Fitness Tips “4” Active Adults

Maintaining physical fitness means far more than simply going outside and taking a daily walk. On the flip side, physical fitness doesn’t require you to complete a workout that’s so strenuous that it turns you off of exercise completely.

Nope. Physical fitness falls somewhere in the middle, with a recommendation for just 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity. (If that number scares you, it’s only 21.4 minutes per day, and you can include household chores in your total!)

Health experts advise Active Adults to “move more and sit less” (which is good advice for everyone, actually), and to focus on 4 Types of Exercise that build and maintain Endurance, Strength, Balance, and Flexibility.

And since the goal is just 21.4 minutes per day, you are encouraged to “mix things up” to keep you both interested and feeling your best.

Choose one of the four types of exercise, and switch daily so that you do each type at least twice per week. Activities for each include:

Endurance – brisk walking, tennis, climbing stairs, bicycle-riding, etc. Chores that build or maintain cardiovascular endurance are vacuuming, gardening, and washing your car.

Strength – lifting hand weights and working out with resistance bands are part of the gym regimen for building or toning muscles, but washing windows, sweeping, even putting the dishes away, are everyday chores that give your muscles a good workout.

Balance – standing on one foot (hold a chair or countertop, if necessary), walk “heel to toe”, hold a chair and do reverse leg lifts. Gardening tasks, including squatting and reaching, are excellent for balance, as well. Or find a tai-chi class online, or dance in the living room.

Flexibility – enjoy the benefits of gym-inspired flexibility exercises with calf stretches, ankle stretches, and yoga. To log more of your weekly 150 minutes, practice torso stretches while removing laundry from the dryer, stretch your back while loading the dishwasher, stretch your arms while dusting.

Just like a regular workout, be sure to stretch and warm up, then cool down, after your regular – or chores-inspired – workouts, and stay hydrated.

While each Windsong home is designed with easy living and maintenance-friendly features, it’s easy to enjoy a 21.4-minute workout each day with a smile on your face, in the home created with your health and wellness in mind.

Welcome to Windsong – Where Life’s A Breeze!