 years old and lives in the small town of Bothell, Washington. On the phone, she sounds much younger. She is a widow and lives on her Social Security income, and, like many older adults, she won't let her kids spoil her as much as they would like to. She would rather do things on her own.

That's why, when she was scouting around for a fitness club where she could use strength-building equipment, she bargained the owner down to a monthly fee that she felt she could afford - $25 a month for unlimited use.

"Look, I know that not everybody is as bold as I am about that kind of thing," Ms. Wendahl told us. Nonetheless, she has some advice for older adults who are thinking about going to a fitness center: "They don't need to feel self-conscious about going to the club. The owner of my club holds me up as an example now."

Ms. Wendahl said that she has always been active, but never as much as she is now. She began doing aerobic exercises in her 70s, moved on to water aerobics, and most recently to strength-building and stretching 3 times a week. She lives on her own and drives herself wherever she needs to go. After 6 months of endurance and strength exercises, measurements showed that Ms. Wendahl was able to perform household tasks - carrying groceries, making her bed, and transferring laundry - more quickly. She could also carry more weight.

"It has just done me a world of good," she said of her physically active lifestyle. "My family is so thrilled and proud of me," she added.

She wants older adults who read this book to know that, when it comes to exercise and physical activity, "there's always something within someone's capabilities. There's no reason older people need to be sitting in a rocking chair."

Many different physical activities can improve your health and independence. Whether you choose to do the exercises shown in this chapter or other activities that accomplish the same goals, gradually work your way up to include endurance, strength, balance, and stretching exercises.

Here are some points to keep in mind as you begin increasing your activity:

If you stop exercising for several weeks and then return, start out at about half the effort you were putting into it when you stopped, then gradually build back up. Some of the effects of endurance and muscle-building exercises deteriorate within 2 weeks if these activities are cut back substantially, and benefits may disappear altogether if they aren't done for 2 to 8 months.

When an exercise calls for you to bend forward, bend from the hips, not the waist. If you keep your entire back and shoulders straight as you bend forward, that will help ensure that you are bending the right way, from the hips. If you find your back or shoulders humping in any spot as you bend forward, that's a sign that you are bending incorrectly, from the waist. Bending from the waist may cause spine fractures in some people with osteoporosis.

It's possible to combine exercises. For example, regular stair-climbing sessions improve endurance and strengthen leg muscles at the same time.

How to Improve Your Endurance

Endurance exercises are any activity - walking, jogging, swimming, raking - that increases your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time.

How Much, How Often

Build up your endurance gradually, starting out with as little as 5 minutes of endurance activities at a time, if you need to.

Starting out at a lower level of effort and working your way up gradually 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.

Your goal is to work your way up, eventually, to a moderate-to-vigorous level that increases your breathing and heart rate. It should feel somewhat hard to you (level 13 on the Borg scale).

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 a minimum of 30 minutes at the end of the day. 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 are just beginning to do endurance activities.)

Your goal is to build up to a minimum of 30 minutes of endurance exercise on most or all days of the week. More often is better, and every day is best.

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.