Xu Bin
Chief Physician
Orthopaedic Surgery, Eastern Theater General Hospital, Triple A
Elderly people should exercise reasonably according to their physiological characteristics, physical fitness, and psychological state.
Elderly people can strengthen their bodies and prolong their lives through moderate exercise, but they should be effectively guided by the science and rationality of exercise. In terms of physiological characteristics, the human body begins to degenerate from the stage of old age and the function of organs in each system.
Generally speaking, muscle degeneration begins at about 45 years of age, especially in the explosive force, endurance, the proportion of decline is higher, which has a close relationship with the elderly group, their own situation. Skeletal degeneration generally in women menopause, men around 55 years of age, so the elderly should not be strenuous exercise, should be based on their own psychophysiological characteristics, choose the appropriate mode of exercise.
Because of the deterioration of the muscles and bones of the elderly, prolonged strenuous exercise has a greater impact on their joints, especially the knee and shoulder joints, which are prone to injury during exercise. Therefore, it is recommended that elderly people exercise about 3 to 5 times a week, each time the exercise time is best within one hour, do not cause excessive fatigue of the body.
Recommended choice of jogging, swimming, cycling, square dancing, tai chi, softball and other sports that do not require a high level of bone and muscle. The elderly body functions have different degrees of degradation, for the elderly, the best exercise is a lower intensity aerobic exercise, such as walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, playing tai chi, dancing, jumping rope and so on. You should consult a medical professional about the specific type and intensity of exercise.
After a person's body reaches a certain "optimal" peak, it will gradually deteriorate, and in the case of the elderly, there may be cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and a variety of other diseases of old age.
The advantages of aerobic exercise include the participation of oxygen in energy supply, the participation of the main muscle groups of the whole body, and the improvement of heart and lung function. Through regular aerobic exercise, muscle contraction for a long time, cardiopulmonary oxygen supply capacity increased, and then improve cardiopulmonary endurance.
For example, swimming is not easy to damage muscles and joints, and can effectively protect the knee joints; jogging can improve the quality of sleep, so that the quiet heart rate slows down, the elasticity of the blood vessel wall increases, and relieve tension and anxiety. The jogging can improve the quality of sleep, slow down the quiet heart rate and increase the elasticity of the blood vessel wall, relieve tension and anxiety.
But any exercise should be moderate and moderate. The large amount of fitness exercise may have the body skeletal muscle movement system, cardiopulmonary system damage. Suitable physical exercise for the elderly are walking, cycling, swimming, playing tai chi, square dancing and so on.
1. Half an hour after meals, moderate exercise, such as slow walking, can promote gastrointestinal tract peristalsis, help food digestion and absorption, and the prevention of constipation.
2. If you are physically able to do so, you can ride a bicycle. Riding a bicycle on the leg muscles and joints, can play a role in exercise, can prevent arthritis, limb stiffness.
3. The elderly can swim, swimming can make the muscles more developed, but also can help reduce abdominal fat, enhance cardiorespiratory function.
4. Long-term adherence to exercise tai chi can improve the body's internal circulation, but also can alleviate some of the chronic diseases of the elderly, and help the health of the cardiovascular system.
5. Elderly people who like square dancing and often perform square dancing exercises have the effect of enhancing memory and improving body coordination, which is beneficial to physical and mental health. There are many sports suitable for the elderly, convenient and easy to learn are walking, playing tai chi, playing table tennis, square dancing and so on.
1. Walking: Walking is not a strenuous exercise, which is more suitable for the elderly, and the process of walking can consume energy, exercise cardiorespiratory fitness, activate joints, and enhance physical fitness.
2. Playing taijiquan: taijiquan is soft, slow, clear, rigid and flexible, without strenuous movements, which is more suitable for the elderly.
3. Playing table tennis: playing table tennis is not a large movement, can exercise the elderly hand-eye coordination, but also exercise the brain's ability to react, is also more suitable for the elderly.
4. Square dancing: square dancing can exercise the coordination of the body of the elderly, the music can also make people in a good mood, is also more suitable for the elderly movement.
There are a lot of sports for the elderly, mainly in the form of soothing movements and low intensity. The elderly should not exercise too aggressively and should seek medical attention if they experience discomfort during exercise. Lack of physical activity is a global health problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 31% of adults worldwide are physically inactive and about 3.2 million deaths per year are related to physical inactivity. For older adults, physical activity can help prevent falls and fall-related injuries as well as declines in bone health and functional capacity.
When it comes to physical activity, people may think more in terms of sports and exercise. But in fact, physical activity includes not only exercise but also other activities that involve body movements, such as work, travel, household chores, and recreation, etc. The WHO recommends the following for older adults: All older adults should be physically active on a regular basis; older adults should perform at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity; or at least 75-150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity; or an equivalent amount of aerobic activity; or an equivalent amount of physical activity, such as exercise. Aerobic activity; or an equal amount of a combination of moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity activity can have significant health benefits. Older adults can also increase their weekly moderate-intensity aerobic activity to 300 minutes or more; or at least 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity; or an equal amount of a combination of moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity activity for additional health benefits. During weekly physical activity, older adults should engage in varied physical activity that focuses on moderate- or higher-intensity balance and strength training to enhance mobility and prevent falls. When it comes to physical activity, the exercise aspect of sports comes more to mind. But in reality, physical activity includes not only exercise, but also other activities that involve body movements, such as work, travel, household chores and recreation.
The WHO has given the following recommendations for physical activity in the elderly: all elderly people should be physically active on a regular basis; they should do at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week; or at least 75-150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity.
Older adults can also increase their weekly moderate-intensity aerobic activity to more than 300 minutes; or perform more than 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity; or equal amounts of a combination of moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity activities for additional health benefits. During weekly physical activity, older adults should engage in varied physical activity that focuses on moderate- or higher-intensity balance and strength training to enhance mobility and prevent falls.