Older adults should endeavour to remain fit and active, as it helps maintain excellent overall well-being and keep illnesses at bay. Also, staying healthy will ensure they lead independent lives, where they can carry out their daily activities conveniently.
Stretching exercises are a great way for older adults to keep fit and healthy, bringing increased control, flexibility, and strength to their muscles and joints. Some of these stretches also help to alleviate muscle pain, joint inflammation, and swollen ankles in older people.
Indeed, stretching exercises can be performed at any time that suits the participant. However, to develop a proper routine, it’s best for your older loved ones to practice these workouts in the morning. Moreover, there is rarely a more refreshing way for them to start their day than with stretches.
At Seasons Retirement, we provide an enabling environment for older adults to engage in various healthful activities and exercises, such as pilates, yoga, and so on.
This piece will highlight some easy morning stretches that will help boost your loved one’s fitness level.
The knee-to-chest routine is easily one of the best morning stretches for older people because it helps more than just the legs. This lower body stretch enhances mobility in the hips and knee while improving the lower back’s flexibility. One of the big benefits of this exercise is that your loved one doesn’t need to stand to perform it properly.
Below is how to do the knee-to-chest stretching exercise:
The first workout on our morning stretching routine for seniors targets the quadriceps through proper stretching. It is a vital exercise that helps older people remain flexible and mobile.
As the name clearly suggests, the standing quadriceps stretch targets the quadriceps, which are located in the proximal half of the upper leg. Here are the steps to engage in this morning stretch exercise:
This is an excellent exercise for the hip and promotes flexibility and muscle strength in that body region. However, it is worth noting that this exercise can be a little too complex, especially for older people.
Hence, your older relatives should only practice this exercise if it’s within their physical limits. When engaging in the lunge-in-a-chair, they should listen to their body and stop when needed. The following are steps to perform the lunge-in-a-chair stretching routine.
4. Hamstring Stretch
The hamstring stretch is another type of good morning stretches for older adults, and it focuses on a specific muscle group — the hamstrings. But it also stretches the lower back and helps maintain its flexibility. Most importantly, this morning stretch helps reduce stiffness in the leg, enhancing mobility in older adults.
Here is how to perform a hamstring stretch:
This exercise is one of the most effective morning stretches for the back and the upper body. Also referred to as the standing side stretch, it is an excellent way for older people to ease the abdomen, back, and shoulder muscles. Below is how to perform the overhead side stretch.
Note that your older ones don’t have to perform this exercise on their feet. Older adults with mobility or health issues can complete this exercise in a chair following these steps:
Other examples of easy morning stretches for older people include soleus stretch, shoulder stretch, tricep stretch, standing hip flexor, and chin drop.
Above is a list of refreshing morning stretches for older adults to start their day in the best way possible. Stretching exercises can make vital additions to your loved one’s workout routine, regardless of their fitness level.