Why Exercise And Healthy Lifestyle Is Essential For Senior Citizens, Pregnant Women And Women With Postpartum Phase

Introduction:

Let’s start with senior citizens, there are various kinds of physical activities/exercises which can keep them fit and healthy, helping them improve the quality of their lives by incorporating simple exercises which can be done anywhere keeping in mind their medical condition.  Leading a healthy lifestyle would also make them more independent physically and will give them the freedom to enjoy their retirement; they can go out for weekend trips with their children, grandchildren, lead a disease-free life and this would add years to their age.

Next, I would like to discuss about pregnant women. There are exercises to improve their overall lifestyle throughout their pregnancy phase and some movement-based exercises which would ease the delivery process so that even after the delivery they can lead a stress-free life.

Lastly, I would discuss about women in the postpartum phase, in this phase they go through lot of hormonal changes which leads to mood swings, irritability, weak muscles, and joints. To curb these I have researched on various kind of exercises with their variations which can help the women enjoy a pain free life post delivery and spend quality time with their newborn baby.  These exercises would also make their day to day activities effortless, things like carrying the baby, bending movements or things like keeping the posture straight.

Senior Citizens – Findings, Background, Methods And Discussion

More than the younger lot, people who belong to the senior citizen category need to exercise the most to be physically independent and enjoy life to the fullest.

You may also like: 3 Exercises For Pecs, Triceps and Shoulders!

Senior citizens live their entire life for others, like their children, wife, grandchildren, then friends, neighbour, which goes on approximately till they attain the age of 60 or more and when the time comes to look after them, most of the younger generation back off and they hardly take care of them, at this stage for some of the elderly even going to the toilet becomes a struggle.  This is the time which is crucial for the senior citizens to be physically active so that they remain independent.

At this stage they don’t have to worry about finances as most of them are well settled and have enough money to take care of themselves at least financially, but real challenge is faced when they have to be dependent on their children physically. So if they put some effort and include exercises in their day to day lives for ex including more of functional exercises like assisted bodyweight squats, assisted push ups, light to moderate strength training exercises and along with it also maintaining a healthy diet comprising of a well-balanced meal, this would also help them to keep their body weight normal hence this would definitely put less stress on their weight bearing joints.  By following this regime, they can live their life zestfully with more enthusiasm and enjoy every small event, this would also help them to be a part of every celebration of their near and dear ones.

Strength training is very beneficial at this stage as this is the best form of exercise to maintain muscles. An increase in the muscle fibres will also keep them away from a condition called sarcopenia.  These forms of exercise would also enable them to play any sport they would like or for any other physical activity. It is obvious that most of them would be new to exercises and are not sure how to perform them, best option for them would be to hire a fitness coach and get guidance from him or her as hiring a personal fitness coach financially would no longer be a challenge for them, moreover they will have all the free time to invest.  Keeping a check on their dietary habits is also very beneficial as this can lead to several age related medical conditions like diabetes, thyroid malfunction, kidney diseases, and osteoporosis especially with women of this age.

Let’s talk about osteoporosis, this is one of the major medical conditions which are very common at this age for mainly women. This condition is aggravated for women, once they attain menopause.  Men too, are prone to suffer from osteoporosis. Mild to moderate strength training workouts are again very helpful to maintain bone density moreover this would reverse if not at least prevent this medical condition to some extent.

You may also like: Gym Design Trends That Will Tear Up 2018 – Part 1

Pregnant Women

Next would be the discussion about pregnant women.  In our Indian culture it’s considered to be a very special part of life for every woman, this makes them proud of themselves and gives them that special feeling carrying newborn in the womb.  But this also drains them out physically and mentally as they go undergo lot of hormonal changes within their bodies while they are in this phase. Sometimes their bodies go through lot of stress, feelings of anxiety, some of them also gain weight which puts additional stress physically on their lower back and abdominal area.  The core muscles become weak, but this can be dealt by adopting a more natural and healthy approach and what can be better than doing exercises.

They should engage themselves at least 3 days a week with some type of strengthening exercises, whether its bodyweight exercises, mild strength training workouts with more focus on high rep ranges with light to moderate weight or strengthening core muscles esp. the pelvic floor muscles so if all these exercises are done correctly than this could lead to an easy delivery process.  Their dietary pattern should also be monitored as they would be prone to weight gain, also they shouldn’t feel that they are eating for 2. Try to eat moderately and not to stress out the digestive system with too much food, as craving for food is natural here, so having a diet with good balance of macro and micronutrients is the key along with fiber and aiming for 3 – 4 litres of water consumption is a good idea as it would help them feeling satiated for long and that would prevent them from overeating.

Women in Post-Partum Phase

Last but not the least is the postpartum phase or post pregnancy period, this is the time when most of the new moms are eager to lose weight and want to get back to their previous weight, shape and size. Being cautious on not starting the exercises vigorously as with a vengeance is a clever idea but rather they should allow themselves taking their own time and take it slowly.  They need proper guidance with regards to exercises and diet, so best is to hire a qualified fitness coach who would help them with exercises which are safe yet effective along with nutrition guidance. Women who undergo C-section take a little longer time which is around 4-6 weeks to get back to exercises, so they shouldn’t be in haste rather they should enjoy motherhood and take care of the baby with utmost care.

Women who had been active with exercises prior to getting pregnant have more chances of getting back in shape as compared to the non-exercisers, as their neuromuscular coordination will be more efficient, and they would respond and adapt to the exercises quickly with the least effort.  Exercises done at this stage can also improve the activities of daily living, as most of the workouts are functional for ex – squats, lunges, push presses, deadlifts. Along with exercises a low carbohydrate, high protein and moderate fat diet can do wonders for women in this stage as this would give them a much leaner look as they would be gaining lean muscle, and this would also make them more healthy and strong along with better optimization in bone density, muscle mass, will build strong tendons and ligaments and healthy joints.

So just to conclude exercises and right nutrition is the key for the above special population category. This is the most natural way of keeping oneself fit and healthy to get better in their day to day activities. This would also enable them to improve the quality of their lives and take part in most of the activities of life, enjoy life to the fullest by being disease free.

Disclaimer: This post was written by our guest contributor. The content herein is owned by the blogger. Gympik is not responsible for any kind of infringement caused.