How to Keep a Senior Citizen Parent Active

Staying active is an important part of keeping your senior citizen parent healthy. Activities do not have to be strenuous to be effective. Having fun is an indicator of how long the activity will be successful. Joining your parent in an activity is not only healthy for them, it's healthy for you too. Read on to learn how to keep a senior citizen parent active.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Dress for success and the activity you have decided on. Wear loose fitting clothes, but make sure they are not baggy. Pants or slacks that are too long can get caught in shoes. Sleeves or cuffs that are too long can get caught quickly. Wearing too many layers can cause overheating while exercising and wearing too few layers can cause a chill after exercising. Shoes that do not fit properly or laces that come undone can cause tripping.
2. Staying safe while exercising is all-important for your senior citizen parent. Adequate hydration will help your parent from becoming dehydrated. Make sure they have enough water on hand and stop to drink frequently. Encourage your parent to take frequent breaks during activities to avoid overexertion.
   
   
3. Find something fun to do. Swinging a golf club is a great exercise. Golfing helps your senior parent stay active by not only swinging the club, but walking the whole golf course as well. Some people however, find golf more frustrating than fun.
   
   
4. Exercise the mind and body with yoga. This is a wonderful activity to keep the body limber; gentle stretching and breathing exercises are emphasized. Yoga also teaches how to focus and helps keep the mind active as well.
5. Dancing is not only a great exercise, it's an enjoyable social function as well. From jazz to jitterbug and ballet to ballroom, dancing cannot help but be great fun for your senior citizen parent. So, go polka with your Papa.
6. Get your parent to the gym for weight training. Working with weights will add muscle and maintain strength. The treadmill is a good walk and aerobic exercise will keep your parent's heart healthy.
7. Swimming is perhaps the best exercise for a senior citizen parent. When your parent swims, there is little stress on the joints. It is very easy to increase the range of motion while in the pool. Go to the beach for a salt-water swim; it has the added benefit of soaking in salts much like bath salts.