by: Sarah Morris
When you’re at an age when you can call yourself a senior or if you know someone who might need the assistance 
when it comes to helping their bodies adjust properly as they age, you might want to try out physical exercises. The physical changes as a result of aging can be a bit tricky to adjust to, but the changes can be bearable given enough preparation and time. There are activities for daily living for seniors that can help keep their joints mobile and let them continue and enjoy their daily life.
It might help to understand that injuries are common and can be fatal to older adults. For instance, numbers in the United States alone indicate that 20% of falls actually cause serious injuries, such as head injuries and broken bones. Not only that, over 3 million seniors are actually treated in the emergency room because of injuries from falls.
Senior Health: How Do You Keep Joints Mobile?
It’s important to remember that because older adults aren’t getting younger, their physical health should not be ignored. Mobility aids for disabled individuals and other assistive tools exist to make sure they have ways to keep themselves active despite existing physical conditions. Here are some examples of daily activities that will certainly help older adults to keep their joints mobile:
- Do some raises to exercise the limbs every now and then: One of the best activities to help with joints is to actually do raises to help your limbs. Try grabbing a chair and stand behind it. Try raising your leg straight back without pointing your toes or bending your knees. Hold that position for a second and then gently bring the leg down. Try to do this with your other leg. Every few days, increase the second you hold that leg by a second, and repeat the process 10 to 15 times with each leg. You can also apply this to side raises, which works with the same principle.
- Try a few finger and hand exercise: These exercises are extremely useful for flexibility. Try to pretend there’s a huge wall in front of you. Have your fingers climb up the wall until they’re above your head, and hold them together. Wiggle both sets of fingers for 10 seconds before walking them back down. Afterwards, try to touch your hands from behind the back. You can do this by trying to reach for your left hand with your right hand behind your back, and hold this position for 10 seconds before switching arms.
- Wall push ups and shoulder rolls for chest and shoulders: Both these exercises are also very simple to do. For shoulder rolls, you can do this while standing or sitting. Simply gently rotate your shoulders up the ceiling, and then back and down. Afterwards, do the same but ending with a roll forward and then down. For wall pushes, stand in front of wall at arm’s length that doesn’t have any doors, windows or decorations. Slightly lean forward with your palms on the wall. Keep your feet firm as you bring your body forward slowly towards the wall. Keep this position for a few seconds before slowly pushing yourself back outwards.
- Walk short distances every few hours: Don’t underestimate the power of walking! It’s actually a great way to make sure your muscles are active but not with intensities that are too high to maintain. Walking sessions are also extremely easy to organize, as there really aren’t as much tools needed – unless, of course, if you need a walker for assistance. Just a walk around the neighborhood every morning or evening or even just around the house to get basic things such as books to read or journals to write on are great ways of keeping joints mobile.
- Try to use assisted living tools for assistance: If you can’t handle the physical strain of doing exercises for prolonged periods of time, make sure assisted living tools are close by so you can make sure you have assistance when you need it the most. This isn’t a sign of weakness, but rather a lifeline to make sure nothing bad happens to you during the course of your living at home and keeping yourself mobile.
- Stretching eases the muscles into working for the day: Stretching isn’t just done after a workout. Stretching sessions and easy body movements can help you ease your muscles into “working” for the day, so you won’t get them all tensed and hurting after a few minutes of walking around. Proper stretching techniques are geared towards relieving tension off your muscles and joints so you are feel comfortable. As such, these are also best done in the morning and before you sleep.
The Bottom Line: Daily Activities to Maintain Mobility
It’s important that older adults or seniors get opportunities to be mobile and exercise their bodies to avoid stress on their joints. Especially that their joints are extra sensitive at their age, motivating them to do these tasks every day can make their life easy and comfortable.