How Seniors Can Walk Into the New Year Safely
Walking is one of the best physical exercises for seniors. Walking isn’t physically challenging, so seniors of almost any age or ability can do it. Regular walking has significant health benefits, like lower risk of heart disease, reduced stress, and maintaining a healthy weight. Walking is also excellent for maintaining good circulation, with which many seniors struggle.
But walking in the winter can be difficult if the weather is not great. It’s the start of a new year, and many seniors are anxious to start a new healthy routine, so they can maintain their health or get healthier in the year ahead. Seniors who want to make daily walking part of their routine, but are worried about walking in the winter weather, should use these tips to safely and get healthy this year:
Warm Up Indoors
Seniors who want to walk outdoors should always warm up their muscles inside before they go out into the cold to exercise. The cold weather can cause muscles to stiffen, which can cause painful injuries and make it more difficult to walk. A good warm up routine for seniors is to do about five minutes of walking in place indoors, as well as some stretching before going outside to start walking. That will allow them to warm up their muscles before going out into the cold. If the weather is extremely cold, seniors may want to walk in place for up to ten minutes to ensure they are fully warmed up before going outside. Seniors with elder care can get help warming up from their elder care provider.
Choose The Right Walking Path
One of the dangers of walking outdoors in the winter is slipping and falling. Sidewalks and walkways can be very slick in the winter, even if they don’t look like they are icy. Seniors who want to walk outdoors in the winter should always wear sturdy footwear with thick heavy tread to help them avoid falling. But it’s also important to pick the right walking route. Many parks and walking areas snowplow and salt their walkways to ensure they are clear and don’t have any ice or snow that could cause people to slip and fall. Some cities also clear off the sidewalks. If your senior loved one wants to walk outside, but their HOA or community doesn’t plow and salt sidewalks and paths, it may be worth driving to a park or an area that does.
Join A Gym
Seniors who live in areas where it’s cold for a lot of the winter may want to join a gym for the winter, so they can walk indoors on a track or a treadmill. Walking indoors doesn’t have all the benefits of walking outdoors, but it has most of the benefits of walking outdoors. If you’re concerned about your senior parent slipping and falling, it would be a good idea for them to join a gym and walk indoors.