Sports Participation Options Available For Aged People Essay

Explain the sports participation options available for aged people with medical conditions

Physical activity is essential for adults and the elderly. Aged people need to continue to participate in physical activity to help improve the quality of life and reduce the risks associated with a variety of lifestyle diseases. Many aged people suffer from medical conditions such as heart conditions, fracture and bone density and flexibility and joint mobility. There are many sporting activities that aged people with these medical conditions can participate in such as swimming, aqua aerobics and walking.

Heart conditions are any disorder that affects the heart and are common in aged people as when people age their blood vessels lose elasticity,
resting blood pressure while exercising increases, the heart may weaken, and maximum stroke volume decreases. Some aged athletes may have heart attacks or other heart related problems. For people suffering from heart conditions the following things must be taken into consideration before starting an physical activity; Pre screening is essential and work intensity needs to be lowered, warm up and cool downs should be used, avoid holding breath when exercising and exercise needs to build up gradually. Therefore sports that aged people with heart conditions should avoid include; Intense activities such as weights, press-ups and heavy lifting or digging and any exercise that causes chest pains or involves standing up quickly from the floor.

They could participate in regular aerobic exercise which can maintain or at least reduce the loss of cardiovascular functioning.
Some ideas include brisk walking, swimming, golf, aerobics, cycling, walking the dog and water aerobics. By participating in these activities aged people will be able to lower blood pressure, reduce strain on the heart, may reduce levels of bad LDL cholesterol that can form fatty deposits in the arteries and contribute to heart disease, improves circulation by preventing blood clots that can lead to heart attack and stroke, increases fat loss and builds muscle
mass.

Bone density is the amount of bone tissue in a certain volume of bone. Loss of bone density begins around 35 years of age. Aged people should take part in regular sporting activities to try and reduce this loss. Osteoporosis suffers should avoid activities in which falling is a risk. Therefore aged athletes wanting to decrease the loss of bone density should take part in regular aerobic, weight bearing exercises that are low impact and safe. Movement during these activities should be pain free and resistance training also helps in maintaining bone density. Things aged people could do to maintain bone density would include; lifting and carrying (e.g; groceries), climbing stairs instead of lift or escalator, moderate yard work and callisthenics (e.g; push-ups and sit-ups)

Joint pain, arthritis and tight muscles are some complaints that make flexibility training difficult.
Joint mobility and flexibility decrease with age due to the reduction of elasticity in the muscles, tendons and ligaments. Some conditions include osteoarthritis and muscle weakness and pain. Many of these conditions are due to a lack of exercise so it is important that aged people participate in exercise. Due to stiffness and lack of mobility sports like running should be avoided. Instead sports such as tai chi, bowls, stretching, yoga, dancing, gardening and even simple household things such as mopping and vacuuming can increase flexibility and help with things such as having a lower chance of
falls.

Arthritis is a condition that effects the coating of bones in our joints. Arthritis often affects the hands and major joints, which limits the type of sport or physical activity that is possible and these include sports like tennis and golf. However exercise will not cause additional damage and may assist in pain reduction. Aged people should take part in exercises such as endurance exercises and they should be done for 20 to 30 minutes three times a week unless you have severe pain or swelling in your joints, range-of-motion exercises can be done daily and should be done at least every other day and strengthening exercises should be done every other day unless you have severe pain or swelling in your joints. Some sports that they could take part in would include swimming, cycling and brisk walking. Exercise reduces joint pain and stiffness and increases flexibility, muscle strength, cardiac fitness, and endurance. It also helps with weight reduction and contributes to an improved sense of well-being.