Many may feel as if the “fragility” that supposedly comes with growing old will greatly impede their workouts, or that pursuing physical fitness will suddenly become dangerous once they hit a certain age. In reality, nothing can be farther from the truth! Poor physical fitness and weaknesses related to aging don’t just creep up on us overnight – they’re the result of years of inattention to our overall physical health. The good news is that it’s never too late to reap the benefits of exercise, which includes a marked improvement in mood and memory, strength and balance improvement, and better management of pain and stress. At Future Fitness Centers, we have fitness classes specifically for senior citizens or anyone whose level of physical fitness requires a slower-paced approach. Whether you’re working out at one of our classes or on your own, be sure to follow these tips to ensure you’re taking the best approach possible to keeping up with your physical well-being.
Start slowly. This is important advice for any age group, but especially for seniors. Any new exercise routine, along with familiar routines re-started after an injury or long break, should be eased into with care. You are the person who is most familiar with your body’s capabilities, and only you will be able to determine what your limits will allow you to do once you restart your routine. Building a foundation for your workout, rather than jumping right in, is more important than ever – though that doesn’t mean you can’t work your way back up to an impressive routine! Concentrate on maintaining limberness by making sure to stretch carefully before and after workouts, and raise length of exercise or heaviness of weights in small increments.
Strive to maintain strength.
While cardiovascular capacity is very important to overall fitness, as it strengthens the heart and improves endurance, strength training is equally imperative when it comes to maintaining your health. These exercises can involve using free weights, specialized equipment, body weight or classes that combine weights with cardio, and are great ways to build up bone and muscle. When strength training as a senior citizen, it is important to raise the weight you are lifting in small increments, and be sure you can complete a set in good form, with relative ease, before moving on to more repetitions or a higher weight.
Continue to push yourself.
At an advanced age, “pushing yourself” may look a little different than workouts of your youth, but setting and reaching goals is a necessary part of any workout routine no matter who is undertaking it. Lengthening the duration of a workout, increasing reps or weight, or setting eventual distance goals that increase weekly or monthly are important to both physical AND mental well-being.
Take advantage of our classes for seniors.
At Future Fitness Centers, it’s important to us that our senior members feel that their needs are well-attended to. We’ve hired the best personal trainers and instructors in the industry to teach our unique seniors-oriented classes; many of these instructors are Arthritis Foundation-certified. Below is a list of the Senior Populations classes offered at our locations:
-Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program
-Aqua
-Hydro-Pilates™
-Get Fit Light
-Zumba Gold®
-Silver and Fit