When you become a senior citizen, it becomes especially important to maintain an active lifestyle. The aging process inevitably slows the body down over time, but there is no reason why any senior citizen can’t keep living a life full of health and wellness.
Staying active can be easy with just a little exercise a day. Eating well is essential too. In addition to practicing active living, healthy nutritional habits can supply your body with the energy it needs to perform physical activity regularly. A good independent living residence can support better, more active living. It can also offer comfort and independence while allowing you to wake up feeling good every day.
Our compassionate staff at Northfield understands that helping you live an active lifestyle will promote good health and happy retirement. We offer various well-designed programs catered to helping senior residents enjoy participating in physical activities within the community. These programs give our residents engaging opportunities to live a happy and healthy lifestyle. Find out more about living an active lifestyle in retirement by calling 844.334.1490.
Reasons to Stay Active
Physical fitness and staying active are vital parts of living a healthy life, regardless of age. As you age, regular physical exercise and movement become more vital to overall well-being and health. When you consider the impact of small routine changes, it’s clear that implementing any additional physical activity to a senior’s lifestyle can greatly improve health.
Weight control
It is important to stay in the healthy weight range for your body type, no matter how old someone may get. Therefore, exercise and diet are essential factors in losing unhealthy weight and maintaining a healthy weight thereafter.
Being overweight or underweight can lead to the loss of muscle. Causing a decline in body strength and other health risks that will develop over time if you do not manage it well.
The amount of physical activity necessary to maintain physical weight may vary for any individual, especially for people with different body types. Gaining weight is as simple as consuming more calories through eating and drinking than you burn each day. This includes calories burned during physical exercise.
Reduce health risks
Having a stroke or experiencing heart disease are two of the highest causes of death in the United States today. A few minutes of daily exercise can reduce the likelihood of cardiovascular issues developing and even build strength that can help avoid dangerous falls. Regular activity can also improve levels of cholesterol and lower your blood pressure, encouraging strong cardiovascular health.
The simple act of walking can become difficult if you do not give your body the regular physical activity that it needs. Lack of balance while walking is a serious problem that many seniors may have to deal with, which can be avoided with regular physical activity.
Other common health risks as people enter their senior years include type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Improve bone density
Over time, protecting joints, muscles, and bones becomes significantly more important. Protecting these parts of your body is vital to ensuring the ability to move with ease, as these are the parts that support your body weight during physical activity. Moderate aerobic physical activity can slow down bone density loss that occurs naturally with age and build strength.
Senior citizens are also at very high risk for a serious injury known as a hip fracture, but this is especially true for seniors that do not live a physically active lifestyle. Staying active can also help with rheumatic conditions that affect the joints, like arthritis.
Brain health
One of the most noticeable benefits of staying active is improved brain health. An active lifestyle can also reduce anxiety levels for adults even after just one session of moderate exercise. Regular physical activity can sharpen judgment, skills, and learning ability.
How to Live an Active Lifestyle
Healthy eating is necessary to promote living more actively and making the most out of your senior years. Along with proper nutrition and not skipping meals, staying active can be as simple as finding something fun to do while moving around. Whether you are meeting with friends for a walk or taking some time in the garden, a little movement in your day can make a large impact on your overall health. Here are some fun things that you can try to add a little more activity to your life:
- Gardening
- Walking
- Socializing
- Moderate-intensity aerobic activity
- Swimming
- Mild stretching (Even from the chair)
It does become harder to stay active as you age, but it is never too late to improve your physical health. Even though seniors may feel like it is too late to gain mobility and strength, small amounts of added activity can improve the quality of life. Start trying to perform mild stretching if physical activity is difficult.
Living an Active Lifestyle at Northfield
The caring staff at Northfield makes sure each senior can live actively when they want and how they choose. There are plenty of opportunities for seniors to experience the outdoors as well, as Northfield provides its residents with activities that are safe and exciting.
Contact Northfield at 844.334.1490 for more information and learn how one of our independent living residences can be perfect for you or a family member.
