How Can You Keep Motivation High for a Senior Who Wants to Exercise?
Motivation is definitely something that might be strong for your elderly family member one day and weaker on another. This is especially true when it comes to her exercise plan. Here are some ideas for helping her to stick with the exercise plan that she and her doctor have established.
Set Some Smaller Goals that Are Easy to Achieve
Often when an aging adult starts out with a new exercise plan, she’s got some big goals. She’s going to accomplish these massive goals in record time, too. The problem with that is that it’s not easy to stick with those big goals for the long term. It’s a lot easier to set smaller goals that are easy to achieve. Your elderly family member gets more immediate results that keep her going.
Figure out a Reward System for Those Goals
Speaking of immediate results, rewards are seriously effective for all sorts of situations. Exercising regularly is a big deal and your elderly family member really deserves a reward for all that hard work. Sit down with your senior and determine which goals are ones that she wants to reward when she gets there. Rewards can be really simple, like taking a special outing for exercising all week.
Find a Workout Buddy
Exercising alone isn’t very motivating for some people. This is especially true if your aging adult really likes to be around other people. There might be a friend or neighbor with whom she’d love to exercise, so find out if that’s possible. If not, consider hiring senior care providers to be your elderly family member’s exercise buddy. They can also look out for other potential problems and you know your senior will be in safe hands.
Keep a Workout Journal
One of the biggest ways you can help your elderly family member to stay motivated is to show her just how much she’s already accomplished. Workout journals track just a little bit of information about the exercise your senior does, such as the date, the type of exercise, and how far she went or other statistics. After a few entries, your aging family member will see that she’s already made some big progress.
Finding motivation is something that is different for everyone, of course. Your elderly family member may have different levels of motivation at different times and that’s perfectly normal. Tweaking her exercise plan now and again can help her to stay excited about being more active.
If you or someone you know needs Home Care in Spanish Fort, AL, please contact the friendly caregivers at Hughes Home Care. We provide quality and affordable care for your elderly loved ones in our community. Call Us Today 251-517-9901. Serving Mobile & Baldwin County.
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