【Learning Points】
- Correlation with the physical strength of the upper and lower limbs, cardiopulmonary function, agility, flexibility, aging level, and cognitive function correction in older people.
- When an old man swims, he chooses a warm water pool, warms his body, and keeps his body warm.
- Chronic diseases that affect elderly people who are immobile, often suffer from aphasia, incompetence, and incapacitation problems, as well as an increase in the population.
I. What are the risks of not exercise for elderly?
Muscle strength, cardiorespiratory function, agility and flexibility in the upper and lower limbs of elderly are positively correlated with the degree of ageing and cognitive function. In addition, lack of exercise lead to disability and chronic diseases, dementia, and finally increase the risk of falls.
II. What are the benefits of exercise for elderly?
Through health promotion, elderly can improve their physical and mental health, slow down ageing, increase their physical capacity, prevent falls and frailty, assist in the care of dementia and disability, and significantly reduce the risk of illness and death among the elderly, thereby reducing the cost of medical treatment and avoiding the use of drugs.
III. Exercise for Life- One more minute of exercise, two more minutes of life!
- Easy walk daily:
Encourage yourself to go shopping every day for 5 minutes, walk back and forth from a toileting about 2-minute and walk for 1 minute to drink water.
- Walking after meals and not watching TV:
Walk for 30 minutes after meals and exercise for 30 minutes each time, 2-3 times a week.
- Use television commercial time to exercise:
A. Eye exercise: the eyes rotate up and down, side to side.
B. Neck exercise:
(a) Head forward, back, left, right stretch action.
(b) Back of the neck stretch exercise: place your hands behind your head, back straight, chin tucked in, hands pressing your head downwards.
C. Torso exercise: hula hoop exercise.
D. Upper limb muscle movement: elbow to lifted weights (a bottle filled with water).
E. Enhance the leg muscle strength movement, as shown below:
(a) Single leg back raise exercise
(b) Sitting leg lifts exercise
(c) Standing heel lifting exercise
(d) Up and down exercise with both feet
- Swimming:
Choose a heated swimming pool and warm up well to prevent cramps; about 30 minutes of exercise is best.
- Enjoy sports, participate in free sports groups:Such as: Yuan-ji dance, Wai Dan Kung, Tai Chi fist , Rhythm dance, Ballroom dancing.
IV. Exercise tips for elderly:
- Set the frequency and duration of exercise: half an hour, three times a week; you can build up to at least 10 minutes each time throughout the day.
- Choose moderately-intense level exercises: keep increasing the intensity and time of exercises depends on personal tolerance, do a little tired but not too tired, such as brisk walking, cleaning, swimming, dancing and cycling.
- Should wear socks and shoes, to avoid foot injury.
- Friends and family continue to remind the elderly activities or to find sports companions, it help for stay motivated and keep yourself moving.
V. Conclusion:
By maintaining good exercise habits, elderly can not only improve their muscular endurance and poor balance, but also boost their self-confidence, reduce the inconvenience caused by their disability, significantly improve their quality of life without feeling that they are gradually ageing, and feel relaxed and happy, thus reducing stress and enjoying a healthy and happy life.
VI. Reference:
- 吳佩穎、蘇勁吉、李旻璋、凌萱(2019)•居家運動預防老年人跌倒成效之回顧•北市醫學雜誌,16(4),291-304。https://doi.org/10.6200/TCMJ.201912_16(4).0002
- 吳培文、柯澐蓁、何清幼、余文瑞(2020)•老年人預防跌倒的運動處方•北市醫學雜誌,17(1), 20-30。https://doi.org/10.6200/TCMJ.202003_ 17(1).0003
- 陳坤輝(2021)•有氧健康活力操運動介入社區關懷據點對高齡者功能性體適能之效益•休閒運動管理學刊,7(1),25-38。https://doi.org/10.6687/ JSDS.2017.20.1
- 蘇蕙芬、余翌琟(2021)•多元性運動對社區高齡者認知功能之影響•成大體育學刊,53(1), 50-70。https://doi.org/ 10.6406/JNCKUPER.202104_53(1).0003