Endurance Exercises - Exercise for Older Adults

Four types of exercise are important for staying healthy and independent: strength exercises, balance exercises, stretching exercises, and endurance exercises.

Endurance exercises are any activity - walking, jogging, swimming, raking - that increases your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time. Build up your endurance gradually, starting with as little as 5 minutes of endurance activities at a time, if you need to.

Examples of moderate endurance activities for the average older adult are listed below. Older adults who have been inactive for a long time will need to work up to these activities gradually.

• Walking briskly on a level surface
• Swimming
• Gardening, mowing, raking
• Cycling on a stationary bicycle
• Bicycling

The following are examples of activities that are vigorous. People who have been inactive for a long time or who have certain health risks should not start out with these activities.

• Climbing stairs or hills
• Shoveling snow
• Brisk bicycling up hills
• Digging holes

Gradually working your way up is especially important if you have been inactive for a long time. It may take months to go from a very long-standing sedentary lifestyle to doing some of the activities suggested in this section.

Safety Tips

• Stretch after your activities, when your muscles are warm
• Drink water
• Dress appropriately for the heat and cold
• To prevent injuries, use safety equipment such as helmets for biking
• Endurance activities should not make you breathe so hard that you can't talk and should not cause dizziness or chest pain

How much, how often?

Your goal is to work your way up to a moderate-to-vigorous level that increases your breathing and heart rate. It should feel somewhat difficult to you. Once you reach your goal, you can divide your exercise into sessions of no less than 10 minutes at a time, if you want to, as long as they add up to a total of at least 30 minutes on most or all days of the week.

Doing less than 10 minutes at a time won't give you the desired cardiovascular and respiratory system benefits. The exception to this guideline is when you first make the decision to begin endurance activities, and you are just starting out.

Source: National Institute on Aging