Gentle gym exercises for seniors

As a senior, it is more than recommended to continue to practice regular physical activity, so as to stay in shape. To resume sport, it may be wise to go for gentle gymnastics instead, to avoid efforts that are too traumatic for the body. Here are some gentle gym exercises perfect for seniors.

Why exercise when you're a senior?

Playing sports brings many benefits, especially when the body begins to experience some health problems. This is why it is strongly recommended that seniors do a sporting activity on a regular basis. For those over 50, gentle gymnastics is the preferred option. Indeed, with age, seniors can apprehend to do certain sports that they find too complicated or tiring. With the gentle gym, no fear!

Sport keeps you healthy. This helps to reduce stress but also to prevent heart disease. Playing sports allows you to take care of your muscles and thus reduce the risk of falls. With sport, the immune defenses are strengthened. Finally, playing sports with others also makes it possible to break with the isolation and loneliness that can, unfortunately, affect many seniors.

What soft gymnastics to practice?

Here are some of the activities that it is possible to practice for sports without rushing.

Yoga

Among the most popular soft gyms, there is of course yoga, a discipline from India that combines body and mind work. Yoga allows not only to free the mind but also to fight against the constraints of the body thanks to movements and postures but also to the rhythm and the breath, essential in yoga.

Yoga allows you to work in depth and all the gestures performed tend towards deep relaxation, concentration and well-being, both mental and physical.

As a gentle gym, yoga is perfectly suited to seniors who wish to intervene on their back pain, their joint pain but also if they want to regain some flexibility. In addition, yoga has positive effects on stress and helps to fight against anxiety.

Tai Chi Chuan

In China, many seniors practice Tai Chi Chuan diligently, even daily. This sport is a form of martial art that is basically used to relax. This practice is based on the sequence of movements carried out slowly, in a circular and continuous manner. Each movement responds to a pattern defined beforehand, nothing is due to chance in this practice. The routine isn't hard to learn though.

This gentle gym is also ideal for seniors because it allows a certain harmonization of body and mind. Tai Chi Chuan acts on joint pain and hypertension while increasing balance and coordination. It is also a recognized practice for limiting the risk of falls in seniors.

Qigong

Qi gong, or "energy work" is a traditional gymnastics that also comes from China. Often used in addition to traditional Chinese medicine, Qi Gong is a practice based on mastering vital energy, “qi”. It is practiced by performing a series of slow movements that allow you to work on the breath, concentration and breathing all at the same time.

Thanks to this practice, the muscles become more flexible and the joints are worked gently. It is also useful on the psychological level because it helps to manage emotions, improve memory and allow you to have better sleep.

Qi Gong can be practiced by all age groups, from 6 years old. The advantage of this gentle gym is that the movements are slow and gentle and allow you to work the whole body.

Pilates

In Pilates, all sudden movements are prohibited as well as impacts or shocks. It is therefore a gentle gymnastics perfectly adapted to seniors. Created by the German Joseph Pilates, it is a gym that is practiced on the ground and allows you to correct bad postures, develop flexibility and suppleness. Pilates can help patients with fibromyalgia (a disease characterized by chronic muscle pain).

To practice Pilates, it is advisable to use a few accessories such as rubber bands, balls, hoops and foam socks. This allows you to vary the exercises and work different parts of the body while stretching your muscles.

Pilates is also a philosophy of life composed of 8 basic principles: concentration, control, center of gravity, breathing, fluidity, precision, sequence and isolation.

Aquagym

Yes, aquagym is also part of the gentle gymnastics that are very suitable for seniors. It is a gymnastics that is practiced in water (a swimming pool or a basin). It has many advantages because it limits the risk of muscle breakdown or elongation while offering a wide range of motion. In fact, in the water, the weight of the body does not hinder movement.

Aquagym has many benefits: the movements, carried out in the water, have a certain draining effect which makes it possible to shape the silhouette in the long term, to make the cardio-respiratory system work well. In addition, this practice solicits all the muscles of the body.

This sport is for everyone, regardless of age, even if it is not uncommon to feel intense fatigue after class. No worries though! It is good fatigue which then allows you to have a more restful sleep.

There are many gentle sports practices that would be perfectly suited to seniors. To find the right sport, you must first find out about how the lessons take place, what exercises are carried out, how often the lessons take place, etc.

Most of the sports mentioned here are practiced in groups. It is therefore a very good opportunity to socialize and meet new people.