Senior Citizen Fitness Activities
New Exercise Guidelines and Information for Seniors and the Elderly
A summary of 2007 fitness guidelines for older adults and active elderly that will help seniors maintain and improve health and fitness level as well as prevent disease.
Important new exercise guidelines for senior citizens and those over 50 years old are now available. These fitness suggestions, if applied, will help older adults stay strong, improve overall health and fitness levels, and avoid many diseases that plague older people. Following is a summary of the 2007 guidelines and information about finding out more.
New Basic Fitness Guidelines for Older Adults
According to a 2007 report Physical Activity and Public Health in Older Adults: Recommendation from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association, "The [here summarized] recommendation for older adults describes the amounts and types of physical activity that promote health and prevent disease. The recommendation applies to all adults aged 65+ years, and to adults aged 50–64 with clinically significant chronic conditions or functional limitations that affect movement ability, fitness, or physical activity."
Basic Exercise Guidelines for Senior Citizens Over Age 65 or Adults 50-64 With Chronic Conditions (Such as Arthritis) or Other Limitations.
Note: Each individual should discuss any new exercise plan with a doctor or healthcare worker. Those with limits and other health issues should first make a physical activity plan “that integrates preventive and therapeutic recommendations.”
Following are the weekly physical activity recommendations for older adults who wish to maintain and improve health:
- 30 minutes a day (this time may be accumulated by breaking exercise into bouts of at least 10 minutes each), at least 5 days a week (but preferably daily) of moderately intense cardio exercise.
- OR, if appropriate, doing vigorously intense cardio exercise 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week is also fine.
- In addition, one should do 8 to 10 strength-training exercises, with 10-15 repetitions of each, 2 to 3 times per week. These activities should involve working the various major muscle groups.
- For those at risk for falls, it is important to also include exercises that help maintain or improve balance.
Other Advice for Senior Citizen Exercise
Although the new guidelines for older adults and adults with chronic conditions are similar to those for younger adults, there are a few key differences and points to consider:
- Activities that maintain or increase flexibility are recommended for older adults.
- Aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities are both critical for healthy aging.
- During moderate-intensity workouts, one should still be able to carry on a conversation during exercise.
- According to the new guidelines abstract, “The promotion of physical activity in older adults should emphasize moderate-intensity aerobic activity, muscle-strengthening activity, reducing sedentary behavior, and risk management.”
- Good information on how to start an exercise program, meet the new guideline requirements, and other useful information, see the American College of Sports Medicine Development website.
This is a summary of a lengthy report. More and very specific information may be found in the downloadable guideline report on the page linked below.
Related articles of possilbe interest on Suite 101 are Fun Activities for Active Seniors and Fun Activities for Senior Citizens.
Resources:
All quotes above are from the report: Physical Activity and Public Health in Older Adults: Recommendation from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 39, No. 8, pp. 1435–1445, 2007.
This new guideline research was conducted by an expert panel of scientists, including physicians, epidemiologists, exercise scientists, and public health specialists. Download the guidelines at the American College of Sports Medicine Development website.
