Table of Contents

In today’s blog post, I cover three ways to make your aerobic exercise class safe if you are a senior or over the age of 50. These guidelines apply whether the class is in a gym or studio with a group of people, streaming live online over Zoom, YouTube or other social media platform, or delivered via a downloadable video service such as Amazon Prime. These guidelines are particularly important if you have osteoporosis, osteopenia or low bone density.

Three Aerobic Exercise Guidelines for Seniors and Individuals Over 50

You should keep these three guidelines in mind during your next aerobic exercise class:

  1. Make sure you keep perfect posture and alignment.
  2. Evaluate each exercise the instructor presents to make sure it is not contraindicated and modify or avoid those that are.
  3. Work at a pace that is both comfortable for you and allows you to maintain good form and alignment.

I discuss each of these in more detail below. Before that, let me provide some background and motivation for writing this post.

Physical Therapist and Aerobics Exercise Instructor

Shortly after graduating from Physical Therapy school at McGill University in Montreal, I became a YMCA certified aerobic exercise fitness instructor. As a result, I have a keen interest in aerobic exercise.

Today I operate my own clinic and I treat clients for a variety of conditions associated with aging including osteoporosis. I prescribe them therapeutic exercise programs for their bones, joints and muscles. Since a number of my clients attend aerobic exercise classes designed for seniors, I am interested to know if their instructors consider their bone health when leading the classes.

Aerobic Exercise for Seniors Classes: Good for Bone Health?

Unfortunately, I find that many class instructors do not consider bone health when they design their aerobic exercise classes. Sometimes I get concerned when a client tells me about some of the movements and exercises from their aerobic exercise class for seniors — whether the classes are at their local gym or are streaming online.

For example, a client who I have been seeing for several years, visited me to get an update to her exercise program. We started the session with me asking her to warm up with a marching exercise. She immediately started the march by slouching forward and twisting her body.

At that point, I asked, “By any chance are you doing a lot warmup exercises in your aerobic exercise class with your elbow touching your opposite knee?”

She responded, “Yes, we do it in every class. It’s one of the standard movements.”

At that point, I thought I definitely have to do a blog on this topic!

Is Your Aerobic Exercise Class Good for You?

We have a limited amount of time to exercise. I encourage those exercises to be healthy movements. In other words, your exercise time should avoid movements that bring you into a rounded shoulder posture.

In our typical day, we wake up, wash our face and brush our teeth. For many people, these activities of daily living (as well as other activities) bring them into a forward posture. As a result, the last thing you need to do during an aerobic exercise workout is return to that same unhealthy movement pattern.

Think about what happens in your aerobic exercise class, whether it is at your local gym or during a streaming online exercise class.

  • Does that aerobic workout support where you want to be in your life?
  • When you finish your class do you say:
    • “I feel great.”
    • “The instructor helped me work on my posture and balance.”
    • “There was time devoted to loading my bones.”
    • “I worked on my cardiovascular health.”

Look around and observe the movements of the people in your class (some online streaming classes allow you to see other class participants, even though the class is virtual).

Ask yourself:

  1. How are they holding their posture and alignment? In all likelihood, they are not holding themselves very well. Chances are, you may also be holding your posture and alignment in the same unhealthy way.
  2. Does the instructor put you into moves that support you or, without meaning to, bring you into less-than-optimal moves for your spine and your posture?

In the next section, we discuss my three aerobic exercise considerations in detail.

margaret doing yoga pose

Exercise Recommendations for Osteoporosis

Exercise is an essential ingredient to bone health. If you have osteoporosis, therapeutic exercise needs to be part of your osteoporosis treatment program.

But what exercises should you do and which ones should you avoid? What exercises build bone and which ones reduce your chance of a fracture? Is Yoga good for your bones? Who should you trust when it comes to exercises for osteoporosis?

A great resource on exercise and osteoporosis is my free, seven day email course called Exercise Recommendations for Osteoporosis. After you provide your email address, you will receive seven consecutive online educational videos on bone health — one lesson each day. You can look at the videos at anytime and as often as you like.

I cover important topics related to osteoporosis exercise including:

  • Can exercise reverse osteoporosis?
  • Stop the stoop — how to avoid kyphosis and rounded shoulders.
  • Key components of an osteoporosis exercise program.
  • Key principles of bone building.
  • Exercises you should avoid if you have osteoporosis.
  • Yoga and osteoporosis — should you practice yoga if you have osteoporosis?
  • Core strength and osteoporosis — why is core strength important if you have osteoporosis?

Enter your email address and I will start you on this free course. I do not SPAM or share your email address (or any information) with third parties. You can unsubscribe from my mail list at any time.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

 

Three Considerations for Aerobic Exercise for Seniors Classes

Here are three things that I want you to take with you into your next aerobic exercise class so that you get the most out of the class and keep your bones healthy. Each of these is important and can make a world of difference to your exercise program and your overall health.

1. Posture and Aerobic Exercise

My first request is that you be aware of your posture when you are in your aerobic exercise class. Ask yourself:

  • What is my alignment when I am doing these moves?
  • Is the alignment of my head in line with my spine?
  • Are my knees pointing in the same direction as my second toe when I am doing my squats and lunges?

If you are able to maintain postural alignment throughout your class, you are well ahead of the game (and most people in your class).

2. Evaluate the Exercises in Your Aerobic Exercise Class

My second request is that you carefully observe what happens in your aerobic exercise class. Take a moment during your class and ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Should I do this exercise?
  2. Is this movement safe for my bones?
  3. Perhaps I need to avoid this exercise?

Rather than stop participating in the class, think about how to modify the exercise so it is better for your bone health.

For example, consider the marching movement I mentioned earlier in this post where my client slouched forward, raised her leg and with her opposite elbow, and touched her knee.

Instead of repeating that forward movement, open up your posture as you bring your knees up. In other words, instead of reaching across and touching your opposite knee, do the following:

  1. Avoid the forward reach.
  2. Pull back both shoulders.
  3. Keep your posture aligned.

That is a great modification. You get the same cardiovascular benefit but it’s entirely different because, unlike the other movement, it has a positive affect on your posture and alignment.

Core Exercises in Your Aerobics Class

If it is an exercise you cannot modify, such as a crunch, substitute a different exercise, such as the abdominal strengthening exercises in Exercise for Better Bones.

If you’re looking for more ideas for modification and substitution for the crunch, consider a side plank that is at the level that challenges you. This will give you a better abdominal muscle workout — without compromising your spine.

My book, Strengthen Your Core, is full of planks and side planks that are safe, effective and fun for people concerned about the health of their bones.

In addition, Exercise for Better Bones is great resource and has lots of exercises that you can do. Substitute these new exercises into your aerobic exercise class at a pace that works for you.

3. Pace of Aerobic Exercise Class

Finally, consider the pace of your aerobic exercise class.

Most aerobic instructors, whether in person or online, bring a lot of positive energy into the class. As a result, many of the movements and the exercises are delivered at a rapid-fire rate. The “beats-per-minute” might be delivered at a rate that exceeds your ability to keep pace while maintaining good form.

Unfortunately, the class might be moving so fast that it doesn’t allow you to move with good form and your best alignment. Prioritize proper alignment over class pace.

Bone Healthy Aerobic Exercise Workouts

If you are looking for an aerobic exercise workout that is safe for your bones and good for your posture, balance and cardiovascular system, I encourage you to look at my streaming video series, Aerobic Exercises for Osteoporosis. I have released two seasons of this series on Amazon Prime and Vimeo. Each season includes three workouts, for a total of six bone building aerobic workouts.

Aerobic Exercises for Osteoporosis • Season One

In Season One of Aerobic Exercises for Osteoporosis, I present three progressively challenging aerobic weight bearing exercise workouts. These workouts focus on basic foundational aerobic exercise movements and during the three episodes I gradually introduce more challenging weight bearing and balance exercises that safely improve the health of your bones and body.

aerobic exercise workout video season one margaret martin melioguide

Aerobic Exercises for Osteoporosis • Season Two

In Season Two of Aerobic Exercises for Osteoporosis, we go beyond the basics and take on more complex and challenging movement patterns. Not only do we challenge our balance, we really build our aerobic capacity! During all of the workouts there is an emphasis on opening up through the upper back and chest, and more integration of arm movement while we do the steps.

aerobic exercise workout video season two margaret martin melioguide

Exercise Recommendations for Osteoporosis

Exercise is an essential ingredient to bone health. If you have osteoporosis, therapeutic exercise needs to be part of your osteoporosis treatment program.

But what exercises should you do and which ones should you avoid? What exercises build bone and which ones reduce your chance of a fracture? Is Yoga good for your bones? Who should you trust when it comes to exercises for osteoporosis?

A great resource on exercise and osteoporosis is my free, seven day email course called Exercise Recommendations for Osteoporosis. After you provide your email address, you will receive seven consecutive online educational videos on bone health — one lesson each day. You can look at the videos at anytime and as often as you like.

I cover important topics related to osteoporosis exercise including:

  • Can exercise reverse osteoporosis?
  • Stop the stoop — how to avoid kyphosis and rounded shoulders.
  • Key components of an osteoporosis exercise program.
  • Key principles of bone building.
  • Exercises you should avoid if you have osteoporosis.
  • Yoga and osteoporosis — should you practice yoga if you have osteoporosis?
  • Core strength and osteoporosis — why is core strength important if you have osteoporosis?

Enter your email address and I will start you on this free course. I do not SPAM or share your email address (or any information) with third parties. You can unsubscribe from my mail list at any time.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Conclusion

In this blog post I discussed aerobic classes for older adults and seniors. I identify three specific considerations. These guidelines apply to any aerobic exercise workout whether you participate in a live online streaming class, a group workout class at your local gym or via a downloadable workout video.

  1. Pay attention to your posture during your aerobics class.
  2. Consider modifying or avoiding certain exercises that you know are contraindicated for people with osteoporosis, osteopenia or low bone density.
  3. Make sure that you move at a pace that is comfortable for you and avoid a pace that compromises your movements.

Here are a few more thoughts and considerations for your aerobics exercise class.

  • It is important that you consider your core during your aerobic exercise workout.
  • Does your breathing support your movements? Does your breath support a jump or other intense movement?
  • What is your posture? Are your balance and stability in good check?

These are a couple of ideas to keep you safe and strong. I encourage you to change your aerobic exercise class so that you stay active for many more years to come.

Osteoporosis Exercise Plan

Visit my Osteoporosis Exercise Plan page for more information on this topic.

Comments

May 5, 2020 at 1:15pm

Gigi

Thank you so much for your work in this field. As an older person, I often feel invisible in our young person’s society. Even before I became “older” I had osteopenia, new I had to modify exercises but couldn’t access any information. Now I have! Thank you. Keep up your good works please!

May 5, 2020 at 1:17pm

Richard Martin replies

You are welcome.