There are numerous exercises that your elderly loved one can do to improve their spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical health. Many people think that walking or running are the best exercises. While these exercises are greatly beneficial, swimming is an exercise that often gets overlooked. There are many swimming health benefits for senior citizens. Keep reading here to find out what these benefits are, so you and home care providers can encourage your loved one to swim more often.
Improving Heart Health
One of the best benefits of swimming for senior citizens is that it improves their heart health. Swimming helps the heart in the following ways:
- Makes the heart stronger
- Improves overall cardiovascular health
- Improves endurance
- Reduces high blood pressure
If your elderly loved one is currently experiencing heart health issues, swimming could help to improve heart strength, which could in turn reduce the side effects of some heart conditions. If they don’t have any heart health issues, swimming could help to prevent them from happening.
Easy on Their Joints
Another way that swimming is beneficial for the elderly is that it is easy on their joints. Many elderly people struggle with pain in their joints. Your elderly loved one might have pain in their wrists, knees, or elbows. Swimming is an exercise that isn’t weight-bearing. This means it doesn’t put pressure onto the joints. If your elderly loved one is already in pain, this would be a great exercise to help reduce the pain without making them even more uncomfortable.
Improving Core Muscle Strength
Swimming can help your elderly loved one to improve their core muscle strength, as well. When someone swims regularly, it helps to tighten their core muscles. A stronger core is needed to help people keep their balance. Since there are so many elderly people who have balance issues, this is the perfect solution to help them improve their balance. Better balance equals a lower chance of falling, as well.
Conclusion
These are just some of the many different swimming health benefits for senior citizens. If you are taking care of your elderly loved one, you should take them to a community center to swim often. YMCA’s and other fitness centers often offer swimming classes specifically for seniors, geared toward their physical abilities. A home care provider can offer transportation to and from swimming classes and ensure your senior gets in and out of their home safely to attend.
Sources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3762608/
