If you know a thing or two about fitness, you know it’s a way of life. It’s not about having perfect abs or being the strongest person in the gym. No, being fit is about doing something good for your body and mind, and making a habit of it every single day.
This applies to young people and elderly citizens alike. While good fitness doesn’t look the same for everyone, it’s possible for anyone to achieve. The trick is to identify what works best for you.
Keep in mind that as you age, your workouts and eating habits will have to change based on your activity levels and overall health conditions. The body starts to slow down a bit, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up fitness.
Instead, it means modifying your workouts to include senior exercises like the ones listed below.
1. Free Squats
At a certain point, you won’t be able to squat a bar with your body weight (or more) on it. In fact, you may not even be squatting with bars at all anymore.
Instead, you’ll be doing free squats – aka squats that are just your own body without holding or supporting anything else. This may seem light or too easy right now, but you’re sure to feel the burn when the time comes to adjust.
2. Push-Ups
Free squats are just one kind of bodyweight workout to focus on as a senior. Another great motion to work on is a push-up! Push-ups challenge the upper body in a similar way that squats tone the legs.
More than that, though, they prepare you to have the ability to support yourself off the floor if you fall and no one is around to help you. Push-ups in the gym maintain your overall independence as you age. You can do modified ones if you need to, by the way.
3. Step-Ups
The next senior workout to add to your routine is the step-up. This is especially important if you live in a two-story home. Step-ups are done by stepping up onto a slightly raised surface, then stepping back down.
They help keep the knees and feets strong and healthy, without wearing them out. This also helps you maintain your balance, which is actually one of the first things to start going.
If you’re not comfortable with this type of movement or other exercises you can contact Livingfit RX for all kinds of workout solutions and ideas.
4. Running
If you’re fine with doing step-ups, you may want to go running a few times a week. Running isn’t for all senior citizens, though. It’s not a workout to try if you’ve never been much of a runner.
But, if this is an activity you love and cherish, you can keep doing it with the proper care. Be sure to run on a soft, supportive surface and maybe slow your pace a little bit in order to keep running as long as possible.
5. Yoga
The final senior workout to add to your routine is yoga.
Yoga is amazing for people of all ages. In terms of those who are over the hill, yoga helps soothe any stiffness in the body. It can also be a great relief for chronic pain or help you come back from an injury.
Tips for Senior Exercises, Fitness Tools, and More
It’s one thing to understand which movements to focus on in the gym and another to think about fitness overall. When you get older, your fitness depends on everything from how well you watch what you eat to your quality of sick and even going to the doctor on a regular basis.
Thankfully, there are plenty of senior exercises and additional fitness tools to help you manage all of these things. Actually, a great tool to look into is the Fitbit, which you can wear in the gym and use at home, too.
Click here to see what you can do with one of these!
