Here at Damart, we love a little bit of exercise when we have the time. It lifts our mood, gets the blood flowing and even better, we can enjoy it without even leaving the home.
There are lots of benefits for exercising if you’re over 50, as research has found that moderate exercise just a few times during the week can provide an array of mental and physical benefits. It helps to stimulate the heart, get the lungs working and pumps extra oxygen into the blood. It also alleviates stress and can release serotonin from the brain, which is known as the ‘feel good’ or ‘happy’ hormone.
In our online shop, we have a great range of ladies leisurewear to help you along, including leggings, memory foam trainers and easy wear t-shirts. So with this in mind, let’s take a look at the best light exercises for the living room!
Stretching
No matter what exercise that you decide on, a five-minute stretching routine both before and after is a great way to loosen up the body and avoid injury.
Stretching on its own is also great to increase flexibility. Once over 50, ladies can lose up to 50% of their flexibility which can result in aching joints and stiffness. Getting moving keeps you supple and can help your mental well-being as well as your body. If you want to know a little bit more about stretching, this article by the NHS is great for explaining how to get the best out of a stretching routine.
Yoga
If you like the stretches, Yoga is a lovely calm exercise that tones muscles, helps you focus on breathing and improves your joints. Here’s one we love at Damart.
Start off by kneeling on a mat or towel on all fours. Reach forward with one arm and lift the opposite leg off the floor and stretch it out. It needs a bit of balance. Pull your stomach tight, as if there’s string lifting your tummy button to your back. Relax and put your hand and your knee back on the floor. Breathe and then repeat it. You can do this around 8 times before switching to the other arm and leg.
Armchair Knee Extensions
This is perfect to strengthen lots of muscles in your legs. Simply start by sitting near the edge of the seat. Your feet should be flat on the floor and your back should be nice and straight. Grip the sides of the chair for a little support and straighten your leg out while keeping your toes pointing up to the ceiling. Don’t lock your knee, just keep it relaxed, then lower your foot to the floor again. Do this 8 times on each leg. If it’s too easy increase this to 12 times or as many as you like. And then relax!
Arm raises over your head
These are brilliant to loosen up your arms and shoulders, while building up the strength in them too. A stool or dining chair with no arms is great for this one. Hold 1lb weights or a tin of beans in each hand. You’ll need your feet on the floor and your back nice and straight. With your palms and the bean tins facing the carpet, hold your arms out in front of you with your elbows slightly bent and raise them above your head like big levers. Count to three, then lower them again so you are right back where you started. You can repeat this 8 times and build up to more as you go along.
Sit ups
Sit ups are ideal for the body and besides working out your abdominal muscles, sit ups also help strengthen core and stabilising muscles, which happen to be the ones that protect the spine from injury.
If you are looking for a greater range of flexibility and motion, sit ups are definitely worth considering.
You can also look for a little bit of a challenge by trying them on a medicine ball or with a little weight, like a bag of sugar against your chest while exercising.
Gentle press ups
Press ups, or push ups as they are also known, are great for exercising the top half of your body without twisting or moving the spine.
Although they can be a little bit harder to begin with press ups help strengthen the forearms, biceps, triceps (or bingo wings) and pectoral muscles, especially in women.
Unlike other exercises, you can choose how to do your press ups in varying levels from gentle to the more taxing, which is a great help if you’re just starting out.
Wall push ups for instance, are great for beginners and they involve performing standing (or vertical) press ups and are lovely and gentle to get you into the swing of things.
Once you have built a little strength, you can try knee press ups and if you feel really confident maybe you could go for full push ups.
Squats
Superb for building lower body strength, squats help release growth hormones, which are brilliant for maintaining and increasing muscle mass.
What’s more, these muscles are the ones that help regulate glucose in your body, alongside lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity.
These really work towards preventing problems like obesity, diabetes and a range of cardiovascular, or heart issues. Plus a stronger body is always a better body for fighting off diseases and keeping you healthy in general. We’re not talking weight lifter strength here. We mean lifting your food shopping and maybe those toddler grandchildren.
Simply stand in front of a chair. Place your feet hip width apart and keep your knees in line with your feet. Hold your hands as if you’re praying. Lower yourself towards the chair as far as you can go without sitting down. Then rise up to standing again. Make sure you keep your weight over your heels for the whole exercise. Repeat this as many times as you like.
We hope you enjoy doing these exercises as much as we do. Just choose one to get started. You could try a different one every day or create your own routine, it’s up to you. Damart has a whole range of indoor exercising tools perfect for keeping fit and active. All we want to say is have fun!