Exercise and wearable fitness tech for older adults

Chronological age has no impact on health and well-being – per this study.  Apparently, blood pressure and cholesterol readings aren’t the whole story.  What matters more are sensory function, mental health, mobility and health behaviors. This is according to a summary of an abstract of research at the University of Chicago.  But it re-enforces other research about the correlation between exercise and warding off dementia.  And for those who never got around to exercise but have a fear of falling in their 80s and beyond, exercise like Tai Chi can restore balance in an 85-year-old, building confidence and reduce fall risk and fear of falling.

Exercise motivation – what gets older adults moving?  As the Tai Chi photograph shows, group exercise provides feedback and makes it fun for the participants.  SilverSneakers, an exercise program that originated in Arizona in 1992, morphed through multiple company shapes and sizes, and now is part of Healthways, which makes it available via Medicare insurance programs and fitness centers.  Okay, that was convoluted – but the net result is that Medicare Advantage plans like Humana and United Healthcare offer free gym memberships through their SilverSneakers partnerships – enabling and encouraging seniors to come to the gym, participate in social group classes, typically doing some exercise, including water aerobics classes in the pool at their level of comfort and widely variable level of fitness.

Exercise tech – what keeps older adults moving? Read more at:  Chronological age, exercise and wearable fitness tech for older adults

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2 thoughts on “Exercise and wearable fitness tech for older adults

  1. Yes Tai chi is the very best exercise for older people in fact for anybody because it exercises the body and the mind without giving injuries. I know it because I’m a teacher of four styles of Tai chi with an experience of about 40 years and I practice about two hours each day. I also have explored how tai chi could be improved in order to help better people with several body or mind diseases such as Alzheimer and eventually I created a Tai chi that I call medical Tai chi or creative Tai chi that is much more effective than normal Tai chi. Tai chi is particularly good for strengthening the memory and improving breathing and posture, unfortunately the way that it’s taught everywhere doesn’t really make use of its potential in memory strengthening and regeneration. It’s also good for osteoporosis and arthritis among other things and as it is practised in groups it also promotes face to face communication and friendship with others. I taught Tai chi in London for three years then stopped teaching it because I wanted to study it by myself in order to take it to another level. It took me a few years of intensive heuristic learning but eventually I did it. It’s possible that will start to teach my approach to Tai Chi again especially with the aim to promote the cure of Alzheimer and Dementia.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I recall you mentioning your work in Tai Chi before – thanks for sharing the info here as well! Sounds really interesting – I, for one, would love to see how you do this (perhaps you could make a video for others to learn how to incorporate Tai Chi into their lives for these benefits) 🙂

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