Your 20s is where you reach the peak of your physical health. This is the age where you feel like you can do anything and nothing will stop you. Your body is able to withstand a lot of abuses like partying all night, skipping meals, or eating whatever you want without considering the quality of your food. But that will take a toll on your health years later as you develop conditions like GERD and have imbalances in your body chemistry. You may get undesirable results on your blood tests like having high sugar or cholesterol levels. When this all happens, you will feel a bit of regret for not having a more active lifestyle during your younger years.
It is never too late to get in shape. You can always get down and dirty if you want to turn things around for your health. There are a lot of ways you can insert exercise in your life. You can buy some equipment like a treadmill for cardio or a pair of dumbbells for strength training. The good news is you can even be old already and do something similar. If your grandparents are with you, you can try to spend time and encourage them to also have an active lifestyle.
Bonding Time
Encouraging your grandparents to exercise also gives you the chance to have more bonding time with them. Not only will you be able to help them stay healthy, but you can also use the time to chat with them about anything under the sun. You could go over the various exercises that you are doing and explain to them the benefits of those, or you can just find out how they are doing. Younger people spend much of their daily hours on work while the elderly just stay at home, sometimes with little human interaction. You can just imagine how eager they are when you or some other relatives are coming over. Using your free time for them would be a nice gesture that they will surely appreciate.
Taking It Easy
Exercising with the elderly is not about pushing the limits of the body anymore. They have reached a level of fragility that should not be tested. As long as they are able to move about the way they want to, that should be fine. Let them workout at their own pace. There are exercises that you might find beneficial for you too. For example, practicing tai chi will ask you to perform a slow and controlled movement of your whole body. Not only do you get to flex some of your muscles for a bit, but you also get to meditate while doing that.
The good thing about exercising is that it can contribute greatly to the overall well-being of your folks. To complement this, you can also consider enrolling them in a telehealth therapy program. This is where they get to do some counseling with psychological experts if they want to open up about some issues that relate to mental health. If ever there is something that is bothering them, this could help lighten things up
Home Exercises
If you want to have a structured approach to exercising with your grandparents, you can write up a program proper consisting of routines that can be done at home. Walking is an easy choice to add here. This helps with circulation and maintaining balance, so it is good for you to be present so you can guide and hold their hand if needed.
There are also some exercises that you can do while sitting down, with stretching and leg raises as prime examples. You can also make use of objects around the house for them to lift like weights. These should be heavy enough to provide a little resistance. You do not want to go beyond that as that could lead to injury.
Getting Some Sunshine
One of the best settings for exercising at home would be in the garden. A lot of older folk like to spend time here too. If they have not yet, you can encourage your grandparents to take up gardening as a hobby. It keeps them active enough and it also lets them be out in the sun, which they still need for absorbing vitamin D. It is fun for them to switch settings during the day as they most likely do not enjoy being relegated indoors. Let them wander outside, so they can appreciate the plants, flowers, and the blue sky.
Do not underestimate your grandparents. They definitely still have a lot of fight in them, and they should be ready to take on some exercises that you want to throw at them. Even if these are things that will not take much effort from you, being their workout buddy could mean everything to them.
