Life changes after 50. You begin to see changes in your body that you wouldn’t have seen earlier. Your flexibility begins to decrease and you slowly lose lean body mass as well as bone density.
All of these things can sound rather frightening, especially if you don’t know how to counteract these common signs of aging. Fortunately, there’s one activity that virtually everyone can do to help you age gracefully.
Water aerobics is one of the best activities for senior citizens because it is low impact and has virtually no risk for balance related injuries like falls.
What Is Water Aerobics?
If you’ve never been to a water aerobics class, you’re probably wondering how exactly you get into one of these classes. Many local gyms, seniors centers, and places like the YMCA, offer water aerobics classes for the local community. Other places like physical rehabilitation centers may offer water aerobics or water rehab therapy. Depending on your medical restrictions, water aerobics or water therapy may be more appropriate for you.
WebMD describes water aerobics as a low impact workout that builds muscle and strength while boosting your endurance. Water aerobics is done in a group fitness environment. One instructor will help many participants in the pool with the aerobics class.
Water aerobics is held in a pool, usually in depths that the participants can touch the bottom of the pool with their feet. Because of this, knowing how to swim is not a necessity to participate in water aerobics. However, some comfort in the water is necessary if you want to be able to fully enjoy the class.
What Type Of Exercises Are Done In A Water Aerobics Class?
You may be wondering what type of exercises are done in a water aerobics class. According to Livestrong, traditional calisthenics and aerobic movements are completed during the normal water aerobics class.
However, in addition to the traditional aerobics movements there are motions that are used that are only possible because you are submerged in the water. You complete many strength training exercises in the water and use the water as resistance.
Often a water aerobics instructor will give you additional devices that look like dumbbells. These dumbbells are not waited they use foam to provide extra resistance in the water.
So How Does This Change Your Life?
How can water aerobics really change your life after age 50? Because of its versatility as an exercise, water aerobics allows virtually anyone to build strength and aerobic capacity. Staying in shape after age 50 one of the hardest things that you learn how to do. Your body has changed and it can be hard to adapt to those changes. Water aerobics makes adapting to new body easier by providing you with a workout that you can complete with little risk of injury.
Water aerobics can help you rehab an injury and is ideal to those who are recovering from knee surgery and even hip replacement. Many times when recovering from surgeries on your joints, you need to exercise without supporting your full body weight.
Working out in the water allows you to have the full range of motion of your joint without any of the weight associated with that exercise. This can decrease the healing time associated with common surgeries experienced by people after age 50.
If you suffer from conditions like osteoarthritis or osteoporosis, water aerobics is the ideal exercise because you get all the benefits of strength training and aerobic training without any of the risks like a fall or fracture.
Arthritis and osteoporosis make high impact aerobics a frightening experience because the risk of fall and fracture is very real. Water aerobics takes all of that risk away because even if you lose your balance you will not fall and there is little risk of fracture.
No matter your physical condition, you should consider incorporating water aerobics into your exercise routine after age 50. It will give you a great overall physical conditioning experience because it incorporates strength training and aerobics without any damaging high impact activities.