Companion Care at Home Makes Exercise Fun for Seniors

By Care Street Home Care Staff | September 27, 2024 | Comments Off on Companion Care at Home Makes Exercise Fun for Seniors
Companion Care at Home in East Brunswick NJ

Companion Care at Home in East Brunswick NJ

Staying active is a big part of helping aging adults age well, but it isn’t always easy for them to do. Balancing exercise with daily activities can take some effort and sometimes seniors just don’t like exercise at all. Companion care at home can help seniors to find the fun in exercise while also staying as safe as possible while they move a little more.

How Much Exercise Do Seniors Need?

What really matters is knowing how much exercise seniors should be getting. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that seniors shoot for around 150 minutes of moderate activity per week. That means exercises like walking briskly, cycling, or swimming. For most seniors, this works out to roughly 30 minutes of exercise, five days a week. Individual exercise needs do vary, so seniors should talk to their doctors before starting any exercise plan.

How Can Seniors Tell if They’re Overdoing Exercise?

Seniors who are new to working out might feel as if pushing themselves is best, but often that’s not productive. Seniors need to know when they’re overdoing it and should scale back their exercise efforts. Doctors can help with this, but some general guidelines include becoming extremely fatigued, experiencing dizziness or shortness of breath, or experiencing persistent pain during or after working out. Having an exercise buddy can help seniors to notice when they might be overdoing it.

Make Exercise Social

Making exercise a social activity has quite a few benefits for aging adults. When seniors exercise with someone else, they’re less likely to focus on dreading the movements. They’re able to concentrate on conversation and sharing the experience with someone else. This also helps them to notice things like being too short of breath to talk to their exercise buddy.

Companion Caregivers and Safe Exercise

Companion care at home can serve a unique role in helping seniors exercise safely. Unlike home care providers, companion caregivers are there simply to interact with seniors and to offer them a friendly person to spend time with while exercising. They can remind seniors to exercise, to stretch, and to go about their exercise routines as safely as possible.

Tailoring Exercises to Personal Preferences

Not everyone enjoys exercise at all or doing the same types of exercise. Some seniors might hate walking, for instance, or they don’t enjoy swimming or cycling. Sticking with exercises they enjoy doing helps them to make moving a regular part of their daily and weekly routines. They may even find that engaging in more functional activities, like gardening, helps them get movement in while also enjoying what they’re doing.

Emotional Benefits to Social Exercise

Having companion care at home available to spend time with seniors while they exercise taps into the emotional benefits of moving more. Seniors may find that they sleep better, have better moods, and that they experience less anxiety overall. These benefits get a boost from having companionship while seniors move.

Exercise is an important way for seniors to get healthy and to stay healthy. But they have to find the right balance and companion care at home is one way for seniors to get the most out of being more active.

If you or an aging loved one is considering companion care at home in East Brunswick, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Care Street Home Care today. Call (732) 607-8870.

Care Street Home Care Staff
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