“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live in.”
— Jim Rohn, entrepreneur/motivational speaker.
Staying active is essential to maintaining optimal health, which can be challenging for most of us. It’s especially troubling for senior adults and those with chronic or painful conditions. Activity levels may drop when someone feels they are not as fit as they should be or unable to exercise the way they used to.
One thing we know: A decrease in exercise and activity levels often is detrimental to a person’s health. In fact, physical activity can have a positive influence on seven of the 10 most common chronic diseases, according to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
A second thing we know: Exercise has been shown to have many benefits:
So what is it you can be doing to help yourself? If you have questions about what you should or should not do, seek chiropractic care – a Doctor of Chiropractic is your go-to healthcare practitioner for better neuro-musculoskeletal health. Note: regular chiropractic care can help you with balance, flexibility, and range of motion for your arms and legs.
The best exercise for your situation is personalized for your goals and capabilities. Here’s a look at the wide world of exercise possibilities.
Here are some do-it-yourself ways to better health:
Spending less time sitting can be a good start in maintaining your activity level throughout the day. Trying to stay up and moving helps maintain mobility in your joints and tissues and often has a positive effect on your cardiovascular health. As one fitness-minded person said, “Motion is lotion to the hips.”
Best of all, going to a gym or fitness center isn’t an absolute must. Many exercises can be done while seated in a chair.
Regularly performed aerobic exercise offers benefits, too. Aerobic translates to “with oxygen,” which means that breathing controls the amount of oxygen the muscles use to help them burn fuel and move.
Aerobic exercise is an effective way for senior adults to improve their glucose tolerance. Don’t just jump into it, though. Aerobic exercise should be done in moderation. You should always contact a healthcare provider, such as your chiropractor or another primary care provider, to help assess your ability to perform your desired activities.
There’s an entire range of aerobic exercise options:
Strengthening muscle power through resistance training could be a great way to improve functional strength and stability during activity.
This does not mean you must hit the weight room for intensive sessions. Using options such as resistance bands – from sitting or standing positions – represents training you can do from home. Your chiropractor can provide personalized exercise recommendations.
In addition to staying active, make chiropractic care a standard component of your effort to maintain better health. Increasingly, evidence-based research is showing this link.
In one comparative study, there was “evidence of a protective effect of chiropractic care against one-year declines in functional and self-rated health among Medicare beneficiaries.”
In another clinical trial by Geortz and colleagues, the results indicated that chiropractic care combined with traditional medical care for low back pain provided greater pain relief and a greater reduction in disability than medical care alone.
If you want to improve your physical activity level or capability, consider seeing a Doctor of Chiropractic. A comprehensive physical assessment is always the first step. If chiropractic care is appropriate, options could include manual therapies, therapeutic exercise, nutritional counseling, and lifestyle or postural changes.
A comprehensive look at chiropractic care, its benefits to better health, and the education of doctors of chiropractic, review this report: Chiropractic: A Safe and Cost Effective Approach to Health.
Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) is a nonprofit, private, chiropractic and health sciences university in Overland Park, Kansas, within the Kansas City metro area. For more than 100 years, CUKC has been educating and developing leaders in health promotion.
Quick links for more information about chiropractic education and the profession:
Association of Chiropractic Colleges: https://www.chirocolleges.org/
Foundation for Chiropractic Progress: https://www.f4cp.org/
National Board of Chiropractic Examiners: https://www.nbce.org/
Council on Chiropractic Education: https://www.cce-usa.org/
American Chiropractic Association: https://www.acatoday.org/
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