In a column in the April 2015 edition of Today’s Geriatric Medicine, Rosemary Laird writes about the importance of exercise for older adults, and the benefits of specific types of activities.
The bottom line in her column, titled “Move It or Lose It”: Walking is as important as all of the other exercises combined.
Laird, a member of the College of Medicine’s Orlando Regional Campus clerkship faculty, writes that there’s never been so much evidence of the benefits of regular physical activity for older adults. She offers many examples, such as the following:
- It reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease.
- It improves chronic illness such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol.
- It improves the ability to function and stay independent in the face of caregiving challenges.
- It improves nighttime sleep patterns.
“Research has clearly shown,” she writes, “that you can improve your level of physical fitness well into your 90s. Regular exercise is one of the most important ways to reduce fall risk because it builds strength and helps you feel better, both physically and mentally. Thirty minutes per day on at least five days per week of moderate exercise (moderate means you can have a conversation while doing the exercise) is ideal.”
The six exercises she calls best bets for older adults are walking, swimming, tai chi/yoga, weights, chair exercises and treadmills or other equipment. She calculated their impact on endurance, strength, balance and flexibility. Walking and swimming, she says, benefit all four of those areas.
Laird is a geriatrician, medical director of the Health First Aging Institute in Merritt Island, and past president of the Florida Geriatrics Society. She is a co-author of “Take Your Oxygen First: Protecting Your Health and Happiness While Caring for a Loved One With Memory Loss.”
