Blog | Comfort Keepers Anoka, Blaine, White Bear Lake

Tips to help seniors get fit this winter!

Written by Tom Berard | Jan 9, 2023 10:02:25 PM

Increase Strength and Improve Balance in the New Year!

 
Comfort Keepers sponsored Active Aging on Cable Television for a few years with the show becoming the second most watched right after the ever-popular Polka Time. Yes, dancing can be a great form of exercise too!  This exercise program is designed specifically for seniors to help them retain or develop strength, balance, and confidence. The program uses everyday household items or very low-cost items as part of the exercises. A sturdy chair, soft rubber ball, or elastic bands are all the exercise equipment needed! All of these are inexpensive and may get your senior loved one on the road to do more--perhaps joining a Silver Sneakers fitness program!

The benefits of exercise for seniors are extensive:

  1. Helps you maintain or lose weight. As metabolism naturally slows with age, maintaining a healthy weight is a challenge. Exercise helps increase metabolism and builds muscle mass, helping to burn more calories.
  2. Reduces the impact of illness and chronic disease. People who exercise may have improved immune and digestive functioning, better blood pressure and bone density, and a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, and certain cancers.
  3. Enhances mobility, flexibility, and balance. Exercise improves your strength, flexibility, and posture.  Which in turn will help with balance, coordination, and reducing the risk of falls. Strength training also can help alleviate the symptoms of chronic conditions such as arthritis.  It may also build muscle mass that burns more calories than fat!
  4. Mental Health.  People that exercise regularly tend to sleep more restfully and have improved self-confidence.  This may be accompanied by better mood control, a lower likelihood of depression, and less anxiety.  There also is a growing number of experts that believe exercise helps prevent or reduce dementia.  The mind has to work as well to develop muscle memory that can help connect synapses in the brain which creates neuro-pathways that can allow for better thought processes.  

Check with your Doctor

As with any exercise or diet, you should check with your doctor before starting an exercise program. These exercises are designed so they can be done seated or standing with all the workouts geared toward seniors.  Feel free to share this information with your doctor as well!  The Mayo clinic recommends you consider these 5 things before starting an exercise program.

Collect all 6 Episodes

If you enjoyed this first episode, we will provide you with the remaining 5 episodes so you can get stronger and meet your goals for the new year. As stated in the video, “if you’ll give up just the time during the commercials to work your body, you will be stronger and healthier right away”. Can you give up commercials?

There is still more to the workout series!

Want to follow the concepts of this program? When you receive the additional 5 episodes, we will also send you a guide to the workout program so you can do it whenever and wherever you want to!

 Click below to get immediate access to all 6 episodes of FUNctional Fitness!

FUNctional Fitness Video Series