Walk your limitations away - No, seriously go for a walk. Why are you still reading this? Well if you insist on finishing this then let me tell you about a recent study published in the Preventative Medicine Journal. A 2 year study following over 1,400 senior citizens with a history of arthritis researchers observed and measured those who walked at least 10 minutes a week and those who didn’t. They concluded those who did the walking were HALF as likely to develop limitations in respect to walking 3 blocks, climbing stairs, stooping/kneeling, reaching overhead, or grasping. In essence they were reducing their functional limitations. Ok, so now you should go for a walk.
Source: Preventative Medicine Journal
Get out there and Dance! A new study which looked at over 1,000 senior women, those who participated in a dance program for eight year had a 73% reduced risk for developing a disability that impaired their ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs). The lead author of the study writes “Although it is unclear why dancing alone reduced the risk of ADL disability, dancing requires not only balance, strength, and endurance ability, but motion, and memory for choreography.”
Helping patients with Parkinson’s Disease: Current research is suggesting that physical exercise such as aerobics, treadmill exercises, dancing, traditional Chinese exercise, yoga, or resistance training can improve both motor AND non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s Disease. These results were so promising that more research is currently underway.
To keep your workouts fresh and avoid a plateau in your fitness plan/routine, the American Council on Exercise recommends switching up your exercise routine regularly. Try increasing the intensity to a new degree, completely change your equipment (dumbbells vs machine vs body weight), change your environment (indoors vs outdoors), trying new exercises.