(210) 521-6886 [email protected]

If you’re a senior, perhaps one of the best exercise  recommendations for you to take to heart is to make sure you’re incorporating resistance exercises to strengthen your muscles. This will help you maintain healthy bone mass and prevent age-related muscle loss. Strength training will also increase your muscle elasticity and strengthen your connective tissues, tendons, and ligaments, which, from a biomechanical perspective, helpweights hold your body in the  upright position. In short, strength training will allow you to perform everyday activities like climbing stairs and  getting out of a chair with greater ease, and with less risk of falling, and this freedom of movement can have a  considerable impact on your quality of life. Strength training also produces a number of beneficial changes at the molecular, enzymatic, hormonal, and chemical levels in your body, helping to slow down and even reverse many of the diseases caused by a sedentary lifestyle, including type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, and heart disease.

Knee extension exercises will help strengthen your knees, which will improve your balance and reduce your risk of falling. Strengthening your knees will also allow you to walk and climb stairs with greater ease and comfort.
-Sit on a chair with your back straight and knees bent
-Slowly extend your right leg out in front of you and hold for a few seconds before lowering it back to starting  position
-Repeat with your left leg
-Do 10 repetitions on each leg For a more advanced version, strap an ankle weight around each ankle.
Aim for a weight that is heavy enough to where you cannot do more than 15 repetitions per leg. As you get stronger, you can add more weight to keep it challenging.

Sit-backs will strengthen your core muscles, which will  allow you greater mobility for everyday tasks such as  getting out of bed or rising from a chair. This exercise will be done on the floor. You may want to use a yoga mat if you don’t have a rug.
-Begin sitting on the floor with knees bent and your arms crossed in front of your chest, as if you’re giving yourself a hug
-Slowly sit back as far as is comfortable (this doesn’t have to be a very big movement). The key is to remember to engage your core, and avoid rounding your back. It can be helpful to have someone sitting by your feet, to prevent your feet from lifting off the floor. Return to the starting position -Repeat 10 times

By strengthening your shoulders, you will improve your ability to perform most other arm movements, whether it’s to pass a bowl of food across the table, or lift a suitcase. It can also help relieve shoulder pain. To perform an overhead dumbbell press:
-Sit with good posture; one dumbbell in each hand, with your elbows bent so the dumbbells are up by your  shoulders, palms facing forward
-From this starting position, press the dumbbells toward the ceiling and then lower back down to shoulder height.
-Breathe out as you raise the weights, and in as you lower them
-Repeat 10 to 12 times

Remember, you are never too old to start exercising, and strength training in particular only becomes more  important with age. Many of life’s limitations we place on ourselves, and we can lift those limitations at any time. You can gain significant improvements in strength, range of  motion, balance, bone density, and mental clarity, even if you get a late start. Ask our doctors about appropriate exercises for your condition.

Original Article from Mercola.com