Cardiovascular Exercises for Seniors

There is no end to the list of benefits you’ll reap from maintaining your physical fitness as you get older. Developing a healthy lifestyle is essential for both heart health and physical well-being. A longer life expectancy is associated with good cardiac health.  

Physical exercise causes our hearts to slow down as we age. One of the effects of getting older is a decline in heart health.  Let’s examine how seniors can maximize cardiovascular health and minimize their risk of health issues?

Cardiovascular exercise health benefits

It’s critical to understand the benefits of cardio for senior fitness. Aerobic exercise promotes blood flow to working muscles and improves cardiovascular health as it allows the body to strengthen the heart. Strength improves the heart’s capacity to properly pump blood throughout the body.

With enough blood flow, blood pressure can be decreased, and blood sugar levels can be managed. Cardiovascular exercise can improve both your general health and ability to manage your weight. Combining aerobic and strength training is the most effective strategy to change body composition. Still, aerobic exercise of the correct intensity can provide seniors with beneficial cardio exercises. Regular physical activity can help prevent falls, build muscle, and provide other health benefits.

Age, fitness level, and experience all play a role in determining the best activity level and type of exercise for older adults. Extremely strenuous exercise is not advised, particularly for seniors. Focus on getting your loved one to exercise regularly and try new things, like water aerobics. Because older people often lead sedentary lives, this type of training, which includes remedial exercise, might be helpful for those who are new to fitness.

Different exercises

Low-intensity workouts

The most popular low-intensity cardio exercise is walking. Low-intensity activities are fine for older people with a variety of health problems that make effort hard or dangerous and cause only a small increase in heart rate and breathing rate.

Walking slowly while carrying out regular duties, like shopping, contributes toward your weekly goal. You might consider accelerating or extending your walks if your health and stamina improve. Recreational swimming is another low-intensity aerobic activity that reduces joint stress.

Exercises of a moderate intensity

Large-muscle endurance exercises, like brisk walking, swimming, or dancing, are categorized as aerobic exercises. These exercises must be performed with a moderate level of effort such that the person can feel their respiration and heart rate increase.

More moderate-intensity workouts are frequently prescribed for older, healthy individuals. Although road biking poses risks, especially if you have balance problems, it is a common moderate-impact workout. To reduce the chance of injury, consider moving to a recumbent stationary bike. If you enjoy swimming, lap swimming is a good way to get in some exercise without putting too much strain on your muscles and joints. If you enjoy being outside, hiking is a more challenging alternative than walking.

Exercises with a high intensity

High-intensity or intense cardio exercises will significantly raise heart and respiration rates. Most progressive resistive strength training regimens for seniors use high-intensity methods that call for repeating an exercise 8–12 times until muscle depletion occurs.

For one minute of vigorous exercise is equivalent to two minutes of moderate exercise, you only need to exercise for 75 minutes each week to achieve the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations. High-intensity workouts put a lot of strain on the joints and raise the possibility of injury. An elliptical machine can help you exercise without putting as much stress on your knees and ankles as jogging would. Alternatively, cross-country skiing is a cardiovascular exercise that places more value on flexing and extending the muscles than it does on putting weight on them.

• Pick exercises and pastimes you enjoy.
• Consider how you may combine the things you like to do into your fitness programme.
• Lift weights while listening to music
• While circling the mall, do some window shopping
• Be aggressive when playing tennis.
• Take pictures while nature hiking
• Attend a yoga class to make new friends.
• While using the treadmill, watch a favourite movie.
• While you’re exercising, stretching, or walking, talk to a friend.

The best cardio exercises for seniors

To make exercises more enjoyable, encourage your elder clients to work out with pals. Promotion of this type of cardiovascular activity can take place in a variety of settings, including group classes, group personal training, and outdoor activities. Consider including some of these cardiovascular moves in your clients’ regular workouts.

Walking

You can go quickly when walking outside or on a treadmill. One benefit of using a treadmill is the capacity to adjust the speed and incline for each user. Some elderly folks find the handrails on a treadmill to be helpful for their safety.

If clients need to stop abruptly or significantly slow down, the treadmill might not be the safest option. An alternative for more seasoned runners is jogging.

Swimming

Water aerobics is one of the most popular cardiovascular exercises for seniors. Injury risk is minimal with low-impact exercise. You may work all the body’s muscle groups and improve your heart health by swimming.

Swimming is not just a low-impact activity for the joints; there are several degrees of water aerobics. Basic swimming is the most widely practiced style, but you can also use water resistance training, stretches, and relaxation methods.

Biking

Seniors who desire to cycle have a variety of options. If they are able, seniors can ride a regular bike outside. For seniors who wish to benefit from cycling’s low-impact cardio workouts, recumbent bikes are frequently a safer option. They can use one in most gyms or maintain one at home. This removes the danger of older persons falling off a bicycle while attempting to maintain their balance.

Rowing

Not to mention, using a rower for aerobic exercise can work your entire body. It is a risk-free and effective form of exercise that helps seniors improve their cardiovascular capacity. A great way to do an aerobic workout quickly is to focus on all of the body’s muscles. It’s beneficial without being too demanding on the joints.

Want to learn more?

ConsidraCare’s live-in caregivers are trained to offer professional support to seniors with cardiovascular conditions. Please reach out to us at wecare@considracare.com or call us at 1-855-410-7971 to arrange care for a loved one.