Singapore explains benefits of adapted jumping exercises for older adults — Channel NewsAsia
In Singapore, sports medicine and fitness specialists recommend adapted plyometric exercises for older adults — short, quick explosive movements such as small hops, stomping or squats with a push-off. Such training can help improve balance, reaction speed, coordination and strength, Channel NewsAsia reports.
Gradual increase in workload
Sports medicine doctor Chiam Tut Fu noted that people’s movement speed, reaction time and balance decline with age. According to him, plyometric sessions for older people should be slower, involve less impact and have a smaller range of motion, especially at the beginning of a program.
Personal trainer Joshua Tan believes that such exercises prepare muscles and joints to react quickly in everyday situations, including when a person loses balance. He also pointed out that the impact involved in these movements may help strengthen bones. The article mentions a systematic review according to which jumping and hopping create loads that activate cells associated with the formation and maintenance of bone tissue.
Exercises with support
To start, Tan advises against doing high jumps. Instead, people can hold onto a handrail or another stable support and do small hops in place, move with short jumps forward and backward or sideways. A thick stretching mat can serve as a low step for repeated step-ups and step-downs. Other options include vigorous stomping and standing up from a chair by pushing off with the legs.
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Among more challenging exercises, the trainer named jump squats, hopping on one leg and movements with light weights. At the same time, he stressed that a quick explosive movement does not necessarily have to be a full jump.
Medical supervision and safety
Specialists warn that a program should take into account a person’s individual condition. Common limitations at an older age may include osteoporosis, sarcopenia, pain in the knees, back, hips or elbows, as well as fear of falling. Chiam Tut Fu advises undergoing a medical examination before starting such training and, where possible, exercising under the supervision of a trainer who knows how to work with older people.
According to the doctor, people without prior sports experience can also do plyometrics after receiving appropriate medical clearance. He noted that with training twice a week, improvements in balance, reaction time, speed and muscle strength may appear in about a month.
