weight lifting for seniors
Weightlifting for Seniors
Weightlifting for seniors can promote a sense of energy, vigor, and well-being in our senior citizens, thereby providing them with a better outlook on life.
- Build up the heart and lung capacity with aerobic exercises, to prepare the body before workouts.
- Start with some stretching exercises to get the body accustomed to the many motions and positions involved with weight training.
- Working out in a gym with other people is encouraged, as occasional help from a fellow trainee is also available along with the guidance from the professionals.
- Warm up by practicing to lift without the weights, before starting the actual lifting of weights.
- Take the help of an experienced instructor to work out, and get a program chart made, according to the individual body needs.
- Make sure that the chart focuses attention on all the different body parts.
- Work on all the different body muscles, which include arms, abs, back, shoulders, legs, and chest.
- Correct the possible unforeseen mistakes, while warming up.
- Perform these exercises in sets, each containing at least 10-15 repetitions.
- Control your strength and repeat the exercise 15 times each. Make sure that you take enough rest during the sets.
- Start with light weights, and then progress to heavier ones gradually, as it takes time for the body to adjust.
- Increase the weight only when you are completely sure.
- Always consult a doctor, in case of any pain arising out of the sessions, as body parts are susceptible to injury if a workout is not performed in the correct manner.
- Use supplementary foods, like proteins, carbohydrates, etc., for extra calories needed.
- Have patience, as it will take some time before you notice any change.
- Bones: It helps in keeping bones strong and also prevents osteoporosis, which is a sickness that sometimes comes with the onset of age.
- Muscle: It helps in stopping the declining muscle strength, and also decreases the fat tissue that gets accumulated in the body.
- Heart: It helps in strengthening the heart, by controlling the body composition.
- Back: It helps in increasing the flexibility and reducing the pain caused by the back muscles, thereby strengthening the back and eliminating back pain.
- Balance: It helps in better balancing of the body, and reduces the number of falls that come with age, due to weakened motor functions.
- Arthritis: It helps in decreasing the pain, caused by knees affected with arthritis.
- Diabetes: It helps in controlling the blood sugar levels, leading to a controlled state of diabetes.
- Metabolism: It helps the body metabolism, by burning more calories.
- Physique: It helps in toning the body structures, resulting in a good physique.