Exercise for Seniors is One Key to Keeping Car Keys
So you already know that exercise is one key to good long-term health. It turns out that exercise also can help you be a better driver and hang onto those car keys later in life. That’s according to research conducted by The Hartford Center for Mature Market Excellence and the MIT AgeLab.
Exercise improves flexibility, range of motion, and coordination, all which could help seniors drive more safely and maintain driving privileges.
Here’s some of what the research uncovered.
Study participants over the age of 50 identified the most challenging physical aspects of driving as:
- Turning their head and body to look behind when backing up (41%)
- Getting in and out of the car (22%)
- Turning their head to see blind spots when changing lanes (19%)
Exercise can ease some of those challenges, and study participants who did specific exercises for 10 weeks saw improvements to their driving.
They found it easier to:
· Turn their heads to see blind spots when changing lanes or backing up.
· Rotate their bodies further so they could scan the driving environment when making right-hand turns.
· Get into their cars faster. They also showed increased overall flexibility.
Range of motion exercises can make it easier to put on seatbelts; flexibility exercises help with getting in and out of cars; and coordination exercises can improve drivers’ reaction time.
You can do the exercises at home with little or no equipment.
See: http://www.thehartford.com/sites/thehartford/files/exercise-for-mature-drivers.pdf
If you are a senior and in the market to buy or sell a home,
contact Barbara Michaluk, Realtor and Senior Real Estate Specialist.
Phone 240-506-2434
Or click here for Barbara's website: BarbaraSellsMDhomes.com
Source: SRES newsletter 2014
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