The older you are, the more important regular exercising and getting active will be to your health. A lack of regular exercising will lead to many health problems from lack of energy, high blood pressure, and overweight to more serious medical conditions such as osteoporosis or coronary heart disease.

Exercising regularly is not a part of many seniors’ life. The reasons offered by these people are either they are too out-of-shape, too sick, too weak, too tired, or just too old to exercise. Not in any particular order, here are the 5 most used excuses by seniors for not exercising:

“I don’t have time”

This is THE EXCUSE for not exercising. It’s used by all age groups, not seniors alone. Fact is that, you don’t really have to do anything much, and exercising does not take up that much of your time. A minimum of 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week might sound like a lot, but when you break it down it’s only a little over 20 minutes a day – a goal totally possible for you to accomplish. Moreover, you don’t have to do a 20-minute session at once. Feel free to split that 20 minutes up to fit with your lifestyle, for example 10-minute stroll in the morning and some light aerobic moves for around 15 minutes in the afternoon and you’re done for the day!

“Exercise is boring”

If you feel exercising is boring, you are not doing it right. The key is to find out what you enjoy doing and stick to it. If you are fond of yoga, go ahead and do it (under supervision of a pro to avoid injuries). If exercising with people is not your thing, choose an activity you can do alone, like walking or gardening. Remember that all physical activities count as exercising. It doesn’t matter which type of exercise you choose, the only thing matters is that you actually do it.

“I’m too weak to start exercising”

Not only strenuous activities are considered exercises. Even if you can only move from your bed to the bathroom, that’s still considered exercise because your muscles are active. Start from what you can do now and as you do it more, your strength will increase overtime and you can set higher exercise goals.

“Exercise isn’t safe for someone my age”

Regular exercising is essential for any age as it helps to build strength, balance, and agility, which will reduce the risks of unwanted accidents or catching colds and various diseases. If you’re worrying about your safety, regular exercising is actually what you need to do.

“Exercising to get healthy is pointless – decline in old age is inevitable”

Growing older is indeed inevitable, but getting weaker with age is definitely not. Most of the time, the symptoms that we usually link with old age, such as loss of balance or weakness, are actually results of inactivity, not age.

Exercising will not only improve your physical health but also your mind, boosting your memory and prevent dementia. All of this will come together and enable you to stay independent as long as possible and enjoy the best quality of life.

Thanks for reading through this Blog, I hope you have found it useful. If you require any further assistance please feel free to contact the office.

Kind regards,

Suzanne McLoughlin
Owner of Home Instead Senior Care Outer East

P.S. We provide free Care Consultations and resource guides to support and guide families. Download your free copies from our Aged Care Resources page or Request a Free Information Pack to receive a hard copy.