Exercise is important for the elderly and young alike and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can even help us to live longer. The old maxim, ‘healthy body, healthy mind’, rings true by helping to nurture and foster a sense of well-being. Regular exercise can also prevent the onset of certain diseases. Read on to discover 10 great benefits of exercise in adults.

A Healthier, Longer Life In Older Adults

Yes, that’s right. Exe rcise can help you live longer. Maintaining a healthy weight can help to prevent the onset of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, while the mental benefits are great too. By being up and about you can keep away diseases that we can become vulnerable to in isolation such as depression. But it is not just about exercising the body-brain activity also helps to maintain and improve brain function. A combination of exercising the body and mind is vital in maximizing health.

Weight Management In Older Adults

When you are immobile you naturally gain weight while also losing bone density. Through exercise, you can lose this excessive body mass by increasing your metabolic rate and burning calories. When we exercise our metabolic rate increases which burns more calories thus causing us to lose weight. In the process muscle mass is increased and bones are strengthened. A calorific intake should comprise a balance of nutrients, fats and other digestibles.

Prevent Diseases In Older Adults

When you exercise you prolong the onset of certain diseases that you can become vulnerable to due to lack of exercise. The necessity of keeping insulin and blood sugar levels at a suitable level are well known and if not kept in check this can lead to developing type 2 diabetes, the type of diabetes most at risk for people with excessive body mass. Exercise can also reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease, many types of cancer, hypertension and other diseases too.

Improve Your Sleep In Older Adults

Did you know that by exercising regularly your sleep quality can be improved? When you have exercised sufficiently you expend your energy and so when you go to sleep you go into a natural state of energy repletion mode. Even minimal-based workouts such as aerobic exercise have been proven to be highly effective in improving sleep. Generally, people who exercise are less likely to suffer from insomnia and other sleep-related disorders.

Wellbeing In Older Adults

Exercising can make you happier! By exercising regularly you can improve your mood while decreasing negative emotions such as anxiety, stress and depression. Endorphins are those feel-good emotions that you get from a good workout or even just a stroll in the garden. It doesn’t matter how intense your workout is – as long as you’re up and about you can get those hormones that are essential to creating a balanced state of wellbeing.

Physical Pain Relief In Older Adults

Exercising has proven sufficient in pain relief and effective treatment in rehabilitation. If you are suffering from chronic diseases, such as lower back pain, then exercise can be highly effective as a form of physiotherapy. The use of cardiovascular treatments such as walking or swimming for short periods proves highly effective in combating chronic pain.

Increasing Energy In Older Adults

Exercising regularly can effectively combat day-to-day fatigue and help maintain a healthy level of energy by pumping oxygen through your body. The oxygen produces mitochondria cells which give you more energy in the process. This helps prevent the onset of fatigue and increases concentration over sustained periods.

Stronger Bones and Stronger Muscle In Older Adults

When we are immobile we are losing bone density through a naturally occurring process. Exercise can strengthen our bones by adding bone density and developing muscle mass through strength-based work-outs. Having stronger bones helps stabilise your body movements resulting in less of a risk of having a fall, while also protecting you from the impact of a fall.

Socialising and Exercising for Older Adults

Exercise can also become a routine regular social engagement, promoting well-being all round. Just knowing that while doing aerobics or walking in the park we will be meeting companions can really instil positivity and brighten someone’s day. Having others around you who can motivate you to keep exercising can also be supremely encouraging.

Cognitive Functions and Memory In Older Adults

Did you know that exercise is an excellent way of maintaining and exercising healthy cognitive brain functions which can improve memory and cognitive function? We are able to absorb information more effectively by increasing molecules in our brains through exercise. These new molecules help us adapt to learning faster and improve our memory retention. Our ability to switch between tasks also becomes more efficient while memory retention is greatly increased.

Regular Exercise at Crossways Care Home

Here at Crossways Residential Care Home we actively promote regular exercise for all residents, whether that is a walk around our gardens with one of our carers or during our weekly exercise classes where a specialist personal trainer visits to deliver armchair exercise classes which have proven to be a firm favourite with residents, our residents very much enjoy these gentle moving and stretching exercises with are set to music.