10 Reasons That You’re Not Too Old for Taekwondo
Courtesy of 123 Dental
We love it when we can get seniors to engage in new activities like taekwondo and cardio classes that will help them to become healthier and more agile. Exercising at any age is the key to having more energy and feeling the effects similar to eating chocolate or falling in love. Exercise helps you increase the level of endorphins in your brain, which feels pleasurable and elevate your mood. In this piece, we talk about ten reasons why you’re not too old for Tae Kwon Do by considering information from the National Institute on Aging.
1. You want to increase your range of motion in all joints.
When you do taekwondo, it’s ok to tell the instructor that you need to perform some lower impact versions of specific exercises. Typically, these martial arts instructors are like aerobics instructors. They can modify an activity so that you are not over-exerting your joints.
2. You are still able to get up out of bed in the morning and walk the dog.
This is an example of cardio that people don’t even think about, but it keeps you young.
3. You carry more weight and exert more force when you load your groceries into the car.
There might be someone who helps you get the packages out to the car, but you are carrying them into the house. The more trips that you take to load groceries into the house, the more calories you burn, just like cardio classes (a la taekwondo).
4. You do similar amounts of movement when you try leisure forms of golf, tennis, and swimming.
Taekwondo is more structured, requiring that participants meet the demands of the instructor leading the group. However, like these recreational sports, a martial arts class helps you to make new friends and to look forward to attending every week. Your fellow students in the class help you become accountable for increased cardio activity.
5. You don’t have one of these reasons to talk to your doctor.
Some people would need to consult the doctor before starting a new physical activity, according to the National Institute on Aging. If you have one of these and you get the okay from the doctor, you might have to increase your level of participation in group exercise slowly:
Dizziness
Shortness of breath
Chest pain or heart skipping, racing, or fluttering
Infection or fever with aching muscles
Blood clots
Swollen joints
Unintended weight loss
Bleeding or detached retina
Hernia
Recent surgery of the back or hip
6. You want to keep your heart in shape because there is a history of heart disease in your family (including heart attack and stroke).
When you do any form of movement that moves your arms and legs and requires a higher oxygen demand, you are going to breathe heavier. You should be doing a form of exercise, however demanding or not demanding, and end up keeping your heart in shape.
7. You want to feel young even though your body is aging.
There are many signs that your body is not what it once was. This happens by the time most people reach middle age, about forty years old. But, for some people, it occurs at a much younger age. Call it genetics or the person having a history of engaging in habits that increase aging, such as smoking, heavy drinking, or being morbidly obese. What’s more, with every decade that you live, you are more likely to slip and fall doing everyday activities. So, everything that you can do to keep the right agility in your joints and to strengthen your muscles and maintain balance (especially through regular exercise) will help you offset your natural propensity to fall as a senior.
8. You want to increase your mental discipline and practice the moves that you learn in case you ever experience an urgent need to defend yourself.
Being in a defensive situation and feeling weaker than another adult is not something that we might consider until we get older. When we are young, it’s normal to feel invincible. Younger people have sharp senses, good hearing, and sight, and they may feel keenly aware of their surroundings. Older people will eventually see that their reaction times slow down. At the same time, they want to feel alert and able to survive without being attended to by another adult.
9. You want to stay independent for as long as possible, so it will be years before you need to live with family.
While there are tech solutions for seniors that help improve quality of life, many aging adults still crave independence in their everyday lives. No one wants to feel like a drain on their children or grandchildren. When you go to regular group exercise classes, you are increasing your chances that your body will stay in shape longer. You are reducing your risk for many types of diseases that tend to become more common with age.
10. You want to maintain muscle tone even after losing a lot of weight.
Some older adults wise up at a later age with regard to changing their diet, or they could develop health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. These conditions make it harder to fight infection and increase your risks of developing other diseases. If you recently lost a good amount of weight, keep your muscles toned and a general healthy look by doing physically-demanding moves in the martial arts context.
We see many reasons why older people and middle-aged people think that going to a martial arts class might be too much for them. Honestly, it could be more difficult at first to perform the same kinds of movements other people demonstrate in a taekwondo class, especially if they have a higher cardiovascular capacity. However, you are encouraged to get more involved in taekwondo over time and to stay young and healthy through this excellent form of activity.
If you’re wanting some more information about taekwondo, please check out our site and get in contact with us to see if you’d like to have a couple trial lessons!
