4 Exercises That Can Make Daily Life Easier
4 Exercises That Can Make Daily Life Easier
These functional fitness exercises help build strength for walking up stairs, lifting heavy things, and more
Exercising regularly can improve your health and mood, but another key benefit is especially important as you get older. Certain workouts can make the activities of everyday life—walking up and down stairs, playing with kids, carrying groceries—easier. Experts call this functional fitness.
Workouts focused on functional training and balance also reduce the risk of falls, according to a recent review.
“The older we get, it really is the functional fitness that matters,” says David Marquez, Ph.D., an associate professor of kinesiology in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
How do you know how functionally fit you are? Ask your doctor or trainer about the Senior Fitness Test, which can be done in 30 or 40 minutes. It involves simple activities that measure your strength, flexibility, balance, endurance, and aerobic fitness.
“You can take these test items and actually turn them into exercises,” says Susan Kaplowitz, Ed.D., an assistant teaching professor of exercise gerontology at Rutgers University and the founder of the Rutgers Center for Exercise and Aging. Practicing them regularly can help make daily life easier.
What follows are four tests of key functional skills included in the Senior Fitness Test. Do them at least twice per week as part of a resistance-training plan, which typically uses weights to build strength and power. (That’s the ability to use strength with speed; for example, to help you catch yourself before a fall.) Talk to your doctor or practice with a trainer before trying these on your own.
30-second sit-stand. See how many times you can stand up from a chair and sit back down in 30 seconds with your arms folded across your chest. (If needed, you can use your arms at first to help keep you steady as you build up strength.)
This is a test of lower-body strength and power, which is important for walking, climbing stairs, and getting up safely.
Arm curls. See how many times you can curl a light weight (5 pounds for women, 8 pounds for men) in 30 seconds. Try it first with your[…]
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