Why exercise is even more important for the over 70s

Just because you’ve made it to three score years and ten (or more) doesn’t mean you can hang up your trainers and put your feet up, in fact the opposite may be true.  Research by Public Health England found that exercises that strengthen bones and muscles have great health benefits for all adults, including people aged over 65.   

Finding the right balance

We all know exercise is good for us but it’s particularly important as we get older.  Poor muscle strength in older adults increases the risk of a fall by 76%  and those who have had a fall are three times more likely to fall again.  You can improve your balance with strengthening activities and balance exercises which will also give you more energy, help improve mood and enable you to sleep better. 

Why exercise matters

Quality of life depends, to a very large degree, on your ability to carry out daily tasks, without pain, for as long as you want. This includes going for a walk, brushing your hair, tying your shoelaces, playing with grandchildren and even housework.  To be able to do all these things you need the ability to perform functional movements like walking, stair climbing and standing up.  These movements are dependent on having sufficient physiologic reserve, which means strength, endurance, flexibility and balance.  It’s not about lifting heavy weights or running 20 miles, it’s about functional exercises that make a real, positive difference to everyday life.

Exercise and therapy classes at Lynwood Village

At Lynwood we are blessed with a full physiotherapy practice, including hydrotherapy pool, where residents can access private physiotherapy treatment and acupuncture.  Lynwood’s physiotherapy team, who are experts in the physiology of older people, design and run exercise classes for village residents specially designed to improve functional fitness and balance.  From Aqua Exercise to Balance Class and even Shoulder Exercise, these classes help residents improve their physical wellbeing and address the common problems associated with ageing.

• Aqua Exercise is a class especially designed to improve general fitness and balance, working in a safe pool environment.
• Active Aqua is an aqua aerobic kind of class with a bit more jumping and running around in the water to improve cardiac fitness, muscle strength and stamina.
• Pool Circuit Training is an exercise class involving a series of 10 exercise stations in the pool which are set up to strengthen different parts of the body, participants work their way around the different stations with a rest in between.
• Shoulder Exercise Class, to loosen the shoulders and improve flexibility.
• Fizziolates is chair-based class combining physiotherapy and Pilates-type exercises.
• Balance Classes aim to try and prevent the likelihood of a fall by improving balance reactions. This class takes place in the gyms around the parallel/wall bars to make it as safe as possible to work on balance.

Because the exercise classes are all on site in the village, there’s no travel involved other than a short stroll to the pool or gym.  It’s far less intimidating than a normal gym because you’ll know most of the people there – both the staff running the classes and fellow residents whom you’ll either know by name or sight, all of whom understand the challenges of getting older. Find out more by calling our sales team