The Best Exercise Machines For Seniors To Stay Fit And Ageless
These are the best exercise machines, perfect for seniors with arthritis, joint pain, knee problems, and body posture issues.
Our seniors are our pride. They have dedicated their whole lives for family and services to our country and deserve to live a life of fitness.
Despite age, many seniors become involved in fitness routines to remain healthy and feel youthful. For them, age is indeed just a number.
Surely, with the increased age, the human body weakens, but senior citizens do not need to travel distances to the gym and workout.
They can choose exercise machines and other fitness equipment for use in their own homes. This allows seniors to exercise comfortably and however, they want without risking injuries or going anywhere.
Seniors should consult their medical advisors and physiotherapists if they can use exercise machines for home use or not, before buying anything.
Those who are used to exercising from a young age tend to age slower and have fitter bodies, so it is always best to continue the regular exercise. Regular exercise has many health benefits.
The Best Exercise Machines For Seniors
Here are the best exercise machines for elderly people that they can use without hesitation:
1. Rowing Machines Used To Build Endurance
Indoor rowing machines are perfect senior exercise equipment because the exercise impact levels are lower. This is good for an aging body that cannot handle too much stress.
There have been studies that suggested that the use of rowing machines improved bone health and physical stamina.
All muscles in the back, shoulder, arms, legs and abdominal muscles are slowly used.
The rowing pulls away resistance from the body, putting the shoulder blades and elbows under stress. As your stamina and strength increases so will your ability to work against resistance.
There are rowing machines with ergonomic features that allow seniors to use them while sitting or standing. This is great news for people with pain problems and physical disabilities.
2. Recumbent Bikes Used For Cardio Exercise
Recumbent bikes, stationary styles are available for seniors. It comes with a seat on which a person can sit and use feet for cycling.
Recumbent bikes are perfect for seniors especially with back problems and knee pain. This is because the riding position is very comfortable.
The machine comes with lumbar support and ergonomic handle gear.
Recumbent bikes can be beneficial for elderly people with arthritis issues. It would allow them to get a low impact exercise without stressing on any bones.
These bikes are also easier to get out of and get in to.
3. Elliptical Trainers And Workouts
Elliptical trainers could work incredibly well for seniors.
The elliptical machine has armrests where a senior person can keep his arms while working out, which ensures greater stability.
The footpads are moved in an elliptical position while the back, hips, shoulders, head, and knees are kept straight. So for this machine, body posture is extremely important.
It might seem stressful, but it definitely has a much lower impact than most cardio routines.
You can adjust to different levels if you want to. It will work wonders on your upper and lower body.
While exercising, do not lean towards the handrails which are used to move with the footpads in a synchronizing manner.
4. Indoor Workouts With Treadmill
You’ll often see seniors doing morning workouts outdoors or jogging around in residential parks. Some even do yoga and do laughing exercises.
Seniors lived a long life and do know how important it is to remain fit and healthy.
Sometimes, however, it might seem a little too much to go outside under the sun and do some running.
For seniors who have difficulty going out for running, walking or jogging, they can simply use a treadmill at home. This way they would not have to face harsh weather conditions or travel distances and feel tired before working out.
A treadmill is one of the best exercise machines for cardio routines and weight loss. The handrails are there for support and easy grip.
You can set your treadmill to any setting you want to. So if you want to run a marathon you can set the speed to marathon level; if you want to do the equivalent exercise of climbing a mountain you can set the difficulty level to ‘mountain’. It’s that simple! You can get any workout on this beast!
Also, if you need something more challenging, try a treadclimber. This is similar to a treadmill, but with moving pedals for a low impact and easy home use, according to Jonsguide.
5. Hand Gripper For Strength
Seniors often have difficulty getting a grip on something, picking up objects or holding on to supports. With increasing age, the arms and hand muscles become weaker.
If you want to make sure that your hands are not losing their strengths, you should get yourself a hand gripper.
There are hand grippers that come with varying levels of resistance, so practicing with those will give your exercise greater flexibility.
6. Fitness Stability Ball To Balance Strength
Sitting on bouncy stability balls is amazingly fun and it also turns out to be a major way of exercise. That’s why seniors absolutely adore using it.
Exercising using stability balls will help any senior to identify the core of the human body and allow proper balance.
These exercises help to maintain the balance of your body movement.
7. Adjustable Weight Benches
I know how hard it could be for seniors to lift weights and do regular fitness workouts with dumbbells, but there is a way in which seniors can use weights without stressing their bodies too much.
Any senior above the age of 50 can do a total-body-workout with the seven dumbbell exercises. It is also great for beginners.
It involves the use of major muscles in the body, especially the hands, but the workout intensity, sets and repetitions depend on the body type and actual age of the person.
So before using weight benches, you should talk to your fitness trainer and physiologist.
No Pain, No Gain!
There is other specialized fitness exercise equipment for the elderly that have very special purposes.
A lat pull-down machine, otherwise called a seated row is easily used in a sitting position. While seated a bar is pulled down in front of the body.
There is also a smaller version of cycling exercise bike which you can use if you have pain in your body. Pedaling this cycle would allow increased blood flow to the lower body muscles.
Much smaller equipment, such as resistance bands can be used for stretching. You will not have to worry about injuring yourself.
You can also use ab machines if you want to be one step ahead in your fitness regime. However, it is best to not use ab machines unless you can handle hard workouts.
Again, despite these best exercise machines being easy to use, it is still advisable to talk to your fitness trainer and medical advisor.
Do not push yourself beyond limits because it can deteriorate your health and increase your chances of muscle injuries.
If you feel dizzy or sharp levels of pain while doing these exercises, consider medical attention immediately.
Fitness is extremely important for a healthy body as well as the mind, but we often forget to think about it.
We take our body for granted and continue through life without giving it the proper attention it deserves. By the time we reach a certain age, we realize what we have missed.
Fitness and health go hand in hand and we take these issues lightly.
Fortunately, with the advancements in technology, there are certain exercise equipment and accessories that can be used by seniors.
The above exercise machines are perfect for seniors with arthritis, joint pain, knee problems, and body posture issues.
Seniors have weaker bodies, so they must be careful to avoid injuries. They should also bear in mind that the sets and repetitions of each workout should not be too much, as it would strain the body.
Last but not least, they should enjoy these exercises and feel like their youthful selves again.
