When we talk about exercise or physical activity, we often talk about doing one thing at a time, like walking, swimming, cycling, going to the gym to lift weights. However, we don’t talk as much about doing activities that help multiple fitness components during the one session, such as cardiovascular endurance (i.e. our health, lungs and circulatory systems), muscle strength, power, flexibility, agility, balance, coordination, reaction time and speed.
When we are doing more than one type of activity at a time, this is called multi-modal exercise and is highly beneficial for older people, particularly for maintaining overall health, function and independence. For younger adults it also helps to build a solid health and fitness platform which will assist you at any age, but especially as you get older.
An example of multimodal exercise you can consider including to maintain good health is circuit training at your local gymnasium, community/recreation centre or in the local park. If you are doing circuit training at the moment, have a think about whether it includes any balance activities (walking heel-toe along a line), because they often get neglected and are so important for preventing falls. Does the circuit training include any strength exercises like squats (visualise sitting down on a chair), push ups (which can be on the ground or against the wall), or using dumbbells or therabands. They may include short bouts of aerobic exercise like stair climbing, boxing, walking in place, jumping jacks, skipping rope and having a cool down at the end that includes stretching. These are the types of activities and fitness components to look for in a circuit training program.
Tai Chi and yoga are also great forms of multimodal exercise. Although research hasn’t yet shown yoga to lower our risk of falls there are many benefits to participating in yoga and it certainly improves our strength, core (stomach, hips, bottom and back areas) and flexibility. I have even seen some people teach their dogs to do yoga with them, so those with a dog can have a workout partner too! There are also sessions in local parks, like Hyde Park in Perth, where you go and pay what you can to do a session with around 50 other yoga enthusiasts.
Tai Chi however has been shown to reduce falls and injuries from falls, so if you enjoy Tai Chi or have thought you might like to try it, go online and look up your nearest Tai Chi centre. You will find over time your strength, aerobic, balance and flexibility will really improve. Tai Chi also really focuses on breathing, which seems very obvious, but we as humans are not as good at breathing as we used to be (too many distractions) and that extra oxygen and working our chests/lungs really does benefit our health, particularly for those who do their sessions outdoors in towns or cities with excellent air quality.
One type of multimodal exercise you may not have seen before is a Seniors Exercise Park. There are plenty of parks around the world that include exercise equipment, some place all of the equipment in the one place, others dot them around the park in the hope people will use them while they are on a walk. These types of equipment usually help to improve our strength but again don’t focus on our balance which is so important at every age. That’s where Seniors Exercise Parks differ. They are equipment all within the one area, but they include a lot of different activities that improve our balance and the research shows they help improve balance, strength, functional movement, joint range of motion and mobility and prevent falls. Professor Pazit Levinger from the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) has been researching the benefits of Seniors Exercise Parks for over a decade and there is some great information about them online here. The exercises include walking on a balance beam, using the balance stool, a gangway made of ropes and planks, pull-up and push-up bars, step ups, walking a ramp and net, core twists, shoulder arches and more. They are all really fun to use and are great in group sessions.
I had a PhD student from Singapore, now Dr Michelle Ng also complete her studies using Seniors Exercise Parks in Perth. She worked with people with mild balance dysfunction whose average age was 78. She found with 18 weeks of training they significantly improved their balance, mobility, lower body strength and fast walking speed when using the Seniors Exercise Park three times a week [1]. Some of the comments from the participants included:
“I was shocked at the improvement, when I first started, how difficult the exercises were, which I had poo-hooed [sic] myself, and I thought that was nothing. Well, not so. Not so at all. It was challenging and, you know, I learnt a lot.” [2, p. 4]
“Yes, I used to have to sit down to put my trousers and underwear on, and now I don’t. And I can put my shoes on standing up. I mean, I have to use the longhorn, but I can, and I couldn’t before—definitely couldn’t.” [2, p. 5]
Other types of multi-modal activities I won’t go into too much detail about, but that you might like to consider are dance classes (e.g. Zumba, ballroom or tango), outdoor activities like hiking, water aerobics and Pilates. Each of these activities benefits your health, so if they sound appealing, perhaps consider giving one a go!
If you are already doing some multi-modal activities each week keep going, your body and health thanks you
If you are not, it’s never too late to start, today is the best day to begin
Pick something that sounds like fun to YOU
If you don’t have a dog that does yoga, see if you can find a friend that might like to do one of the activities mentioned above with you or something else I haven’t mentioned. You can then go for a coffee and chat afterwards as a reward
Have a look in your local newspaper, shopping centre or library notice boards or online, people advertise in different places, but you might find something close to home that sounds like fun and is good for you
Seniors Exercise Parks are generally free to use because it is the local council who has purchased them for their rate payers, check with your local council if they have one in your area
Live the good life!
References
[1] Ng, Y.L., Hill, K.D., Levinger, P., Jacques, A., Burton, E. 2023. A Seniors Exercise Park Program for Older Adults with Mild Balance Dysfunction - A Feasibility Study. Disability & Rehabilitation, 45(19): 3143-3154. DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2022.2112984
[2] Ng, Y.L., Hill, K.D., Burton, E. 2023. Experiences of older adults with mild balance dysfunction following a supervised seniors exercise park program progressing to independent practice. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 31(4), 1-11. DOI: 10.1123/japa.2022-0131.
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