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Gym Essay

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What Healthy Senior Women Are Up To At The Gym

Many studies out there show the benefits of seniors making a regular trip to the gym. In fact, the older we get, the more we need to keep our muscles strong.

Sarcopenia

As the years go by, the muscular cells in our body waste away due to lack of use or by the damaging effects of free radicals, inflammation, and hormonal imbalance during menopause, or mitochondrial dysfunction. All together, these factors are called Sarcopenia, the natural weakening of the muscles through aging.

To reverse this process, progressive and regular use of resistance training was proven to increase mitochondrial and antioxidant production, balance hormones, and strengthen muscles on a genetic level.

Why Is The …show more content…

• Tai Chi or Qigong - These types of ancient wellness practices can usually be found at your local senior or community center or even at the gym. They are great for balance, stress relief, and muscle strengthening. Because of the slow pace movement and low impact exercise, this is a very popular strength program for senior women. It is easy on the joints but still helps to strengthen your entire body. It also helps to keep you flexible and limber.

• Yoga - This is another low impact form of exercise that is popular with the senior community. Like everyone else, seniors can gain strength and flexibility through a regular yoga program. It doesn't require any special equipment so you can even do these at home after you've learned the moves or watch a video and follow along. One of the best thing about yoga is that there are modifications to almost every move for those who may have limited mobility due to health issues like arthritis.

• Water Aerobics - Many seniors can be found moving and smiling at the local pool. These water aerobics classes are great for strength training seniors without causing any injury. The weight of the water against the movement of the body creates a natural resistance training to keep the muscles strong without the jarring and joint problems. Another great aspect of water aerobics is that it controls the body temperature with the cool water, so no nasty sweating!

• Power Walking - Power walking is another simple,

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