Trail running is beneficial for people of all ages as most trails, especially technical ones are full of rocks, uneven terrain, and roots from trees and plants. Trails such as these force people of all ages to push themselves and focus on their agility capabilities. However, trail running can be especially beneficial for seniors because of the copious other benefits that it has to offer.
Seniors often don’t know what kind of exercises to do in order to stay active so they will do the bare minimum which puts them at risk for joint, muscle and bone problems as well as obesity. However, trail running (or walking) offers outstanding benefits for seniors and is a fun and unique way for seniors to get active. This post explores those outstanding benefits for seniors.
How Seniors Can Make the Most of their Trail Run
In order for seniors to get the best quality out of life, it’s important that they stay active. In fact, it’s so important for seniors to stay active that a senior living community in NJ makes it a point to promote health and wellness to their residents with a number of different activities, trail running and walking is one of them.
Here are the major benefits of trail running for seniors.
Strength Training
Preserving one’s strength is important for seniors in order to continue to live their lives to the fullest. There are a variety of ways to strength train for seniors, the most popular being with weights, however, trail running is another outstanding way.
Trail running will build a senior’s strength up by working the entire body to move and cover terrain. Not only will a senior build incredible muscle in his or her legs, but the entire body will also benefit because trail running requires a senior to use the full-body balance. With strength training, a senior will keep his or her muscles strong and will be able to enjoy life more because he or she will not have limited mobility due to a lack of strength.
It’s also crucial that seniors improve and preserve their strength because if they fall, they need to possess the strength to get back up. Trail running will provide them with the strength that they may need if this were to happen.
Improved Coordination
As people age, it’s common that their coordination weakens, making everyday activities and tasks difficult. There are a few ways to improve a senior’s coordination, however, one that is most beneficial is trail running.
Coordination is necessary in order to complete everyday tasks such as writing, cooking, cleaning and taking care of oneself. If a senior begins to lose coordination skills, he or she should consider trail running to preserve and improve one’s coordination. Trail running improves a seniors’ coordination by requiring that they pay special attention to where they are running. Likewise, agility and balance techniques are employed when one is trail running which also helps improve a senior’s coordination.
Builds Endurance
Like keeping seniors’ muscles strong, it’s also imperative that seniors keep their heart and lungs healthy in order to prolong their life; trail running can help with this by building up one’s endurance. A stronger endurance threshold will result in better lung capacity and a healthier heart. As seniors get more skilled at trail running, their endurance will go up, allowing them to run farther and longer, and in turn, their lungs will have to work harder and their heart will keep pumping at a healthy rate.
In order to increase one’s endurance as he or she is trail running, it’s a good idea to gradually increase the time that he or she is running on the trail each day. Increasing the time can mean simply one to two minutes a day; however, over time, this time will add up and will have an outstanding impact on one’s endurance. Additionally, consider incorporating balance and strength into your runs to increase endurance; this can be done by running uphill, on rocky terrain, and on different and unfamiliar paths.
Trail Running Can Improve Health and Wellness in Seniors
Trail running is an outdoor activity that people of all ages can do and benefit from; so much so, if you are a senior yourself, consider asking a friend or family member to join you. Trail running can be done in any season and will only have positive impacts on those that get out and do it, most notably seniors. If you or a loved one are looking for new ways to get out and get active, consider taking trail running, not only will it promote health and wellness, it could also be your new favorite hobbies.
