Effective for cardiovascular, joint and cerebral health.
Maintaining physical activity after 60 years is essential to age better. Without sport, sedentary lifestyle sets up and with it an increase in the risk of chronic diseases. But it is not easy to find an easily accessible sport when the body tires quickly and the joints are painful. The walking is recommended as well as the bicycle (if we can still do it) but another activity is also put forward by several studies and we forget it too often. However, it would be good for cardiovascular, muscular, joint, cerebral and mental health.
The more sporting we get as you get older, the more you work your balance, its muscles and the more you reduce its risk of falling. Each year in France, the falls of the elderly lead to 100,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths. The famous sports activity recommended after 60 years reduces the risk of falling. This is the observation made by English researchers in a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology: it is “An ideal activity for the elderly due to its low impact on joints and the minimum risk of injury” they explain.
According to their observations on more than 1,600 senior men, this activity which is swimming would be the most effective in reducing the risk of falling after 60 years because it improves postural balance. An opinion shared by researchers from the University of Warwick in England: “The buoyancy of water helps support the weight of your body, which, once submerged, will reduce the effects of gravity”. This means that in water “There is little or no pressure on your joints, and any pressure on the spine, the hips and the knees is soothed by a total immersion in the water”. Without forgetting that swimming “considerably reduces cardiovascular risk in the elderly” According to English researchers from Sheffield Hallam University.
Finally, Indian researchers have shown that seniors practicing swimming had better mental speed and better attention compared to those who did not practice it. And like all sports, it relaxes and promotes quality sleep. According to the physiotherapist Christophe Cozzolino that we had questioned about the benefits of swimming for health, “Two sessions per week of 30 to 45 minutes are recommended“.
