Fit For Life Exercise Newsletter 2! :)
Updated: Jan 11, 2021
During these challenging times its vital to keep moving and maintain our fitness and mobility levels! We want to help nursing home residents and the care team with this by sending regular exercise suggestions! This week we will briefly look at stretching exercises and their benefits for Older Adults. And we have included a stretching exercise program below!
Stretching/flexibility exercise
For Older Adults we recommend regular static stretching. During static stretching, the Older Adult stretches their muscle (or muscle group) to its point of resistance (pain free!) and holds that position for a set duration of time.
We are really looking forward to the day we can do safe group sessions like this!
The benefits of static stretching for Older Adults include:
- Improve the muscle's felt elacticity
- Achieve a comfortable muscle tone
- Increased muscle control
- Increased flexibility
- Increased range of motion and help to relieve feeling of stiffness around joints
- Improved posture
- Release muscle tension and soreness
- Reduce the risk of injury
- Increase circulation
- Improve balance and co-ordination
Please see below for examples of static stretches for Older Adults.
Newsletter 2 exercise program: The program below contains a variety of stretches that are suitable for most Older Adults and can be completed in sitting or standing (if safe to do so) on most days of the week. You could complete them in a group or individually!
We suggest that you hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds for 2-4 reps, accumulating ~60seconds stretching duration (ACSM guidelines 2011).
Complete the exercises in a slow and controlled manner within your maximum pain free range of motion only!
Click below for the pdf of the stretching program!
Fit For Life Exercise newsletter 2
.pdf
Download PDF • 364KB
Patricia O'Donnell CAT GSR BSc MSc
Certified Athletic Therapist & Rehab. Dept. Manager