Exercise Trends for Older Adults

The following types of exercise classes are showing up lately as recent exercise trends for older adults:

• Strength and Conditioning
• Balance and Fall Prevention
• Exercise, Medications, and Chronic Disease
• After Knee or Hip Replacement
• Active Aging
• Functional Fitness

Another new type of class aims to improve neuroplasticity - combining mental tasks with physical movement. Intensity of movement does not need to be high - just simple movement is fine. An example would be walking the dog while talking to a friend and having to state what they had for dinner that night in backwards order. Another example would be having to name certain items while alternating right then left knee lifts. When raising the right knee, name one of the 50 states. When raising the left knee, name any city. One more game would be to 'march' right then left with a friend while playing various number games such as repeating the last four digits of their phone number forwards then backwards, then add the digits, etc.