Lots of older adults honestly believe that they can’t exercise. These are just a few of the reasons you might hear.
She Has Joint Pain
Joint pain is a big reason that many people don’t feel like they can exercise. It can hurt to move and definitely hurts to have pressure applied to joints by lifting or moving weighted items. Even resistance can be painful. That’s something that exercise can actually help, though, believe it or not. Regular movement can decrease the joint pain your senior experiences.
She’s Had Surgeries
Surgery, especially multiple surgeries, can create side effects for a long time afterward. Your elderly family member might be hung up on the idea that she’s had surgery, which can cause her to feel as if exercise is just something she’ll never be cleared to do. Make sure that you talk to her doctor before starting an exercise program, just to be sure.
She’s Never Exercised
Lots of people have never exercised a day in their lives. None of that is bad, but it could be holding your senior back now. She doesn’t have to have any formal experience with exercise to benefit from it now. The beauty of getting started now is that your senior has no pressure on her. She doesn’t have to do anything other than move her body a little bit. And even that is within whatever tolerances she’s got from her doctor.
She’s Always in Pain
Constant pain is a very real thing. It’s something that your senior might be dealing with for a variety of reasons and it can cause her to feel as if she’s not going to be able to move her body at all. Exercising should not be about causing more pain for your elderly family member. But moving her body more often can help her to deal with her pain more effectively.
Her Strength Is Fading
Your senior may be losing a lot of her strength as she grows older. Exercise can help her to retain and even rebuild some of that strength, but she might feel as if she’s not strong enough now to exercise at all. That’s not the case. Your senior can start exercising at absolutely any strength level without having to worry about what that starting point is.
One of the other aspects of your senior’s life that might keep her from exercising is that she just doesn’t have the energy. Working with senior care providers can help your elderly family member to conserve the energy she has, so she can spend that moving more.
If you or an aging loved one is considering senior care in Lockwood, MT, please contact the caring staff at SYNERGY HomeCare Billings today at 406-839-2390.
