Best Exercises for Retirement Community Residents

There is no doubt that exercise is very important for people of all ages. As you grow older, you should not despair and quit exercising. To maintain a healthy body, everybody needs physical activity that keeps your body moving. This helps in keeping a good physique, strong mental health, and also weight loss.

For older adults in retirement communities, the amount of exercise to do depends on factors like sickness and age. There are several types of exercises that older adults can do. They are not very intense and will not affect your health. Below we suggest a few great options that go well with retirement communities.

Endurance exercises

Examples of such exercises are jogging, biking, swimming, walking and dancing. These types of exercise help to stabilize your breathing rate and are good for your heart. Do not over work yourself by doing so many exercises per day. Your goal should be to have 150 minutes of exercise in a week. Depending on your health status, you can choose to do any of the endurance exercises. If you cannot ride a bike then swimming and light jogging could be the right exercise for you.

Weight lifting

Weight lifting helps in making you gain enough strength for your body. There are several weights that are recommended for older people. Do not go for the heavy weights because you might overwork your muscles and get a bad injury. Weight lifting should be done for a maximum of three days in a week. You should make sure that you have a rest between sessions or days to gain your strength. In the rest day, you can have other exercises. If you feel like you have the energy to lift weights ever day of the week, then you should ensure that you interchange the working muscles.

Balancing exercises

As you grow older, you might start facing difficulty in balancing and maintaining your stability. Due to illness or aging, most people can only stand for few minutes without risk of falling. Stability exercises help in strengthening your lower body. You can walk on your toes for short distances or do the stark pose. This is where you hold your arms wide apart and stand on one foot. At first, you might find it hard to maintain your balance but as you progress with your daily sessions, you will start gaining your balance.

Stretching

It is good to stretch your muscles so that your body stays flexible. These exercises are very good for people who have difficulty in walking or movement. Although they do not increase strength, they make your body limber and make movement easier. Stretch your shoulders, calf, thighs, legs and upper arms gently.

Chair exercises

There are several exercises that are chair bound for those people who have wheelchairs. You can use resistant bands for muscle strengthening. As you pull and stretch you are stretching your body and also adding stretch to your hands. You can bind the bands to furniture or even door knobs. You can even stretch the parts of your body that you are able to move without causing yourself a lot of pain. If you are seeing a physiotherapist or any kind of doctor, you can inquire about chair bound exercises that are fit for you.

Characteristics that Define the Best Assisted Living Communities

Assisted living communities have a lot to offer to the seniors. Be it nature trails, yoga classes, arts and crafts, leisurely activities, game nights or movie nights, there's usually something enjoyable, social, and fulfilling that older adults can experience at quality assist living communities.

There is more to great assisted living facilities than the fitness rooms or heated indoor pools; it’s all about the facility’s staff and the environment. It's the thought of knowing that your loved one gets all the attention and assisted care he or she needs.

If you're scouting for the perfect assisted living facilities or retirement communities, then this article is for you (or your loved one.) Below we share information about the characteristics that define the best assisted living communities.

1. A Clean, Safe, and Attentive Atmosphere

Assisted living is often associated with safety and care. The best communities have top quality staff members who always keep communication open. The staff members are easy to contact and decisive when something needs to be discussed.

From the director to the kitchen staff to nurses and care aides, everyone is ready to go out of their ways and do the little things that have immense impact on the senior’s life. In other words, assisted communities should be places where a senior can refer to the staff as considerate and dependable irrespective of who you call.

A perfect example is Snyder Village of the Peoria Area, one of top assisted living communities in the Midwest. At Snyder Village, the primary focus is the quality of the staff. They offer nurturing care and unparalleled levels of attention.

2. Home-Like Environment

Seniors don’t want to feel like they’re in a hospital, as a matter of fact, they don’t have to. Top notch assisted living facilities are spacious, have manicured grounds with flower beds, alluring decor and well maintained facilities.

They are places place where the living space reflects the resident’s personality. For instance, residents can hang their personal belongings such as photos and figurines on the walls.

3. Incredible Amenities

Assisted living should leave the seniors feeling like they’re on vacation. Seniors should be in for a treat with amenities like computer rooms, book libraries and classes that offer everything from scrap-booking to digital photography.

In simple terms, seniors shouldn’t stick to one place when in an assisted living community. Eating great food, using the facility’s bus ride to the shopping mall, walking the trails, golfing, well equipped fitness rooms, round the clock cafes, church services and game nights are some of the privileges to be enjoyed in top notch communities.

4. Family-friendly Environment

Sometimes, it’s tough to have your loved one placed under community care, thus it’s imperative that you find a community that’s family friendly to give you an assurance that you will stay connected to your loved one. Family involvement is vital and there should be special family nights at least three to five times every year.

Life is sweet in an assisted living facility when you can invite a friend over for lunch or when your grandchildren and great grandchildren get to visit you often. There are assisted living communities that send out invitations to family members during special events such as birthdays and other important gatherings.

Before you settle on a particular assisted living community, collect as much information as you can. You can visit the websites of various communities and read what others had to say about them. Be sure to pay a visit first, after all you want to place your loved one in the best assisted living facility.

This article was contributed on behalf of Snyder Village. When it comes to retirement in Peoria, older adults retreat to Snyder Village, one of the area's top retirement communities and assisted living facilities.

Retirement: Strategies & Tips to Set Realistic & Actionable Goals

There are thousands of individuals who retire from active employment every year around the globe. At their sunset days, the individuals who enter into a successful and sustainable retirement have laid concrete plans which enable them live a happy and comfortable life after retirement.

If you are amongst the group that is about to retire, then it is time you did a serious review of your retirement plans. Here are some tips to help get you thinking.

Set goals and timelines

It is important to take stock of what you have amassed so far. It is great for you if you have been having a consistent saving habit. Include income generating investments, any shares, personal savings, and social security funds in your stock.

Once you have had a clear financial standing record, start projecting possible expenses while out of active employment. Your lifestyle, medical expenses, and outstanding long-term debts determine the expenses. From this point, you can project how much you need to save to live comfortably. Set financial goals to meet in the remaining time in active employment.

Seek professional advice

Professional advice is important in setting up realistic financial goals. A retirement expert will advise on achievable goals and ways to reduce on your expenses and save more. He or she will also advise you on less risky investment ideas. (Your appetite for risk is now low).

Use catch-up investment plans to your advantage

Catch up investments are a great financial instrument especially if you had not saved much. These are tax sheltered retirement accounts such as IRAs. With these instruments, you can work your way through secured bonds. At this time, you might not be able to handle the risks involved in the money market. You need to talk to your financial adviser on the best catch up investment clubs around.

Determine plans for living

This consideration is unique per individual. Some individuals who enter into retirement take into consideration their current health and anticipated level of care they will need in the future. If assisted living is something you're thinking about, you may want to consider a retirement community or a place that offers the level of care you might need. There are a wealth of good retirement communities that offer the independence and level of enjoyment you may be seeking.

Exit at the right time

If you find that you might not have met your goals by retirement time, you may decide to downshift your retirement and add up more working years. At this time, you should tighten your financial belts and work towards saving much more. You may also work as a consultant in areas you were specialized on at the time of your retirement. Working is also a great retirement plan.

Work on your debt

Debt is likely to be the greatest headache that you might face once you retire. Most of the debt comes from long-term investments such as mortgages. It is important to weigh the benefits of continue paying up the mortgage against ploughing back cash to the stock market but paying rent. Reducing your debts before retirement will lower the pressure on your savings.

Cater for eventualities

Any retiree should be aware of such costs as medical cost and damage to property that may wipe down all their savings. It is important to plan and cater for them. One of the major unexpected expenses is medical expenses. Since your employer no longer insures you, it is prudent to have health insurance cover to safeguard your money from being swallowed up by hospital bills.

A good retirement plan is always to save more, reduce on expenses and safeguard your money from unplanned expenses. Plan wisely to have lovely sunset days of your life.

Redefining Assisted Living Facilities with a Community Approach

If you're seeking assisted living facilities in Peoria, IL and haven't heard about Snyder Village, then you might find this article incredibly enlightening. Snyder Village is one central Illinois' most highly sought-after retirement communities just outside of Peoria in Metamora.

Not only does the staff do a great job at providing top-notch assisted living services, but environment and activities nurtures to the emotional and spiritual needs of every individual who is staying there. If you are searching for a welcoming, respectful and loving Christian assisted living facility, then this retirement community is for you.

Why Retirement Communities Trump Assisted Living Facilities

It's easy to get overwhelmed with all of the retirement options available. But it's important to look deeply that aspects of assisted living that mean the most. If things such as health-care assistance, quality of atmosphere, social environment, activities available, and other such considerations matter in more ways than others, you should use these elements as tools to help you find prospective assisted living facilities.

What's unique about Snyder Village is that it trumps most assisted living facilities in Peoria, IL, and provide a retirement community atmosphere that blends a number of nurture characteristics and qualities.

Snyder Village: Embracing All Walk of Life

If you choose to become a resident of Snyder Village, you will find a community that's peaceful, serene and friendly. The campus itself is clean and well-maintained. But most importantly, it's secure and respects individuals of all walk so life.

No matter what religious beliefs you have, you will be well-accepted here. Snyder Village chooses to take the innovative approach to care, and its residents can vouch for the serenity and peace that can be found there, even on rainy days. Its specialty is always having a receptive ear towards the needs of each specific individual, and acting upon the wishes they express.

The nurses that work at Snyder Village are all highly-trained, yet still maintain such a level of friendliness that simply cannot be found anywhere else. The 40-acre courtyard consists of health-care centers, cottages and apartments. No matter what kind of health-related problems you might be facing, the staff will do their very best to aid you.

A Social and Activity-oriented Retirement Community

Among other aspects of Snyder Village, it's well known to be a social and activity-oriented retirement community in the Peoria, IL area. As an older individual, you're guaranteed to never run out of things to do at the retirement community of Snyder Village. You can choose among plenty of available activities, or you can freely socialize with other residents in a community that's peaceful and engaging. Snyder Village always makes sure its residents are living their lives to the fullest.

Because staying fit plays a big part in one's general health and happiness, there are various fitness centers available at the campus site. If you don't know which exercises are the best for you, don't worry! The staff will be happy to guide you on your way. Also, there are various churches that allow for quiet and peaceful praying for those who are interested in performing religious activities.

At Snyder Village, you're guaranteed to never run out of things to do. If you ever get tired of the peace and quiet, why not sign up to do some volunteer work or some other job? You won't believe how fun this can get when you're socializing with the people of your age.

Worrying about maintenance of your home is now a thing of the past, thanks to the maintenance staff. And if you require in-house assisted living benefits, the nursing staff is loving, professional and polite at all times.

If you want to live a worry-free retirement in Peoria area, give Snyder Village a call today! The community is eagerly awaiting to welcome you to its circles.