(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Attitudes have changed a lot over the last few decades. There was a time when elderly people were stereotyped as frail and delicate. Retirement homes and confinement to their houses was also a prevalent problem only a little while ago. This led to issues like social exclusion and problems like depression.

But, times have begun to change. Advances in medicine and healthcare mean people are not only living longer, but also have a better quality of life as they age. This means that people are now able to do more and keep their fitness and function for longer.

So, a lot of exercise and health enthusiasts can now remain highly active into the latter years of their life. Furthermore, exercising is well renowned as a way to improve function, wellness and slow down aging.

With these new capabilities, man elderly people have been advertised competing in sporting events and showing off impressive skills and physiques well into their eighties and nineties. This has naturally inspired many older people to follow suit.

But, despite these shifting attitudes, there are still many myths going around regarding exercising when you’re older.

So, we decided to put together an article about the 10 most common myth of exercising into your elderly years. Hopefully, this will help hoveany older reader piece of mind and reassure them when exercising to improve their lifestyle.

6 Common Myths About Exercising When Elderly

1. You should rest more with age

A big misconception people have with aging is that older people need more rest. In fact, the opposite is true. Research shows that most people over the age of fifty are too sedentary.

Moving more and taking on more tasks not only helps improve physical health, it can protect you from mental Illness too. Make sure you keep the above in mind if someone tells you that you’re doing too much.

2. Exercising at high intensity will lead to injury

This misconception is usually spread by the same people who believe the above myth. To many people, it seems obvious that working harder puts you at more risk for injury. While this is true to some extent, there’s no research indicating older people are more at-risk than younger athletes.

High-intensity training has also been shown to be safe and very effective for elderly people. Such training can include high-intensity interval training, like circuits, or weightlifting. The latter of these two we’ll talk about more below.

3. There is only so fit you can be when you’re older

There is another myth circulating that claims that age can reduce your potential results from training. This is another claim with no hard evidence behind it. Everyone has a genetic limit for how much results they can get out of training. For example, no amount of running will make someone as fast as Usain Bolt.

But, it’s likely that age doesn’t affect this limit until very late in life, as in the seventies or up. Soz if you’re a middle-aged or elderly person, there’s no reason you can’t reap as much benefit from exercise as your younger counterparts.

4. You should focus on low-impact activities when exercising

Those who do activities like Tai-chi and swimming often tout the fact that it’s “low-impact.” This means that it doesn’t cause impact to the joints when it’s being done. Exercises like running and jumping would be considered “high-impact.”

But, just like many of the myths on this list, it comes from taking an extreme view on exercise. While years of excessive impact can cause damage to the joints and contribute to arthritis, a small amount of impact is beneficial for your bones and joints. It helps increase their strength and resilience.

So, don’t worry abu mixing a small amount of jumps or running into your program. They should help you reach your goals and keep your bones and joints healthy.

5. The practices of younger athletes aren’t suitable for you

A lot of elderly people can get intimidated when watching younger fitness enthusiasts exercise. This is because a lot of them believe they can’t do what their younger counterparts can. Much of this stems from the fear of injury explained above.

But, as seen with the above myth, most elderly individuals can do what their younger peers are doing. They should also receive the same benefits. A lot of the research looking at the perks of exercise with elderly people have used programs similar to that used by younger athletes.

So, trying to keep up with the young guys at the gym may not be a bad idea.

6. You should avoid heavy weightlifting

Because weightlifting is a high-intensity activity, and one that focuses on strength, ittmeds to scare many elderly people away.

This is a big shame, as weightlifting is hugely beneficial for elderly people in protecting them from bone breaks, loss of function and decreased fitness. It is also incredibly safe. For any aged fitness enthusiast looking to get the most out of their program, weightlifting must be included.

But, be wary that weightlifting may need a greater amount of time to recover from than lighter activities. Using anti-inflammatories, which can be acquired cheaply using a Lyrica discount card or similar vouchers, may help speed up this process.

 

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