When dealing with clients approaching retirement should we be trying to prepare them Physically and Emotionally as well as Financially. Certainly if we want our clients to enjoy later life there are important issues they need to incorporate in their plans. One of these is Physical wellbeing.

Recent statistics from Capita suggest that 1 in 4 people over the age of 50 do no exercise whatsoever. But why is exercise so important as we get older? 

Without remaining physically fit the independence and freedom retirement can bring is massively compromised. Strength and flexibility are the two most important factors to emphasise on and maintain on a daily basis. 

The main physical issues the elderly encounter as they get older are with mobility and balance. Without these, they are stripped of their self-sufficiency and they become vulnerable. Lack of motion also nearly always leads to pain gain.  

Exercise can be as simple as a daily walk, but don’t make this a chore be creative, perhaps get off the bus at the stop before the one you need or park at the far side of the supermarket car park. All these small things combined will be of benefit, as well as joining the Gym. Gym classes can be great fun and highly social, for example Yoga and Pilates or “Move it or lose it”.  

However, sadly, not all pensioners are able bodied enough to get out to enjoy these. 

For those that cannot get out and about, there are still a large number of exercises that can be done at home to improve physical fitness. The two most important of these are: 

1. Seating to standing – sitting comfortably on a chair and slowly raising yourself up to a standing position whilst not using your arms to push down onto your thighs. This is a vital every day exercise that we use in so many aspects of your lives, for example when getting up off a chair, using the toilet or riding the bus, and without which life very quickly becomes difficult. It is vital to maintain and practice this every day. How many times can you get up in 30 seconds?

1. Balance and stability – Using the kitchen sink or a chair for stability and raising one leg whilst maintaining balance. Are you able to do this without holding on to anything and can you hold for 10 seconds? This again is a move that we make daily when climbing stairs, getting on and off escalators or a bus and if not maintained can lead to instability and a greater risk of falls.

A more advanced version of this will be raising the opposite arm and legs.

This can be built on for the more able bodied, by adding any number of exercises to create a full body workout. For example: 

-       Bicep curls or arm raises (seated or standing) using water bottles or tins of soup as weights

-       Seated shoulder press again using beans or water bottles as weights

-       Heel raises, again using a chair or the kitchen sink for stability, trying to raise your heels for 10 seconds to stand on tiptoes

-       Leg raise forwards and back, either seated or standing

-       Core exercising by raising one arm and opposite leg/knee

-       Chin tuck – looking up at the ceiling and then down to the ground tucking the chin in

-       Seated twists - Arms together and twist

-       Seated Hip open and close

-       Pick up off chair – pushing down with both arms onto the sides of the chair and trying to raise your body up as much