Exercise isn’t a positive activity for everyone. Lots of people spent their formative years with a negative mindset around exercise. The problem is, it’s a beneficial activity for your senior and if she’s able to, she should move more. Here are some ideas that can help.
Make Sure You Know Her Doctor’s Recommendations
The very first thing to do any time your elderly family member is ready to start exercising is to get clearance from her doctor. Once you both understand what her limitations are and what the recommendations are for movement, you can start to craft an exercise plan. Following those recommendations is really important to keep your senior as safe as possible.
Keep it Simple
Working out doesn’t have to be complicated. Your elderly family member doesn’t have to have elaborate routines and follow complex plans. Especially when your senior is just starting to get back to exercising, you want to keep everything as simple as possible. Starting to take a walk down the street or for five minutes on a treadmill might be gracious plenty for now. You can always increase the activity when she is stronger.
Build Variety into Her Routine
Another problem that your senior is likely to run into is that of boredom. It’s really easy to get locked into one activity and to eventually find that to be horribly unexciting. If you’re going to help your elderly family member to stay motivated to exercise, you absolutely need to encourage her to find a few different types of movement that she likes. If she hasn’t tried a lot of different exercises in the past, now is the time to branch out a bit.
Exercise Doesn’t Have to Happen All at Once
The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate to intense aerobic activity per week along with two days of activities devoted to strengthening muscles, or as close to that level of activity as possible. That comes out to about 30 minutes of aerobic activity per day, except on weekdays. That doesn’t mean your senior has to walk for a half an hour, though. If she decides that she would rather take three short walks a day that add up to 30 minutes total, that “counts” toward her total. Keep in mind also that if she’s just starting out, she needs to work up to that amount of exercise.
It can help a lot to have someone there with your senior when she plans to exercise. Home care providers can help with mobility concerns and offer companionship to cheer her on.
If you or a family member are in need of hiring Home Care Services in Coconut Creek FL, call the caring professionals at Star Multi Care today at (954) 870-4770. Providing service in Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Coconut Creek, Deerfield Beach, Delray Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Lauderhill, Margate, Pompano Beach and Tamarac.
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