According to the American Stroke Association, almost 40 percent of people over the age of 55 report no leisure-time physical activity. Generally, people become less physically active as they age. The problem, though, is that the older people become, the more they need regular exercise. Being physically active is a real key in maintaining quality of life and independence. Advantages to physical activity include:
- Helping to avert bone loss (thus reducing the risk of fractures) and reducing the risk of many diseases associated with aging
- Increasing muscle strength and possibly improving balance and coordination which can reduce the likelihood of falling
- Increasing basic living skills like the ability to carry grocery bags, get up from a chair, and tend to basic household chores
- Reducing the incidence of coronary heart disease, hypertension, non-insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, depression and anxiety
Undeniable Benefits of Senior Exercise
About 60 million Americans have some form of vascular disease. It has been the leading cause of death every year since 1918, even during World War II. Being sedentary is classified as a major cardiovascular risk factor, increasing risk more than smoking or high cholesterol. Vigorous exercise, the real thing, cuts your risk of dying by heart attack in half.
So what does exercise do for the heart? The answer is, not much. It does wonders, though, for your circulation. And it's circulation that can kill you.
Vibration Platforms
There is an interesting, relatively new approach to exercising for all ages that involves whole body vibration (WBV), which is a mechanical stimulus characterized by motion that is delivered to the entire body (usually in a vertical manner by standing on a platform). This approach to body conditioning obviously needs the sanction of a physician. People dealing with heart conditions or hip, knee, or other joint replacements, severe diabetes and a number of other conditions would be unable to use this strategy. Vibration training, when properly suited, increases the production of regenerative and repair hormones, improves blood circulation, strengthens bone tissue, improves muscle response and range of motion and flexibility, and increases basal metabolic rate. Many of the leading experts in the health and fitness industry feel that vibration training is going to change every thing we do in rehabilitation.
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