Our body needs exercise just as it needs food for its nourishment. Failure to exercise can result in a plethora of health-related problems for anyone. Be it adults, children, or seniors; everyone requires a daily dose of exercise. While exercise preference can vary within age groups and individual choices, there are some basic rules everyone should follow regardless. When it comes to choosing the right kind of exercise, it is crucial to take adequate guidance from an expert fitness professional. This becomes especially imperative for seniors, as they are extra prone and vulnerable to serious ailments and injuries while exercising. They should pick only that form of exercise, which is safe and beneficial for their aging bodies. This is where theraband exercises can be a great boon to seniors. In this blog, we explore how and why seniors benefit from resistance band or theraband exercises.
Why Should Seniors Exercise?
Given below are some common problems arising due to lack of exercise or physical activity:
- The first is joint pain, and fatigue in muscles. Sans proper movement or lubrication in the advancing years of life, seniors experience joint weakening leading to severe pain. The most common example of this is knee pain. Approximately every senior between 50-80 years in India suffers from some kind of body-related issue, and this number is only growing day by day. This can be largely attributed to a lack of exercise.
- The other most common issue arising due to an inability to exercise is decreased strength. We all need strength for nearly all the physical activities in our everyday schedule. And strength comes from regular exercising of muscles and joints. It also allows us to stay active for a longer time. This is the reason children are more active for longer than seniors, who get tired and exhausted early. As we grow old our body loses its natural strength. This is the reason why many senior citizens do not prefer to exercise. However, there are serious repercussions of avoiding exercise at old age. Adults aged 65 years and above should do at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity per week in bouts of 10 minutes or more. Plus, it is beneficial to add muscle and bone-strengthening activities, like theraband exercises, at least 2 days per week. Most people think that gaining muscle or increasing strength is only advisable for the youth, but they are mistaken. This is even more important for seniors. This is why they must engage in some kind of resistance exercise to fulfil this critical physical need. Theraband exercises are immensely safe for this purpose.
Why Should Seniors Do Theraband Exercises?
In theraband exercises, only a band is used as the primary equipment for exercise. This exercise provides extreme safety for seniors. It is unlike going to the gym where there are loads of heavy machines and dumbbells, which is just as dangerous as useful. Just one mistake in form can cause a serious injury in the gym. Hence, seniors should avoid heavy gymming. Instead, performing simple exercises using theraband can give them immense benefits, while being completely safe.
It is very safe to build strength with bands. It not only reduces your fall risk but also improves your physical abilities. Furthermore, it can keep chronic age-related diseases at bay while significantly increasing your strength. Almost every senior male or a female can exercise with bands. You just need the right guidance and right techniques to perform theraband exercises. Once, you get equipped for it, you would not need any support other than your own body.
How Should Seniors Do Theraband Exercises Correctly?
Theraband exercises are fairly easy to perform. For these exercises, you will need a sturdy chair without arms, like a kitchen chair, shock-absorbing shoes, and clothes that allow you to move freely. These exercises create tension when one stretches the band. The tension has to be increased to progress in the theraband exercise regimen. One way to do so is by moving your hands closer together to shorten the length of the band. However, you should not begin or stop exercises abruptly.
First, you should always warm up your body by doing 5-10 minutes of light to moderate aerobic activity. You can walk briskly, dance, ride a bike, or move your muscles. Just rise up on your toes and squat halfway down or sit to stand. Do arm circles and wall push-ups. When you feel warm, alert, and slight perspiration you are ready to go.
While concluding your exercise session, start your cooling down with 2-3 minutes of either walking around the room or walking on the spot or doing the same exercises you did during warm-up. You should also add stretching to your cool-down. No matter what method you use, remember that it is always important to cool down post exercising.
Winding-Up
The above article explains how crucial it is for seniors to follow an exercise regimen. It is perfectly fine if some seniors already follow other routines like running, brisk walking, even gym, etc. nonetheless, theraband exercises exponentially benefit seniors, especially those who are beginners. For those who are trying to start exercising during the advancing years of their life, with all the risks involved, theraband exercises are the best bet for them.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, theraband exercises are perfectly safe for seniors. They only make use of stretchable bands that are very less likely to cause any kind of injury.
First, they are safe and easy to perform. Second, they are quite less on cost and on time as well.