What Types of Exercise Should You Do As A Senior Person?
Here's a stat worth sitting with: only about 23 percent of American adults get the full recommended mix of aerobic and strength exercise each week. Most people aren't doing nothing, they're just doing one piece of a three-piece puzzle.
The CDC's actual guidance for adults 65 and older breaks into three parts, not one. Aerobic activity, 150 minutes a week of something that gets your heart rate up, walking, swimming, cycling, dancing, whatever you'll actually keep doing. Strength training, at least two days a week working the major muscle groups, which matters more than most people realize since muscle mass declines steadily with age unless you actively work against it. And balance, activities like standing on one foot, walking heel to toe, or practices like tai chi that build balance directly into the movement.
Balance is the one people skip most, and it's arguably the highest-leverage of the three. Falls are one of the biggest threats to independence as we age, and balance work is specifically what reduces that risk, not just general activity.
You don't need a gym membership or a special program to hit all three. A daily walk, two short strength sessions with light weights or resistance bands, and a few minutes of standing balance practice covers the basics.
Which of the three do you think you're missing, aerobic, strength, or balance? Tell us in the comments, we'd love to hear where you're starting from.