Exercise benefits -
People start to see benefits at levels from physical activity even without meeting the recommendations for minutes a week of moderate physical activity. Additional amounts of physical activity seem to lower risk even more. Physical activity may help reduce the risk of serious outcomes from infectious diseases, including COVID, the flu, and pneumonia.
For example:. Being physically active lowers your risk for developing several common cancers. Adults who participate in greater amounts of physical activity have reduced risks of developing cancers of the:. If you are a cancer survivor, getting regular physical activity not only helps give you a better quality of life, but also improves your physical fitness.
Learn more about Physical Activity and Cancer. Muscle-strengthening activities like lifting weights can help you increase or maintain your muscle mass and strength.
This is important for older adults who experience reduced muscle mass and muscle strength with aging. Slowly increasing the amount of weight and number of repetitions you do as part of muscle strengthening activities will give you even more benefits, no matter your age. Everyday activities include climbing stairs, grocery shopping, or playing with your grandchildren.
Being unable to do everyday activities is called a functional limitation. Physically active middle-aged or older adults have a lower risk of functional limitations than people who are inactive. For older adults, doing a variety of physical activity improves physical function and decreases the risk of falls or injury from a fall.
Include physical activities such as aerobic, muscle strengthening, and balance training. Multicomponent physical activity can be done at home or in a community setting as part of a structured program. Hip fracture is a serious health condition that can result from a fall.
Physically active people have a lower risk of hip fracture than inactive people. An estimated , deaths per year could be prevented if US adults ages 40 and older increased their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity by a small amount. Even 10 minutes more a day would make a difference.
Taking more steps a day also helps lower the risk of premature death from all causes. For adults younger than 60, the risk of premature death leveled off at about 8, to 10, steps per day. For adults 60 and older, the risk of premature death leveled off at about 6, to 8, steps per day.
Regular physical activity can help people manage existing chronic conditions and disabilities. For example, regular physical activity can:. Active People, Healthy Nation SM is a CDC initiative to help people be more physically active. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to search.
Español Other Languages. Benefits of Physical Activity. Español Spanish. Minus Related Pages. On This Page. Immediate Benefits Some benefits of physical activity on brain health [PDF Weight Management. See more information about: Getting started with weight loss. Getting started with physical activity.
Improving your eating patterns. Top of Page. Afraid of Getting Hurt? Some Cancers Being physically active lowers your risk for developing several common cancers. Adults who participate in greater amounts of physical activity have reduced risks of developing cancers of the: Bladder Breast Colon proximal and distal Endometrium Esophagus adenocarcinoma Kidney Lung Stomach cardia and non-cardia adenocarcinoma If you are a cancer survivor, getting regular physical activity not only helps give you a better quality of life, but also improves your physical fitness.
Strengthen Your Bones and Muscles. How Much Physical Activity Do I Need? See physical activity recommendations for different groups, including: Children age Children and adolescents age Adults age Balance exercises call on the various systems that help you stay upright and oriented, such as those of the inner ear, vision and muscles and joints.
Tai chi and yoga are great forms of balance exercises that can help you avoid falls and stay independent well into your senior years. As a general rule, minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise is recommended as a weekly minimum.
A natural way of splitting up the minutes might be to do a minute session five times per week, or you can break it up and do two minute sessions during a single day. Adopt whatever schedule fits your lifestyle. For strength exercises, aim to work all your major muscle groups twice to three times each week, leaving 48 hours between each workout for recovery.
If you choose to split your workouts to target a specific muscle group e. If you have noticed problems with your balance, such as unsteadiness, dizziness, or vertigo, talk to a healthcare provider for recommendations about balance-specific exercises.
Get in three half-hour workouts each week in addition to a minute walk at least twice weekly. When stretching each muscle group, take it slow and steady, release, repeat again. But how much exercise is too much?
You should expect a little muscle soreness after workouts, especially in the beginning. But if you find that your body is simply not recovering between workouts, you may be overtraining. Remember that seniors need more recovery time than younger people.
The benefits of exercise on mental health are well documented. Another found that those with mild to moderate depression could get similar results to those obtained through antidepressants just by exercising for 90 minutes each week.
The key appears to be the release of brain chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine, which help lift mood and combat stress. But how does exercise lower blood pressure? But what exercise burns the most calories?
Generally, aerobic exercises cardio are great for expending calories and reducing fat. Whatever gets your heart rate up and gets your body moving—while having fun and staying motivated—is the exercise that will help you shed pounds. Everyone can and should do some form of exercise, even if they face severe limitations.
Experts have designed specific exercises for seniors that are low-impact, safe and able to be done even from a sitting position if necessary. For example, standing behind a chair, you can hold its back and lift one leg to about the height of the middle of the calf of the other leg while tightening your abdominal muscles.
As you progress, you might try holding the chair with just one hand and eventually letting go of the chair. Even core-strengthening exercises for seniors can be adapted to those with limited abilities. For example, a standard plank is done by holding yourself parallel to the floor with only your forearms and toes touching the mat.
An easier version allows you to also place your knees on the mat. But a still easier method is to do the plank while standing and leaning forward. You put your elbows and forearms on a desk, table or wall while resting on the balls of your feet and keeping your back straight. There are a variety of stretching exercises for seniors to suit people of different abilities.
If holding poses on your hands and knees is out of the question, you could try a full-body stretch in which you lie on your back, straighten your legs and extend your hands along the floor past your head.
Some stretches can be done while seated, such as overhead stretches and neck rotations. In fact, other types of exercise also can be done from a seated position. Other chair exercises for seniors include bicep curls with dumbbells or elastic bands , overhead dumbbell presses, shoulder blade squeezes, calf raises, sit-to-stands chair squats and knee extensions.
But if your main concern is how to improve cardiovascular health , then you should put a premium on cardiovascular exercises that force your heart and lungs to work harder, sending oxygen to your cells. While strength training certainly does have cardiovascular benefits, cardio workouts excel when it comes to reducing blood pressure, maintaining the health of the inner walls of your arteries, releasing enzymes that break down blood clots, and even promoting the growth of new arteries feeding the heart.
Regular aerobic exercise also significantly lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes. And since obesity is a significant risk for diabetes, exercises that help you shed fat—especially around your middle—will help you keep diabetes at bay.
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