Did you know that according to aging.com, every eleven seconds, an older adult ends up in the emergency room due to a fall? More than three hundred thousand people are hospitalized each year from broken hips, and about 95% of the fractures are the result of a fall. The average cost of treating the fall is around $30,000. Several factors contribute to a fall, which includes impaired vision, slippery floors, uneven surfaces, etcetera, but research shows that physical strength and posture are among the leading causes of falls.
Our esteemed guest, Eric, is a personal trainer who shared his experience for improving the life of elderlies. He works with seniors to make them more active and to improve their functional movement, either individually or in group settings at various locations, including Michael Garron hospital, the badminton, and racquet club, Rivera senior living, and many more. Eric also holds certifications in Bone Fit, Older Adult Specialist, with Bachelors’s Degree in applied science and psychology from Carleton University.
According to Eric, it is not a good idea to concentrate on your health and exercise after you are retired and have much time in your hands. Working out should start from your 20’s or 30’s. With jobs and family, you might not find the motivation to work out often. Here are some pointers on how he motivates the older adults into exercising.
Don’t take it for Granted
People take their health for granted when they’re young, they’re energetic, they’re healthy, and that could probably be one of your biggest mistakes. What you do in your early years will reap benefits for your older years. You might not realize it right now, but you will thank yourself for being active in your younger days.
It doesn’t have to be extravagant
Working out doesn’t necessarily mean spending hours in the gym. You can jog for 30 minutes in the morning in a park nearby, or you can take long walks after your dinner. Anything works, but being active and keeping your bones and muscles toned is essential. Bones get fragile with age, so the harder you give them a workout, the healthier you will be.
Reaping it in your sixties and seventies
No one likes to be dependent in their older age, and you don’t want your family members hovering over them trying to help every time you get up from the bed or want to go out. You would want to do it all by yourself, to make your breakfast, to be able to drive your car to downtown. This can only be possible if you are active and healthy, and that again comes down to staying active and fit in your early years.
Take it from the seniors
If you talk to the seniors who are in their sixties and seventies, the first advice they’d give you is – do not take your health for granted, don’t while away your younger years by neglecting exercise. It will hurt you later when you realize that you should have gone for walks, you should have hit the gym in the evenings.
Even if you are in your forties or fifties, you can still start working out, start walking and jogging. Nothing can ever be more important than health, more important than your independence in your older years. Better late than never.