11 Sep Seniors can put off road down hill by exercising

It can be worrisome to think about the day you start feeling over the hill, but it you don’t exercise nature’s course can take you straight downhill a lot laster.
Loss of muscle strength and mental capacities are the two things that put senior citizens at the most risk. Between ages of 50-70 years old, people can lose around 30 percent of their muscle strength.
However, countless studies show that regular exercise can help older adults have stronger bodies — and minds.
Even the elderly can benefit from working out. It’s almost never too late to exercise.
A recent study done at a university in Montreal, published in the Journals of Gerontology, showed the importance of exercise for older adults.
Frail senior citizens as well as healthy elderly people both benefitted from exercise in the three-month study. They did things such as walking on a treadmill or outside and light dumbbell work. The participants showed improvement in areas of physical endurance and functional competencies, cognitive performance, and improvements related to quality of life.
The study proved again that being too old is not a reason to not begin an exercise program.
For more information on exercise for seniors, the National Institute of Health has created a program called Go4Life. Visit the website from the National Institute on Aging for details and resources.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com