It’s been wisely said that there are two things you can be certain of: taxes and death. But do you know another certainty of life? Water exercises can balance the ravages of time.
The advantages of regular exercising – including minimizing your risk of chronic and devastating diseases such as arthritis and diabetes while pumping up your heart’s fitness and lung function – far outweigh the excuses for not adding it to your regular activities.
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Start Slow
Seniors or the elderly should start slowly and steadily. Try including 7 minutes of exercises into your everyday routine and subsequently increase it to 45 minutes per day. It’s also imperative to add balance exercises for seniors at least thrice a week to increase your flexibility and strength.
Ease Your Arthritis Pain with Water Exercises
Exercising in water is easy and it puts less stress on muscles & joints and allows seniors with arthritis an escape from pain. When you are in water, you will feel less strain placed on your body, and the water buoyancy supports your weight. The water also reduces the pressure your movements have on your joints and muscles. The water acts more as a resistant agent than the air does during land-living exercises. In short, water exercises for senior provide overall the same health benefits, in comparatively very less time, than regular exercises performed out of water.
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Benefits of Water Exercises for Seniors
With so many varieties and types of water exercises, it is not essential that you should know how to swim. Water activities for seniors are easy and much more effective. Let’s have a look at some of the important health benefits associated with water exercises for seniors:
- Pumps up the efficiency of overall cardiovascular health
- Deep breathing exercises in water increases the absorption of oxygen in the body
Significantly helps to reduce cholesterol levels especially LDL- Increases balance and decreases the chances of falling down abruptly during an event or in everyday life
- Increases overall strength, metabolism and freedom of movement
- Helps in strengthening the muscles & improves flexibility
- Helps in getting a better posture and improves alertness
- Builds strong muscles which results in stronger bones
- Lowers down the rate of muscle loss that is a common occurrence with aging
- Increases the reaction time
- Reduces the risk of getting an injury that are most common with land based exercises
- Reduces the heat levels generally experienced during exercising
- Reduces the stress level and senior feel a total change in their day to day activities
- Promotes social interaction
- Increases overall health and fitness level
- Decreases the muscle pain, stiffness and arthritis related health issues
- Better circulation of oxygen and blood flow in the body
Consult Your Doctor
As with any land based exercise for seniors, consult your doctor to make sure water exercises are safe for you to perform. Then start slowly and steadily as water exercises at first seem easy but when actually performed it can be a little hard to begin with. Before you sign-up anywhere for water exercise fitness program, make sure they have created separate workouts for the elderly.
Time to Get in Action – Water Exercises for Seniors
Take out those swimming shorts and enjoy the wonders of water exercises today. Keep reading for more information on different easy water exercises that you can begin with.
