Most people tend to focus on one type of exercise or activity and think they’re doing enough. Research has shown that it’s important to get all four types of exercise: endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility. Each one has different benefits. Doing one kind also can improve your ability to do the others, and variety helps reduce boredom and the risk of injury. No matter your age, you can find activities that meet your fitness level and needs!

Endurance exercises for older adults

Endurance activities, often referred to as aerobics, increase your breathing and heart rates. These activities help keep you healthy, improve your fitness, and help you perform the tasks you need to do every day. Endurance exercises improve the health of your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. They also can delay or prevent many diseases that are common in older adults such as diabetes, colon and breast cancers, heart disease, and others.

Strength exercises for older adults

Your muscular strength can make a big difference. Strong muscles help you stay independent and make everyday activities feel easier, like getting up from a chair, climbing stairs, and carrying groceries. Keeping your muscles strong can help with your balance and prevent falls and fall-related injuries. You are less likely to fall when your leg and hip muscles are strong. Some people call using weight to improve your muscle strength “strength training” or “resistance training.”

Some people choose to use weights to help improve their strength. If you do, start by using light weights at first, then gradually add more. Other people use resistance bands, and stretchy elastic bands that come in varying strengths.

Balance exercises for older adults

Balance exercises help prevent falls, a common problem in older adults that can have serious consequences. Many lower-body strength exercises also will improve your balance.

Flexibility exercises for older adults

Stretching can improve your flexibility. Moving more freely will make it easier for you to reach down to tie your shoes or look over your shoulder when you back your car out of the driveway.

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This bone-strengthening class led by American Council on Exercise (ACE)-certified instructor Mitch Menik each Monday will guide you through dynamic standing, stretching and chair exercises, performed with or without weights, designed to mildly stress the body.

Such mild stress can spur an increase in bone density and help strengthen the muscles that support the skeletal structure. These movements also help increase overall flexibility and improve balance to help avoid falls. Gentle motions focused on breath work help oxygenate the blood. Please consult your physician before beginning any new exercise regimen.

How to Join

To attend this class, you must register each month, indicating which sessions you plan to attend. Please note that you must be signed in to your AARP.org account or create an account to register for events. AARP membership is not required. You will be emailed a link to join the class via Zoom prior to the event.

Explore other free online exercise classes. Contact AARP Oregon at oraarp@aarp.org for more information.

To explore local events hosted by AARP in your state, visit AARP Local.

Event Schedule

Monday, Jan 8

6:00 p.m.

Session 1

Monday, Jan 22

6:00 p.m.

Session 2

Monday, Jan 29

6:00 p.m.

Session 3

The post Fitness Class: Strengthen Your Bones appeared first on C-Medisolutions.

This bone-strengthening class led by American Council on Exercise (ACE)-certified instructor Mitch Menik each Monday will guide you through dynamic standing, stretching and chair exercises, performed with or without weights, designed to mildly stress the body.

Such mild stress can spur an increase in bone density and help strengthen the muscles that support the skeletal structure. These movements also help increase overall flexibility and improve balance to help avoid falls. Gentle motions focused on breath work help oxygenate the blood. Please consult your physician before beginning any new exercise regimen.

How to Join

To attend this class, you must register each month, indicating which sessions you plan to attend. Please note that you must be signed in to your AARP.org account or create an account to register for events. AARP membership is not required. You will be emailed a link to join the class via Zoom prior to the event.

Explore other free online exercise classes. Contact AARP Oregon at oraarp@aarp.org for more information.

To explore local events hosted by AARP in your state, visit AARP Local.

Event Schedule

Monday, Jan 8

6:00 p.m.

Session 1

Monday, Jan 22

6:00 p.m.

Session 2

Monday, Jan 29

6:00 p.m.

Session 3

The post Fitness Class: Strengthen Your Bones appeared first on C-Medisolutions.

Join this class by Zoom:

Meeting ID: 841 2285 1320

OR

Call in with a phone:

1-888-788-0099

Meeting ID: 841 2285 1320

The post Strength and Stability appeared first on C-Medisolutions.

This class is offered on Monday and Wednesday as part of our Team Senior Planet program.

Click or tap to join this class by Zoom:

Meeting ID: 170 361 931

OR

Call in with a phone:

1-646-558-8656

Meeting ID: 170 361 931

The post Fit Fusion Workout appeared first on C-Medisolutions.

Published by: www.aarp.org

Whether it’s a tennis swing that causes a sudden tearing sensation in your shoulder or a slip and fall on the ice that leaves you unable to lift your arm, shoulder injuries are a common problem for adults 50 and older, doctors say. That’s largely because of aging-related changes in this body part, sometimes coupled with decades of overuse from work and play.

On the plus side, shoulder specialists say there’s plenty you can do to reduce the risk of injury and maintain function so that you can keep on enjoying your favorite activities and doing everyday tasks.

Why older shoulders are more at risk

The structure most vulnerable to damage in older shoulders is the rotator cuff, a group of muscles and tendons that surround the joint and keep the head of the upper arm in the shoulder socket.

“Mostly, these are a combination of age-related degeneration, overuse, and macro trauma, where someone does something to their shoulder. It’s rare that it’s just an acute injury,” says Gerald R. Williams Jr., M.D., a shoulder specialist at the Philadelphia-based Rothman Orthopaedic Institute.

Fractures of the bones in the shoulder, often caused by falls, are the second-most common type of shoulder injury among 50-plus adults, according to Williams.

While tennis players and other athletes sometimes develop shoulder problems from overuse, a sedentary lifestyle is often the cause, according to Jamil Neme, M.D., an assistant professor at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and a sports medicine expert at SLUCare who specializes in the non-surgical treatment of injuries.

What you can do to keep your shoulders healthy

Although aging makes you more vulnerable to injury, it’s possible to reduce the risk of getting hurt with the right amount and type of exercise, especially if you also change some habits and pay more attention to how you do some activities, experts say. And as Neme explains, working to maintain healthy shoulders has benefits besides just injury prevention. By maintaining a good range of motion, you’ll be able to continue playing tennis or golf, or doing other activities you enjoy, for years to come.

Here are five expert tips for taking care of your shoulders.

1. Build up your shoulders.

Strengthening the muscles around your shoulder will help keep it stable and protect you from injury. But you don’t need elaborate gym equipment to do it. Williams is big on doing exercises with elastic bands, which provide a gradual, steady increase in resistance during a movement. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons offers this rotator cuff and shoulder conditioning program, which includes 18 exercises that target a range of different muscle groups crucial for shoulder health. The routine can be used either for recovering from an injury or maintaining shoulder health.

2. Work on flexibility.

Daily stretching can help maintain shoulder flexibility and a good range of motion, both of which provide some protection against injury, according to Williams. That’s why he and Neme recommend their patients practice yoga, which also improves strength and balance — both of which help prevent falls that can cause fractures.

3. Always warm up.

If you show up at the tennis court three minutes before you’re scheduled for a match, and just take off your jacket and start playing, you’re practically asking for shoulder trouble. “When you’re going to take part in activities, warm up first,” Williams says. A pre-activity routine might include some cardio work, such as jumping jacks, plus some of the stretching and rotator cuff exercises you do in your fitness workouts.

4. Practice moderation.

While exercise is good for your shoulders, overzealousness — especially coupled with poor technique — can increase your injury risk, Williams notes. For example, putting your shoulder in an extreme position and then loading it with resistance can subject your rotator cuff to a tremendous amount of force — possibly more than it can withstand. “Let’s say you’re doing a push-up,” he says. “It’s probably better not to take your chest all the way down to the floor, because your shoulders are significantly extended, and then you push your entire body weight up. You’d be better off stopping where your elbows are parallel with your body.”

And don’t push yourself to extremes with the weights, no matter what you see fitness buffs doing on YouTube. “To most people, what I would say is, just increase your intensity gradually,” Williams adds. Taking more time off between workouts for rest and building some easy days into your routine is also good for injury prevention.

5. Improve your ergonomics.

If you use a computer, how you sit at your desk can make a big difference. Repetitive activity — even something as seemingly harmless as using a computer mouse — can affect the shoulder. “You’d be better off having your computer table relatively high, so your shoulder is not extended all the time,” Williams says. Sitting up straight is also important since slumping in your chair can result in tight muscles and affect how your shoulders move, Neme says.

The post 5 Ways to Avoid Shoulder Injuries appeared first on C-Medisolutions.