Senior fitness - four things you need to keep in mind

It’s a proven fact that seniors benefit from regular exercise and need it as much as all the younger age groups. Probably given the deteriorating health and simple old age, for them it’s even more important than others.

Senior fitness (in Finnish: senioriliikunta) doesn’t have to be dreadful or arduous chore, all the senior citizens need to remember is four basic pillars to maintain their physical and mental health – yes, it encompasses both as the physical well-being is deeply linked to mental fitness and happiness.

So, what are the four pillars? They are Strength training, Cardiovascular training, Balance training and Flexibility training.

The first one, strength training builds muscles by repetitive motion using weights or external resistance and it prevents you from losing bone mass as well as improves balance. These are important when they want to stay active and prevent the risk of falling. Strength training’s aim is not to get great muscular body but to make everyday activities easier, opening a jar or getting out of car for example.

Next up is cardiovascular training, which is done by using large muscle groups in repeated motion over a longer period of time. The point of these exercises is to increase your body’s ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissues and get your heart pumping. This way you get endurance for climbing up the stairs, cleaning the house or just walking the shop.

Two last pillars senior sports are balance and flexibility training. Balance is important to avoid to nasty falls, which for elders can be very risky. Along with the before mentioned exercises it’s necessary to maintain your posture and walk and move in a balanced way. Better balance means better quality in walking and also confidence with balance.

Flexibility exercises challenge the joint’s ability to move which can be done through stationary stretching or by ballistic stretching which means moving and bouncing. The importance of these exercises is to help your body stay limber and increase your range of movement when reaching, bending or playing with children.