Everyone wants a healthy body, including senior citizens. This is because there are so many exercise programs, Peloton included, that allow our bodies to maintain health, strength, and live a long life. But is Peloton a good match for seniors?
Peloton is excellent for senior citizens and everyone who wants to stay fit. This exercise platform has classes designed for every age, including older users. Participants can work out at their own intensity and difficulty level so that seniors can use it easily.
There is a lot that Peloton has to offer, and these machines can be used safely by people of all ages. In addition, regular, gentle exercise will provide many health benefits to seniors as they age.
There are multiple classes that anyone can select based on their personal preferences. All of these vary in skill and intensity levels, so everyone should pick the level that suits their needs.
Age, Health, and Benefits
Peloton writes an article about the different types of workouts that your body can do and execute during the different decades in your life. With each decade that passes, your body changes in specific abilities and exercises you can focus on. You can find the full breakdown here, but this is the watered-down version:
In your 20s, intense workouts are the thing that will be good for your body. These workouts will give you strength and energy. However, the guide cautions also to make sure you take breaks and participate in less intense workouts to let your muscles relax and grow.
Yoga is a good practice for this purpose. By your 30s, you know your body well enough to recognize what it needs workout-wise, especially during your daily lives, jobs, families, and overall stress increases. Between your 20s and 30s, not much physically changes in workouts.
In your 40s, the article suggests adding more mobility in your workouts, like walking or biking, because your body is getting older and needs less intense workouts. In your 50s, consistent restorative practice is recommended, and so is weight training. Finally, in the next two decades, the 60s and 70s, you should be more focused on keeping your balance, flexibility, and maintaining general daily movement.
Daily exercise, as everyone knows, keeps us healthy. It reduces stress and depression, which is becoming more common and is often treated with medicines instead of exercise. In seniors, the health benefits of exercise are a lot more noticeable. A few benefits include living healthier lives and living longer.
It’s also noticeable that exercising seniors are more balanced – meaning fewer falls and injuries – and they are more energetic when they exercise.
All of this provides seniors with more independence in their later years. Usually, when people get older, they lose the ability to move around as quickly as they once did. However, when they exercise, Senior Citizens don’t have that problem (or can resist it for longer).
Daily exercise with senior citizens can improve your brain and memory, and it has also proven to prevent deadly and heartbreaking diseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease. Staying active is good for the body, mind, and spirit.
Another health benefit that comes up when you exercise includes sleeping better. This, in turn, improves your memory as well as your overall mood. Also, when you exercise, you lose weight, and once you have reached a healthy body weight, the exercise helps you maintain that body weight.
Fun fact: When you are exercising, it also makes it easier to quit smoking!
Risks
However, as you get older, there are specific exercises you will be unable to do, which is why it is recommended with Peloton to start with the beginner’s courses, especially when Seniors haven’t been active in years. When you age, your muscles lose the ability to contract. When you stop being active, you lose it even faster, which causes you to age more.
Some of the exercises that will not be available to Senior Citizens if they are getting back into the exercise process include:
- Long-distance running
- High-intensity running (sprinting)
- Any sort of heavy weight-lifting
- Rock-climbing
- Boot-camp
Many of Peloton’s workouts are intense, so please listen to your body when you are participating in the videos. You know what is best for your body, and your body will tell you when something is wrong. So listen, and be careful when selecting classes and the intensity.
Also, be careful when using the bikes and treads while working out.
There have been reports of injuries when using Peloton bikes and treads (not the fake TV scenes), so if you want one of these machines, look around a little longer to make sure the equipment will be safe for you.
Generally, Peloton Bikes and Treads are very high-quality products. Still, any exercise equipment can be dangerous when misused or without care, including for those around equipment when they shouldn’t be.
It takes longer to heal when you get older and accidentally injure yourself, especially if you are not exercising regularly. So, when you are exercising daily, you can heal more quickly.
Do still keep in mind that you are getting older every day, and you are not as strong as you used to be when you were 20. This can be hard to reconcile, but good exercise programs for every age and skill level!
Why Peloton?
The Peloton App claims that out of the 125.8K people who have memberships and reviewed their experience, the average satisfaction score was 4.9 out of 5 stars!
There are different instructors within the program itself for each of the wide variety of classes they provide. The classes they provide are listed below:
- Running (indoor and outdoor)
- Cycling
- Yoga/meditation
- Pilates
- Barre
- Strength
- Walking
- Stretching
- Cardio
- Boot camp (bike and tread)
The classes are divided into beginners, intermediate, and advanced classes. Based on the list so far, seniors have plenty of options for beginner-level classes and safe types, like walking, meditation, yoga, and even cycling.
The classes can be filtered into whatever type of workout you want to do, the kind of exercise, the intensity, and a specific time limit you’re looking for. In addition, the videos the Peloton program provides are called Live, Encore, and On-demand.
The Live classes are streamed live with the instructor and participating people.
The Encore classes are streamed as though they are live, but they’re not.
The On-demand classes are videos that have been previously recorded. So whatever is comfortable for you will be there.
Class Suggestions
There are no specific classes that are solely designed for Seniors, but that does not mean you cannot use Peloton. As said before, the classes are divided by intensity/difficulty, and beginner-level classes are a safe bet to start with if you are a senior citizen.
There is a Walking class, and at first glance, that may not seem like a perfect workout, but walking does have its health benefits.
First of all, if that’s all you can do or to start with, it prevents a sedentary life on the couch. Secondly, it increases the health of your heart and improves muscle endurance, your mood, and your quality of sleep.
Simple as it is, walking is very beneficial when you are in a state of mind to make it worth your time.
An excellent way to benefit from your walking exercise is to walk by intervals. Intervals have been proven to be an excellent exercise tactic used for Cross-Country and Track runners, and they can be used and applied for walking as well. First, walk intensely – or speedwalk – for a few minutes before walking at an average pace for one minute or so. Then, repeat the process!
If you completely slow down, your heart rate won’t stay beating as hard as it should if you want the benefits of a healthy heart and a clear mind. Walking at an average pace instead of ultimately slowing down will keep your heart rate up. Seniors should still be careful when they do intervals, though. Try to avoid anything that might be too intense for your body.
Meditation and yoga are both relaxing exercises that could probably go together. They are two separate classes on Peloton, but yoga has a few meditation parts.
Yoga might be too intense for some seniors because of all the stretching and strength needed for their upper and lower bodies.
But, depending on how confident you are with your body strength and endurance, it might be a fine line between “it’s safe for you to do” or “it’s not safe for you to do.”
But, if it is something you can do, that will be to your benefit, and you’ll be feeling light as a feather after those workouts.
Yoga focuses on flexibility and balance, but it also throws in a reasonable amount of endurance. The benefits become apparent with regular practice. You become more flexible, mobile, and balanced. There is also a lot of deep and focused breathing during yoga, which could also be applied in meditation.
The benefits all relate to your mental and emotional state when you participate in meditation. Overall, a good mood, patience, calmness, and less stress can come from a good yoga workout.
Cycling is another class provided, and it’s an easy and simple exercise to do. However, please do not do intense workouts if your body cannot handle it!
A simple ride on a bike is sometimes all you need, and 30 minutes is all the time you need to spend to get a good exercise in for the day. Besides the benefits of improved heart and memory, cycling also improves balance and leg strength. In addition, it also reduces the risk of some types of cancer!
Cycling is also an excellent opportunity for you to exercise socially. Exercising isn’t as fun when alone as it is with friends. When you get older or move on living a retiree’s life, your life will get boring if you stay in the house all day. Cycling is a great opportunity to get out of the house and socialize.
Having an exercise group makes it easier to be motivated to exercise each day, and it encourages your friends to exercise as well. When friends exercise together, they can push each other to achieve goals or make the experience more fun because of those social interactions.
The social interaction might not be very appealing or relevant, but it does make a difference.
The App, Money, and Equipment
If you want to try the Peloton program for a short time without being charged, their website provides a 30-day free trial if you’re going to find out if the program is a good fit for you.
There are two ways to access it, according to the website. One is an All-Access Membership, where everyone in your family can access it. The second is the Peloton App Membership used individually on your phone or devices.
If you want an easy get-to-the-Peloton-app link, click here.
If you decide to use the Peloton program, it’s $13 per month. Unfortunately, Peloton does not provide a Senior discount, but they give a discount for all active military members, as long as you provide proof when you sign up for it.
As for those impressive bikes and treads, keep in mind that they are $1,500 to nearly $3,000 per bike. You can get used bikes and treads too, so make sure you do your research when you buy.
Peloton also provides a place on their website where you can buy their treads and bikes and cycling shoes, mats, weights, and bands. These can be purchased separately or in sets. There is also a place where you can shop for Peolton-branded exercise clothing.
So what are you waiting for? Peloton has something for everybody, no matter how old you are.