Staying active in older age is crucial for good mental and physical health. Exercising regularly can help prevent illness and injury, but it can be daunting, especially for people who live alone or separate from their families. Here are some practical tips to motivate older adults to exercise.
Start Slow
Keep your expectations in check when you encourage your loved one to increase their physical activity. They’ll need to start slow if they haven’t exercised in a long time. Walking one time around the block or doing a simple sit-to-stand movement five or six times at home may be enough to get them feeling more active.
Be Active Together
Research has shown that loneliness is detrimental to mental and physical health, so make it a point to be active with your loved one. If you live together or nearby, slot an early morning walk into your daily routine. You can also pick up your loved one before taking your children to the park or running errands.
If you can’t be together in person, remind your loved one they can call you on a walk. Connecting emotionally will help them feel more empowered to care for their health.
Use Their Favorite Tunes
Music is a very effective motivator to get up and moving. Help your loved one make a playlist of their favorite tunes from different eras and ensure they have the right technology for a pleasant listening experience. If your loved one is not good with gadgets, invest in a high-quality CD or cassette player and help them organize their collection.
Set Achievable Goals
Help your loved one feel positive about the changes they make in their exercise routine by showing them how to set achievable goals. If they love swimming but haven’t gone to the pool in some time, set a goal of visiting a facility once a week.
Adapt fitness goals to an appropriate level of physical strength for your loved one. Use positive language when speaking about these goals, and encourage your loved one to reward themselves for making an effort.
Encourage New Interests
Boredom can seriously impact your loved one’s motivation to exercise. Sometimes, it takes new experiences to spark interest in physical fitness. From laughing yoga to using fitness bands at home, there is a wide variety of alternative exercise programs to try with your loved one.
Use your resources and energy to find out what activities are available in your loved one’s local community, and listen to them when they speak about their interests. If they’ve always wanted to try ballroom dancing, remind them there is no age limit to trying new things.
Find a Community
If you can’t fulfill the needs of your loved one who is aging, find a community that will. Communities exist in various forms, from church groups to local senior centers and independent elderly living communities. Being active is easier when there are other people to share the experience with. Explore a new way to live fully within a like-minded community of active older adults by scheduling a visit to see one of our premier communities today.
