As a 76 year old female what exercise would be suitable for me?

[moutere]

[TheEditor]

Hi moutere,

Age has nothing to do with it. If you're generally healthy, there are plenty of things you can do, so long as you work within your comfort levels.

NHS Choices has plenty of exercise tips, routines and plans for all levels and abilities.

You'll find them here:

nhs.uk/LiveWell/Fitness/Pag...

If you're not very active, try these exercises for older people:

nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Exercise...

Let me know what you go for!

[moutere]

I have a good exercise bike which I could use on rainy days, when I can't get out for a walk.

I also have some light weights that I could work with. I can manage 10 mins. on the bike at medium resistance, and other days a 20 min. walk. Would this be enough?

Many thanks for your reply.

[Hidden]

I wonder if you used to do hula-hoop when you were young? Do you reckon you could still do it (without hurting anything!)?

If you could, you can often buy them in big supermarkets as well as in toy shops and, of course, online.

Do start gently though.

It's just a thought.

[moutere in reply to Hidden]

Many thanks for the idea of a hoola hoop. I reckon it would work very well on the waistline. Recently saw them on sale in my local Tesco. Might give it a try.

[DreamstoReality]

Pilates would be a brilliant way to help your flexibility and muscle strength. Check at your local leisure center for a class called young at heart or similar. These classes are pilates or yoga for over 50's.

Swimming is a great way of exercising and improving energy levels. The water reduces the risk of injury and often helps us to work our bodies more than we would in a gym or dance class due to the resistance of the water and the best thing is, we don't even realise it! Maybe look into any aqua aerobics classes in your local area and see if you can have a taster session to try it out.

Hope this helps.

[moutere in reply to DreamstoReality]

I have a good pilates DVD that my son sent from NZ. I'll get that out and have a go at it. Regards the swimming, I have been advised at the hospital not to do any swimming because of my perforations in both eardrums. Could get infections. Many thanks for your reply.

[DreamstoReality]

Good luck with the pilates. Its fab you have a DVD so you can do it in your own home. Take care