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Healthy Ageing: Exercising Regularly and 5 Other Tips To Protect Muscles, Bones And Joints As You Age

Healthy Ageing: Exercising Regularly and 5 Other Tips To Protect Muscles, Bones And Joints As You Age
Healthy Ageing: Exercising Regularly and 5 Other Tips To Protect Muscles, Bone And Joints As You Age

TheHealthSite.com spoke to Dr. Charmi Shah, Senior Occupational Therapist, Masina Hospital, to discuss healthy ageing and tips to keep the body fit as we age. Here's what the doctor wants you to do.

Written by Satata Karmakar |Updated : September 27, 2021 12:26 PM IST

While advancement in medicine has added years to life, it is now the time to add life to those years. With increased life expectancy, we need to emphasize the quality of life lived in the later years, with or without any associated medical condition. The quality of life is affected by the ability to engage and participate in meaningful day-to-day tasks or roles, be it self-care, social, leisure, or work-related. Health in old age is a complex endeavor. It is a result of complex challenges impacted by the body and brain. TheHealthSite.com spoke to Dr. Charmi Shah, Senior Occupational Therapist, Masina Hospital, to discuss healthy ageing and tips to keep the body fit as we age. Here's what the doctor wants you to do.

Tips For Healthy Aging

Ageing involves changes in the physical, mental, social, and emotional realms of life. Several chronic conditions like diabetes, dementia (memory loss), depression, arthritis, and low vision are present in old age. Many seniors also suffer from frequent urinary tract infections and falls that lead to decreased functional ability. According to a WHO report, insufficient physical activity is the prime risk factor. Other factors include lack of social engagement or isolation risking mental health. These factors together result in a host of other complications, further compromising the physical-cognitive health and overall quality of life. Taking proactive steps towards healthy ageing and combating to slow down the progress of the deleterious challenges is the key to living life to the fullest.

Stay Active

Get up and move, albeit at your own pace. Continue to participate in social situations and engage in telephonic if not in-person conversations tocombat the challenges faced by isolation. Engage yourself in meaningful day-to-day as well as leisure tasks and try to complete them as independently as possible. If limitations in the same are present, use adaptive or compensatory strategies as suggested by therapists.

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Keep Your Body Fit- Exercise Daily

You don't necessarily have to hit a gym or enroll yourself in a yoga class to stay fit. Walking outdoors for 30 minutes every day is one of the best exercises for the body. Remember to perform some simple warm-up exercises before walking. Warm-up exercises lubricate the joints and prepare them for movement. These can be done in sitting or while lying down. They include ankle, knee, hip, wrist, elbow, shoulder, and neck movements. If walking outdoors is not an option, try walking/marching on the spot and grade it gradually according to your current functional ability. Also, perform some form of balance exercises daily to prevent falls and further injuries associated with them. It can be standing on one leg alternately and balancing for a minimum of 10 counts and walking on a straight line with feet place one in front of the other. If you fear falling while doing so, make sure you hold onto an item of furniture or have someone to support you just in case. Additionally, perform some weight-bearing exercises such as wall push-ups or chair sit-ups to keep your bones strong. Remember to consult an expert therapist if you have any associated heart condition or limiting factors that affect your ability to do the exercises.

Take Care of Your Brain- Perform Mental Workouts

While most of us do exercise our bodies, only a few truly exercise our brains. The ways to do so are endless. I am listing a few fun ways to begin. Count backward from a hundred while walking or perform mental calculations. Music activates many cells in the brain, so listen to some music/song/bhajan and try to recall the lyrics/words or anticipate its tune in mind. Play scrabble or other word games.

Relax And Rest

We all know the significance of an active lifestyle. However, relaxing your mind and resting your body are equally important. Perform some deep breathing exercises daily to relax. Take adequate rest, follow a good sleep routine, and have a rejuvenating sleep.

Modify Your Lifestyle

Incorporate some healthy dietary changes. Some seniors deliberately drink less water to avoid frequent toilet visits or escape otherwise embarrassing situations due to leaks. However, against this myth, drinking sufficient water (only if otherwise not contraindicated) will reduce the likelihood of urinary tract infections and aid in hydration. Limit the salt and sugar intake as well as quit smoking and drinking alcohol. Their use will only fasten the process of functional decline from both physical and mental aspects.