Why Water Exercise May Be the Best for You?

by Kevin Smith Author

When searching for the right senior living communities in Somerset, PA, there are many different amenities and features to look out for. What is important, though, is that you need to take into consideration what features are right for your needs specifically. For the elderly, one of the chief concerns is staying active and maintaining good exercise through old age. One solution is water exercising.

Background on Elderly Health

It has been proven for a long time that elderly exercise is effective in promoting both physical and mental health. However, a popular perception of exercise among the elderly is that, while it may help physical health over time, exercising poses a huge risk when you consider the opportunities there are of falling. An obvious solution is water exercise. The aquatic environment of water exercise is different than others in that it is low-risk, helpful with maintaining balance, and beneficial to those in pain.

The Mystery of Water Exercise

The benefits of water exercise have been widely accepted, and as a result, aquatic fitness has been adopted in many senior living communities. While many across the world claim to have life-changing experiences from water exercise, there hasn't been sufficient research on how beneficial water exercise actually is. One recent study, however, set to find that out.

A New Study

To prove the lasting effects of water exercise, a Japanese study employed a number of elderly patients undergoing water exercise. With the objective of finding out how physical health can be improved through water exercise, the study measured three primary health factors among its participants: activities of daily living (ADL) ability, knee extensor muscle strength (KEX), ankle dorsiflexor muscle strength (ADX). ADL ability is the basic ability to perform daily tasks without assistance. The six activities of daily living are eating, bathing, dressing, toiletries, transferring, and continence. KEX and ADX, respectively, refer to the muscle strength involved in extending the knee and flexing the ankle upward.

To further investigate the effects of water exercise, one group of participants took part in a once-weekly, one-hour session for one year, while the second group did the same but twice-weekly.

The Results

The results, in general, show a health improvement from water exercise. More specifically, however, it was shown that the health factors were better sustained from the second group who performed in exercises twice a week. This goes to show that while water exercise is certainly beneficial to the elderly of senior living communities of Somerset, PA, the best way to utilize water exercise as a fitness regimen is to do take part in it twice a week.