NOTE: This article is a continuation of Aging and Mobility: Part One.
A carefully developed exercise plan can play a huge role in improving and maintaining mobility, or our body’s ability to freely and easily move around. It’s important to discuss your physical activity plan with a medical professional, who can help modify this plan to your specific mobility goals and health status.
How Exercise Helps Mobility
According to researchers, an increasingly sedentary lifestyle is one of the biggest health concerns for the aging population: too many older adults don’t get enough physical activity and spend too much time sitting daily.
The first step we can take to address this issue is simple: try to stand more. According to one NIH study, replacing sitting with standing still helped reduce mortality risk and other adverse outcomes associated with a sedentary lifestyle such as diabetes or loss of physical function. These positive effects were even more pronounced when the participants walked around while standing, even if it was for short periods of time.
Research also suggests that aerobic exercise (like walking, swimming, or cycling) is associated with a reduced risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. These benefits may be linked to aerobic exercise and its known benefits for reducing cerebrovascular burden, which directly contributes to dementia risk. Because impairments in cognition and mobility often go hand-in-hand, physical exercise can be an important, actionable step to protect both your physical and cognitive health.
Exercises to Improve Mobility
When developing your physical activity plan, it’s important to discuss with your healthcare provider and carefully tailor the plan to your needs and abilities. Generally, it’s ideal to find a balance between three types of exercise:
- Aerobic/cardiovascular exercises raise your heart rate and increase your endurance. These can include walking, running, cycling, dancing, tennis, swimming, water aerobics. Many people with mobility issues find exercising in water especially beneficial as it supports the body and reduces the risk of muscle or joint discomfort.
- Strength training exercises involve using weights or other resistance to build muscle and bone mass, improve balance, and prevent falls. If you have limited mobility in your legs, your focus may be on upper body strength training.
- Flexibility exercises help enhance your range of motion, prevent injury, and reduce pain and stiffness. These may include stretching exercises and yoga. Even if you have limited mobility in your legs, for example, you may still benefit from stretches and flexibility exercises to prevent or delay further difficulties.
If you need help getting started, visit the ICRN Video Library and browse to the “Exercise and Physical Activity” category. There you can find short, easy-to-follow visual walkthroughs of basic exercises from the National Institute on Aging.
Adapting Exercise for Limited Mobility
There’s a lot of flexibility in the kinds of activities you do. Don’t feel guilty if you can’t do the same things you used to. The goal is to not let mobility issues keep you from being physically active. It’s also key to find activities you enjoy doing that can count as exercise or finding a friend to do them with. This can motivate you or make you less intimidated by the tasks.
Special adaptations, including chair-bound exercises, are ideal for people with lower body injuries or disabilities, those with weight problems or diabetes, and seniors who may be at high risk for falling. Video examples for certain chair-bound exercises can also be found in the ICRN Video Library.
Here’s what to consider when trying chair-bound exercises:
- If possible, choose a chair that allows you to keep your knees at 90 degrees when seated. If you’re in a wheelchair, securely apply the brakes or otherwise immobilize the chair.
- Try to sit up tall while exercising and use your abs to maintain good posture.
- Try wrapping a lightweight resistance band under your chair and perform rapid resistance exercises, like leg extensions.
- Many swimming pools and health clubs offer pool-therapy programs with access for wheelchair users. If you have some leg function, try a water aerobics class.
- Some gyms offer wheelchair-training machines that make arm-bicycling and rowing possible. For a similar exercise at home, some portable pedal machines can be used with the hands when secured to a table in front of you.
- For strength training, perform exercises such as shoulder presses, bicep curls, and tricep extensions using heavier weights and more resistance than you would for cardio exercises.
- Stretching while lying down or practicing yoga or tai chi in a chair can also help increase flexibility and improve your range of motion.
Conclusion
A balanced, tailored-to-you physical activity plan can greatly benefit your ability to move around and complete activities of daily living. Even simply increasing the amount of time you spend standing or walking can have significant benefits for your physical and cognitive health. When considering your exercise plan, discuss with your healthcare provider, who will have an understanding of your mobility problems and any medical conditions that may impact your movement.
Regardless of mobility, always remember:
- Stop exercising if you experience pain, discomfort, nausea, dizziness, lightheadedness, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, or clammy hands.
- Avoid activity involving an injured body part. If you have an upper body injury, exercise your lower body while the injury heals, and vice versa. When exercising after an injury has healed, start back slowly, using lighter weights and less resistance.
- Warm up, stretch, and cool down. Warm up with a few minutes of light activity such as walking, arm swinging, and shoulder rolls, followed by some light stretching (avoid deep stretches when your muscles are cold). After your exercise routine, whether it’s cardiovascular, strength training, or flexibility exercise, cool down with a few more minutes of light activity and deeper stretching.
- Drink plenty of water. Your body performs best when it’s properly hydrated.
- Wear appropriate clothing, such as supportive footwear and comfortable clothes that won’t restrict your movement.
Sources: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer’s Society, Harvard Medical School, HealthInAging.org, HelpGuide.org, and the American Physical Therapy Association
