Hello, my name is Cindy. I live in the suburbs of Sydney with my family. Although I would occasionally visit the doctor when I was feeling too good or if one of the children had a cold. However, my whole view on doctors changed when I found a lump on breast last year. I went to my GP in a panic, but he was a real sweetie. He calmed me down and explained he would refer me for a further investigation. Thankfully, they caught my cancer early and after some treatment, I made a full recovery. Since this close call, I have taken a keen interest in everything health related.
Older people may not be as active as younger adults or adolescents, and thus their exercises are less vigorous. It is considered essential to visit your doctor first to give the go-ahead for the workouts. The tasks may be categorized into sitting, strength, balancing, and flexibility exercises. Sitting exercises should be done on a stable chair, strong enough to support your weight and movements. The chair should not have arms and should allow you to sit comfortably with a straight back and your knees bent at right angles.
Make sure to wear loose, comfortable clothing and to have some water with you. The exercises need to be performed at least two days in a week to be productive. Don't start with demanding tasks; slow steps until you build momentum are recommended.
Sitting Exercises
These include chest stretches, upper body twists, hip exercises, ankle stretching, arm exercises, and neck exercises. Chest stretches will help you keep good posture. You will need to sit upright away from the back of your chair, stretch your hands out to the sides, and push your chest out until you feel it stretch. Upper body twists help with upper back flexibility. You can achieve them by turning your upper body right and left when your hands are crossed — and make sure not to turn your hips.
Hip exercises are achieved when you lift each bent leg up and down to strengthen your hips. Ankle exercises help reduce blood clots and improve flexibility. Arm lifting exercises improve shoulder strength, and neck exercises improve neck mobility, loosen tight muscles, and improve neck flexibility.
Flexibility Exercises
These include neck exercises as indicated above, calf stretching, and sideways bending. Most are achieved when standing, but neck exercises can be done when sitting.
Strength Exercises
Just as the name suggests, these exercises build the strength of a particular body part. For example, sitting and standing in rhythm, mini squats, calf raises, and sideways leg lifts will strengthen leg muscles. Remember to support yourself on a stable chair when doing these exercises. For arm strength, you can do wall press-ups and biceps curls.
Balancing Exercises
This type of exercise may include walking. You may either walk sideways by making side steps, walk sideways by crossing one foot over the other, and also carry out heel to toe walking. You may also carry out step-up exercises, where you step on a higher surface and step down and one leg stands. Use a wall or a railing to offer you support.
Share13 January 2019
