It’s no secret that golf can be physically demanding: turning and twisting the elbows and hips and walking around and moving a lot, maybe too much for seniors. That said, golfing may actually help elderly people stay healthy.
This feature shares some of the best benefits of playing golf for seniors in their retirement years. Are you wondering how it may help you or someone you know? Keep on reading to learn more.
1. It Allows For Socialization
In general, retired people often spend most of their time at home with limited interactions with people, causing loneliness and isolation that significantly impacts their overall health. Socializing can boost your overall well-being and health, especially during your senior years. It helps boost your mental wellbeing, improving memory recall, mood, and cognition.
Luckily, golf is a social game. Unlike soccer or basketball, golf is more of a ‘chill sport,’ providing more time to interact with others on the course. It’s a great way to spend time, play with your friends, meet new people, and make new friends. Make sure that you will wear your golf hat to protect you from the heat of the sun. In addition, most golf courses have lounges where you can meet, talk with other golfers, and form relationships.
Even if you don’t have an outgoing personality, most seniors report becoming more sociable after golfing regularly. Also golf gives a chance to interact with different generations. This offers opportunities to enhance your social connections and build a community.
2. It Provides Purpose
During retirement, most senior people lose purpose in their life. When you’re getting on in years, it’s easy to just sit at home, do nothing, and become aimless in the remaining years of your life. However, this can be a recipe for boredom, reducing your quality of life.
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Golfing can give you a new purpose, keeping your mind busy and occupied while challenging your body. Whether you’re challenging yourself to become an expert golfer and to compete with your friends, or you want to teach and spend more fun time with your grandchildren, golfing gives you more purpose than just living around aimlessly in your home. To enhance your skills, read different resources containing senior golfing guide and tips.
3. It Exposes You To Nature
There’s just something healing about the great outdoors. It helps reduce stress and prevent anxiety and depression, improves your mental and psychological well-being, provides exposure to beneficial UVB rays from the sun, boosts physical health, and so much more.
Most golf courses are about 200 acres large, giving you 200 acres of soothing nature. The game demands you to stay outdoors and bask in the healing nature. Soon, you’ll notice that your mood, physical, and overall well-being experience positive healing.
4. It Makes You Physically Active
One of the most significant benefits of playing golf for all people, especially seniors, is that it encourages you to be physically active.
In general, the majority of elderly people are sedentary. Whether just sleeping or watching, most seniors spend most of their time doing nothing.
A sedentary way of living can increase their risk of developing severe health problems, including obesity, hypertension, osteoporosis, depression, and anxiety, which can prevent them from enjoying their life in old age or shorten their life. At the same time, doing too much physical activity or strenuous exercises such as running or even bodyweight workouts can also be problematic and may cause injuries.
With golfing, you can enjoy a balanced physical activity. Golf is a low-intensity and low-impact sport that can help burn calories or muscle. For first-time golfers, the twisting may seem vigorous, but training your body core and joints can reduce the chances of injuries.
In particular, playing golf can build up your leg muscles and core strength, which is critical in old age. Having strong legs and core can help maintain flexibility and alleviate chronic pain. It also improves your heart health, which prevents or alleviates a wide range of diseases.
5. It Improves Sleep
According to statistics, 40% to 70% of seniors have chronic sleeping issues. Whether you can’t sleep or have poor quality sleep at night, golfing can help improve sleep and rest. With increased physical activity and reduced stress, seniors can sleep soundly at night, refreshing their minds and helping in body regeneration.
Takeaway
And there you have it! As you can see, golfing offers numerous benefits that help seniors stay physically active and healthy. It incorporates physical activity with fresh air, sunshine, relaxation, and some needed socialization. So, what are you waiting for? Look for a golf club near you and register your membership immediately to experience the real benefits of golfing.