Walking Is The Best Exercise For Seniors
Physical activities including exercises are important for everyone. Especially for older adults and seniors, physical activity is an important part of healthy aging. Experts have said that walking exercise is the best exercise for seniors. It is an effective way to improve overall health. Walking promotes many health benefits and it can be done anywhere, indoor or outdoor.
Why Walking Is The Best Exercise For Seniors
Walking is the best exercise for seniors because it can be done easily, poses little risk, no special skills, and no exercise equipment is required. What you need is a pair of comfortable shoes. You can either do your walking indoor, at home or walk outside, in the park.
Walking is the best exercise for seniors due to the fact that it is self-regulated in intensity, duration, and frequency. So, it is relatively safe for seniors. You can choose to walk at a regular pace for a longer period, or more strenuous walking for a short period. You can walk on a flat area or walk up and down the stairs.
It is getting popular for many seniors to do their morning walking exercise in the mall before the mall’s opening hours. Many seniors find that walking in the mall is safe. There are security officers in the mall to give you a hand if you need help or get hurt. And you will make some new friends who are also walking in the mall.
Health Benefits of Walking for seniors
Walking has so many benefits for seniors. Some benefits include:
- Cardiovascular Disease Prevention – Studies have shown that walking is the first step in cardiovascular disease prevention. A walking exercise will help in your heart rate. This will lead to a reduction in the risk of high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
- Boosts Metabolism – Walking moderately for about an hour will boost your metabolism
- Helps Digestion – Taking a walk after lunch or dinner helps in digestion. An article in PubMed indicates that walking helps to speed up the rate of food moved through the stomach.
- Lowers Blood Sugar – For those people with diabetes, it helps in blood sugar control.
- Balance – Improves your balance and coordination, reduce the risk of falling.
- Strengthen Muscles – Improves muscle strength that leads to stronger legs.
- Stronger Bones – Stronger bones, and prevent osteoporosis.
- Reduce Pain – Studies have shown that walking helps reduce back pain in seniors.
- Better Mood – Help you gain confidence in yourself and make you feel better.
- Energy and Stamina – Improve your energy level and increase your stamina.
- Mobility – One study from Northwestern University found that people who walked briskly for at least one hour per week reduced their risk of daily-living disability and the risk of mobility disability.
The health benefits gained by walking will definitely improve the daily living, posture, balance, flexibility, and muscle strength of seniors. They are more independent and able to do things on their own at home.
How Much Walking Should Seniors Do?
Intensity and speed of walking are not important for seniors. The most important is to start walking. Begin slowly and easily. Break it up into several 10-15 minutes sessions.
Walking 10,000 Steps daily will definitely produce health benefits.
Generally, older adults who are in good physical shape walk between 2,000 and 10,000 steps daily. It is good to count your steps. There are many gadgets, like Fitbit, smartwatch, and cell phone apps that can help track the total steps taken on a daily walk. You can even track how many steps you have all day long.
Recording the total steps taken in a day can be motivating. Use a phone app or smartwatch to track your daily steps and challenge yourself to walk a few more steps each day.
A 2015 study found that going from a sedentary lifestyle to taking 10,000 steps per day could lower your risk of mortality by 46 percent.
If you have any health problems but is not significant, it is important to consult your doctor for guidance.
Make Walking Your Daily Routine
You have to wear the correct shoes for walking. A pair of comfortable sneakers will help. Take light, easy steps, and make sure your heel touches down before your toes.
If you need support, you can use a walking stick or walker. These will improve your balance and reduce the load on your joints.
If you have foot problems, you will have to talk to your doctor or podiatrist who can give you advice on getting the right shoes.
Benefits Walking With Friends or Family Members
There are a few benefits of walking with friends or family members:
- Helps to make new friends
- Makes walking more fun
- Motivates you to walk regularly
- Walk for longer hours
- To make walking more interesting, you can walk at different routes, so you will not get tired of seeing the same sights every day.
- It is safe walking with friends
In Conclusion:
Walking is the best exercise for seniors. It is easy to get started and no exercise equipment is required. It can be done alone or with friends.
Walking has many health benefits which include cardiovascular disease prevention, boosts metabolism, helps in digestion, lowers blood sugar, improves balance, strengthen muscles, stronger bones, reduce pain, better mood, improves energy and stamina, improves mobility.
Seniors who walk regularly are more independent and able to do the daily tasks on their own. Being independent will make them feel confident in themselves and be happy.
Enjoy the video about walking exercise
Walk At Home by Leslie Sansone
