Older adults in assisted living care also need to exercise their bodies. They need to fight the lifestyle diseases that come with age, and there’s no better way to do this than staying fit. However, not all exercises are suitable for older adults.
It would help if you found age-appropriate exercises for people in assisted living care to help them stay fit and healthy. Please do your research depending on their age brackets, likes, and medically approved exercises.
Here are some simple and manageable exercises you can introduce to people in assisted living care.
Walking
Walking is one of the most uncomplicated and enjoyable physical activities for older people. It allows them to stretch their muscles, but it also gives them a chance to enjoy nature and interact with each other.
You can engage them in non-competitive walks to stretch their muscles and engage the willing ones in simple, age-appropriate competitions. You could even create in-house walking competitions to encourage elderly people to walk more and stay fit.
The goals and distance to be achieved by each member should vary depending on their age, health conditions, and willingness to be part of the activities.
Some of the benefits of walking as a form of exercise include:
- Healthier lifestyles
- Stronger muscles
- Low risk of lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, strokes, and diabetes
You can encourage the older people in your institution to walk in trail parks or walk around the compound regularly.
Water Aerobics
Water aerobics is increasingly common for people who enjoy less strenuous activities to stay fit. They are also less demanding and more gentle on the body. This makes them an excellent alternative for elderly people.
Water aerobics is great for mild arthritis and other joint pains. They will help your elderly people have a natural resilience when exercising, reducing the need for weight in strengthening their bodies. The water buoyancy puts less pressure on the joints than other exercises.
These exercises help improve muscle strength and flexibility and increase balance in the body without putting much stress on it.
Some of the water aerobic exercises you can introduce in your center for assisted living include:
- Aqua jogging
- Flutter kicking
- Leg lifts
These will help the elderly people stay fit and have fun while doing it.
Pilates
Pilates is also another exercise that you can introduce to elderly people to help them stay fit. The exercise helps to improve breathing, flexibility, alignment, concentration, and core strength.
You’ll need to get mats, Pilate balls, and other inflated accessories.
Some of the plate moves you can encourage elderly people to take part in are:
- Mermaid movements
- Side circles
- Step-ups
Pilates is not a gender-specific exercise and is fun to do.
Resistance Band Workouts
As the name states, you can encourage the elderly people under your care to exercise with resistance bands. The bands are stretchy strips of rubber used to create resistance during workouts. They help to relieve bodily stress and are easy to use.
The strips are user-friendly and can stretch as far or as little as the user wants them to. Elderly people won’t strain to try to achieve unrealizable goals. Please encourage them to adopt individual paces as they work out with the bands.
The bands will help them improve their postures, strengthen their cores and improve mobility and balance.
Encourage Fitness in Elderly People
Elderly people in assisted living care facilities need to stay healthy through good diets and exercise. You can introduce simple exercises such as water aerobics, walking, pilates, and resistance band workouts to keep them fit. Here are other ways to care for your elderly loved ones.
