IS IT THE PANDEMIC OR GROWING OLDER? I’ve tried to keep active over the past 3 years through the pandemic. Still, I stopped going to my weekly yoga class and quit swimming at the Y for many months because of Covid fears. My jogging pace also slowed, and I shifted from running half marathon to 10 K events. I told myself the reason for these is probably my “growing older.” Yet, I used to exercise 5 or 6 days a week—but lately only 3. Instead of jogging for an hour plus, these days it’s more like 45 minutes. Same with...
SIMPLE BODY-WEIGHT EXERCISES With the continuing pandemic, you may not be ready to go back to the gym. Instead, consider body-weight exercises. You can do them anywhere and you don’t need any equipment. Plus, they can be as effective as training with free weights or weight machines. If you consider yourself fit, please refer to my May 2020 post, Why Functional Fitness is Important for Seniors for a great all-body set of exercises including squats, lunges, planks, chest press, row & chop. However, if you’ve had a long layoff or are returning to exercising after an injury you’ll want to...
WHY FUNCTIONAL FITNESS IS IMPORTANT FOR SENIORS Even though most of us are spending more time at home than ever before, it’s still important to keep physically active. Functional fitness exercises are not only a great way to keep your body moving while you’re confined, but will also improve your quality of life. Functional fitness exercises are simply those that are designed to develop your muscles to perform everyday activities such as vacuuming, yard work, carrying groceries or just sitting down and getting up from a chair. These exercises train your muscles to work together by simulating common movements you...
HOW’S YOUR FUNCTIONAL FITNESS? There are a variety of different workouts in which you can partake. Some are for strength training, some for aerobic (cardio), others for flexibility and balance like yoga & tai chi. And then there are workouts for what is called functional fitness. These exercises focus on your ability to perform everyday-life activities such as carrying groceries, getting up from the floor, walking up and down stairs, or opening heavy doors. Functional fitness exercises train your muscles to work together as in daily tasks at home or work or play. Examples of these are: A Squat, because...
