Dana Nitti, a San Diego Certified Personal Trainer, when asked about Senior Fitness, said, “I think that you’re never too old to workout. You’re never too old to exercise. You’re never too old to work on and improve your health.”
It is important as people age to work on their muscular strength because it reduces the risk of falling. It helps maintain their independence as they grow older. Working on muscular strength, joint stability and balance is important.
Even before you’re 65, start working on muscular strength because we start losing it as we age. There is no getting around it, we start losing strength, stability and balance as we age. If you start and continue to strengthen your muscles as you age, it’s only going to help.
• Balance exercises are probably the most important.
• Lifting small weights at high repetition and low weight and isolating the muscles is vital.
• Stretching is very important also.
Balance exercises can be as simple as standing on one leg. Start the balance exercise by standing on one foot for 30 seconds and working your way up. If you need to hold onto something, hold on with one hand and stand on one leg for 30 seconds. You will see a progression as your balance improves. You will eventually be able to stand for 30 seconds without using your hand. Then extend the time a little.
Doing things like walking heel to toe in a straight line helps with balance. Yes, that is the test you would be given in a DUI test. Just walking in a straight line helps with balance. Doing a sidestep also helps with balance.
As you age, using lightweight dumbbells has nothing to do with becoming a competitive body builder.
The importance is simply maintaining your muscle tone. It also helps with maintaining flexibility and range of motion.
Many people overlook stretching because they think it’s something that just runners do. Stretching also helps with maintaining flexibility and range of motion. Many people do it wrong. A lot of people stretch for five seconds when you really need to be holding the stretch for a good 30 seconds, resting and then repeating it.
Dana reminds us, “It just takes one fall or one slip. Proper exercise can help keep that from happening.”
You can see more about Dana by visiting the website: http://www.bodyinbalancebydana.com/.
Or by calling Dana at (858) 256-6414.