Adding exercise to your daily routine can help your body and your brain. It’s especially beneficial for seniors. It can prevent muscle wasting that leads to weakness and bone loss. It boosts brain power and helps prevent dementia. It’s not easy growing older. You face the normal daily stressors, plus declining health due to aging. Aging takes its toll on both the body and the brain. Studies show that exercise helps depression and anxiety. It also helps slow Alzheimer’s and dementia. You don’t have to wait until you’re a senior. No matter what your age, you’ll improve your cognition.
You’ll rust out before you wear out.
Staying active is vital to good health, regardless of your age. Staying active keeps you alert, builds new neural pathways, and puts you in a better mood. Scientists used to think you were born with all the brain cells you’d ever have and that IQ was static and permanently determined. Now they understand there’s brain plasticity. The brain is constantly growing new neural pathways. IQ increases the more you learn. Exercise stimulates those changes, even in older individuals. It keeps people more mentally alert and less prone to neural issues.
Staying active can reduce the risk of dementia by as much as 35%.
Exercise boosts circulation. Dementia occurs for many reasons. Vascular dementia, which often occurs after a stroke, occurs due to clogged or damaged vessels in the brain. Exercise helps reduce the risk by lowering blood pressure, aiding in weight loss, and preventing obesity, which is the leading cause of strokes. Increased circulation and blood flow lead to healthier blood vessels and improved cognitive functioning.
The type of exercise you do makes a difference in the benefits.
Vigorous physical activity is the best type of exercise. It lowers the risk level of stroke by 35%. Some people can’t do that type of exercise, but they may be able to do daily household chores. The simple act of doing household chores reduces the risk by 21%. Those percentages come from a study conducted over ten years using 500,000 subjects. It was published in the professional journal, “Neurology.” Visiting with family and friends lowered the risk by 15%. While adding a formal workout to your daily activities, increasing all types of activity helps.
- Endurance exercises like walking or running are beneficial, but you also need strength-building, balance, and flexibility training. Those help build functional fitness, which prevents accidents that put you out of commission for a while.
- It’s never too late to start working out. You don’t have to do vigorous exercise. Just adding a regimen of daily walks can increase your brain power and physical strength.
- Whenever possible, exercise outside. It can boost your vitamin D. If you can walk in a wooded area, do it. Studies show walking in natural settings brings serenity. It’s even better to walk barefoot on the ground. It’s called grounding.
- Other factors that can help prevent dementia include a healthy diet, plenty of sleep, and good hydration. Some foods boost brain power and protect the cells from oxidation and cell death. Lack of adequate hydration can cause symptoms that resemble dementia.
For more information, contact us today at Wellness On A Dime Coaching