Low-Impact Outdoor Exercises For Older Adults

Everybody should incorporate some activity into their routine, especially in their golden years. However, everyone has different limits when it comes to fitness. For those with higher limits, such as beginners or those physically unable to engage in strenuous activity, you can still achieve your health goals through low-impact outdoor exercises.

Let’s look at some outdoor exercises for older adults that leave you with enough energy for the rest of your day.

Walking

You may not be aware of it, but walking does contribute to a person’s fitness, meaning your regular grocery trips and strolls actually contribute to your health. Walking boasts multiple benefits, a few of them being:

• A healthier heart
• Stronger bones, muscles, and joints
• Higher quality sleep

Hence, walking is one of the most recommended forms of exercise, since most people do it every day. Due to this, walking is an easy form of exercise to start your fitness journey with. You can take ownership of your own walking sessions, such as the duration and distance you walk for. For those with greater stamina, you could try running as a challenge.

Tai Chi

Tai Chi is a Chinese martial arts practice that’s been gaining popularity among elderly Americans. Since it is used as a meditation technique, it’s usually performed as an outdoor activity to encourage a connection with nature. Not only is it healthy for your body, but it’s also healthy for your mind.

Tai Chi trains your flexibility and balance, which is vital for your safety in your mature years. A stronger sense of balance means you are less likely to suffer fall injuries, a leading cause of unintentional injury deaths.

Swimming

You may be surprised to see swimming listed here, but it is an unexpectedly low-burden activity that doesn’t stress out the body. Despite this, it comes with various benefits to your body.

Swimming improves the overall health of your heart, boosting your cardio health and endurance along with your blood circulation. Furthermore, it is also a fun activity that can also be paired with other water activities such as water aerobics and aqua pilates. It has similar effects to walking while burning more calories, making it a recommended form of low-impact outdoor exercise for those in need of losing weight.

Yoga

Exercising yoga outdoors is preferred due to the fewer distractions present, and being surrounded by fresh air. Yoga is a well-rounded form of exercise that protects both your physical and mental health, with multitudes of benefits to reap:

• A healthier heart
• Higher quality sleep
• Less severe arthritis symptoms
• Lower stress levels
• Alleviated aches and pains

Yoga is becoming increasingly beginner-friendly, with multitudes of classes, videos, and other resources to help you get started on your yoga journey. It’s never too late to start!

Exercise Together at Discovery Village At Sugarloaf

Here at Discovery Village At Sugarloaf, we take the health of our residents very seriously, which is why we’ve made our senior living community the perfect environment for outdoor exercises. If you’d like to learn more, do take a look at our senior living programs.