Over 75 best exercises

I'm a walker. Nothing over the top but a nice stride out round the local river in the Spring Summer months and around the town when it becomes slippier underfoot there. I guess I manage about an hour a day and feel the better for it. Took me a while to regiment myself - I find it so easy to be lazy! - but the benefits are self evident. Think nowadays I prefer to do it alone as I can go at exactly my own pace. I do encounter people along the way though and sometimes have a brief chat. All very pleasant.......

Trisher I don't know if tai chi builds a lot of muscle, as you say, but it does strengthen the legs if done properly and it is particularly good for balance and relaxation. It also involves deep breathing so is good for one's lungs and heart as well. I would heartily encourage anyone to give it a go - and keep at it a while in order to see the benefits.

I'm 80 and live in a bungalow. Until I moved here I had always lived in homes with stairs. I now have 2 dogs that I walk 3 times each day. I'm well and physically fine but I use stairs in my daughters when I'm there so I have the best of both worlds. The dogs are my reason for getting exercise and fresh air. Don't do official exercise just keep active.

motivation, that is the word I have been looking for for ages!
I really lack it lately in doing anything

so, I am 84 and declared very fit by a doctor in the hospital, mind you it was the serious stroke unit where I was taken, but then declared not a stroke a prolongued (sp?) migraine..

figure that one..

anyway for a couple or more years I have done simple tai chi. and I am convinced it helps my knees,, I am not one for exercising.. walking is good.

I walk around two miles each morning with my little dog.

Although it's not at a fast pace, more slow, slow, quick, quick, sniff, he ensures we both get some much needed exercise.

And it's enjoyable too as I regularly chat with other dog walkers.

I’m not a fan of walking although I walk my dogs.
I do Pilates.

Walking and Pilates. You don't need to walk far - just do it daily! Lots of Pilates classes are available on YouTube or you might be able to find a "live" local class on Zoom. (I have mobility issues, but a weekly Pilates class keeps me from "seizing up".) And if you have been recommended to undertake daily exercises by a health professional whom you trust (e.g; a physiotherapist) then make sure that you do them! Keeping to a daily exercise routine has helped to keep me sane & mobile - and I am by no means a natural athlete.

Can you access YouTube as Joe Wicks does good stuff for the elderly! Another one is Lesley Sansome who does walking and it really gets you going ! What about swimming? Our local pools open next week and that is good exercise as well? Just 15 minutes a day helps your seratonin levels ?

Hello all. I am new here. I am 66 still working part time. I love walking it is so uplifting and I go no matter what the weather. There is an app called active 10 and you can choose your target. It is brisk walking which is good for you. I follow Lesley sansone walking at home on you tube which is excellent. When I am off shielding I will be going back to work at the local school which is 20 min walk each way. I suffer with lupus have osteoporosis and suffered 2 back fractures so walking is excellent for me

I also use Youtube Walk programmes run by Lesley Sansom. Turn down the volume, put on radio or audible and just do it.

when you get over 60, you start to lose muscle mass, you have to work at strengthening yourself, i do qi gong ,walk, and core
exercises,weights, i have lots of injuries , but i feel pretty fit.My dad lived till he was 93 he did the same and was quite mobile till 92 ish, something i will keep up,best to get advice on types of exercises though,physios probably the best.

I bounce a tennis ball on different surfaces , at different speeds bouncing with one hand catching with the other. Good for hand/eye co-ordination and posture. Try it! I'm 81.

Lifting weights is said to be extremely beneficial for us older people. We can either do that at a gym, or buy some hand weights from Amazon or elsewhere.

Am I the only one who read the title & thought ‘over 75 best exercises?’ I don’t do half a dozen!
?

I love walking also I do yoga which has been wonderful, we do some chair yoga and some standing . I love the breathing exercises and they help at night to relax and sleep .

Ballet based movement for over 50s and beginners.
It is lovely, a mother who must be about 68ish and daughter who is the teacher do sessions that last about 30 minutes each, you can easily do two. It is on Youtube and is free. They have lots of sessions and individual little sessions to work on particular moves.
Also Tai Chi, slow graceful yet it exercises every bit of you including internal organs.
Both have been a life-saver for me since lock-down.

‘Bungalow legs’ interested me too. My Mum’s room in our house was on the first floor (old house so quite high), she used to joke that they were her ‘gym’. Carers however and some friends thought we were cruel. After a spell in hospital it was a condition of her discharge (it was ever so difficult to get her out!) that her room was downstairs. We duly hastily decorated our dining room and she came home.
Within quite a short time she was fed up. The room didn’t have the same view over the garden and she didn’t settle.
I think the stairs were one of the reasons that despite heart and circulatory problems she lived much longer than her doctors seemed to expect!

I swim 4 times a week when the leisure centre is open- can't wait for Thursday. As I'm only a mile away, if I had a dog I think I would force myself to go and paddle in the sea with the dog running alongside me a couple of times a week.

I'm lucky our Pilates teacher is doing Zoom (live) and online classes. Here is the link if anyone is interested, - it doesn't matter where you live at the moment. (I'm also doing Tai Chi with my former teacher - she is in Stratford on Avon). www.bodyjunction.co.uk/

The Schellea Fowler link I posted earlier, the exercise I like to do is a 15 minute belly workout. I'm 76 and no exercise freak!!

Pilates, normally I do classes at a gym and Aquafit at a swimming pool, neither available for the foreseeable future. However, I recommend "The Girl with the Pilates Mat", free on YouTube. She does something for everyone and is very enthusiastic and motivating. The variety and range of videos are impressive: Pilates for Seniors (60s - 80s plus), standing ones, lying down ones and a few chair based ones, they last for a range of times 7 mins, 10, 15 and 30 mins and her explanations are clear with options and encouragement as you do them. Do give them a try.

**Great Potato Exercise
Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you’ll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I’m at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.**

Always raises a smile when I read this. I do walk our dog about 3 miles a day but that's as far as it goes.

Like Davida we do a Zoom Pilates class (3 times a week) and a lot of dog walking at Beach or around our local area. The more you do the more you'll be motivated. I always feel so refreshed and energised after a walk, even a gentle walk. Big breath and just go for it.....!!!

Lucretzia

Hilarious....It's also good for facial muscles to have a good laugh....x

I’m in a slump with this lockdown palaver, but my favourite exercise (apart from the one I can’t mention) only joking, is to put favourite pop music on and dance around until I’ve had enough. Also classical and I pretend to be a ballet dancer.
Flamenco is good too and I can look really angry at the same time ???