How Rebounding Exercise Benefits the Elderly
Whatever your age it’s never too late to start improving the quality of your health. If you find you have lost much of your motivation in recent years and you are a senior citizen it’s possible that the quantity of oxygen your getting into your blood stream has diminished.
What research has shown is that the ability of your organs to function gets progressively worse, and this starts at the age of thirty, at a rate of about 5% every ten years. This correlates with a decrease in physical activity which reduces the rich supply of oxygen required to re-energize your body.
Why Remain Mentally and Physically Active
Remaining mentally and physically active can actually make you younger and help prevent many illnesses and ailments. If you’ve wondered why some ‘elderly’ people have remained physically agile and mentally sharp while others appear significantly older then their real age a lot is down to keeping physical and mentally active. It is often the case that those that have remained sharp and active were, and are still busy in purpose, with a well balanced spectrum of exercise, food and social interaction.
Over 45% of the elderly suffer problems with muscles and bones. Around 65% are plagued with hearing and vision problems. In the later days of their life over 20% lose control of their urinary functions and 27% ending their days with cognitive difficulties such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Brain functions slow down mainly due to an inhibited lack of oxygen to the central nervous system. This is why you will find old peoples homes and hospital wards reflecting the gloominess and dreariness of mind that many of our elderly endure.
What Can you do to Remain Youthful
To stay youthful and healthy both in mind and body it is essential to keep preoccupied, to have purpose in life and to keep mentally and physically active.
To keep physically active and stay young the most effective exercise known to man is rebounding.
Jumping on a trampoline otherwise known as rebounding is particularly beneficial for those of an older age as it strengthens and lengthens muscles improving flexibility. It also strengthens bone density which helps to prevent osteoporosis and strengthens the joints, tendons and ligaments which can help to reduce the chances of some forms of arthritis.
Rebounding exercise is great for weight loss. A study from MASA found that an overweight person spending one hour on a rebounder will burn more calories than the same person jogging for an hour. In fact according to NASAs journal of applied physiology it is 68% more efficient than jogging.
Rebounding exercises help reduce body fat and increases the muscle to fat ratio, lowers blood pressure and the G-force produced by jumping on a trampoline helps to improve body tone strengthening all the muscles in the body. It also helps transport oxygen to vital organs reducing the effects of old age.
Unlike some other forms of exercise rebounding does not harm the joints such as the knees. There is no high impact on the body that occurs when exercising on a hard surface.
Trampoline exercise facilitates the body’s natural detoxification mechanism. It is a unique exercise in which a weightless state is achieved at the top of each jump and landing achieves twice the force of gravity on each bounce. This shift in gravity benefits every muscle and cell of the body and provides huge benefits to the lymph system. This boosts immunity, removes toxins and helps to slow down the aging process. Rebounding is like giving every cell in our body a thorough detox.
If your balance is not so good and you are worried about falling you can always purchase a mini-trampoline with a balance bar. This fits onto the legs of the trampoline and gives you extra support while holding on.
Age is no barrier to bouncing. Doing these rebounding exercises will keep you supple and make your mind and body younger.