If you are an elder, It is very important to maintain a healthy weight and indulge in light exercises to prevent age related muscle loss. Irrespective of age, it is a good habit to maintain an active lifestyle. It only becomes important as we grow old, so that we can perform daily activities like climbing stairs, getting out of a chair with ease.

Leg exercises help in strengthening one’s lower body and are most efficient in preserving freedom of movement without any assistance.

Before we head on to find out the best leg exercises for seniors, let us discuss its benefits:

• It helps in improving lean muscle mass.
• It reduces blood pressure and the risk of stroke and coronary disease.
• It improves bone health and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
• It improves glucose and insulin tolerance and reduces lower back pain. It provides additional benefits.

Following are the leg exercises for seniors that will help in strengthening the lower body

• Ankle circles
  It is a great warm up exercise for lower leg and feet. Ankle circles help in improving ankle flexibility and the ability to move the ankle freely upward and downward.
• Knee extension
  Knee extension helps in strengthening the lower body and helps in improving the ability to stand and balance. It also helps in improving the available knee range of motion.

• Hip marching
  Hip marching helps in correcting the seated posture and also helps in strengthening abdominal muscles, hip flexor and thighs.

• Calf raises
  This leg exercise is one of the best exercises for seniors as it helps in strengthening your calf muscles and provides more power to walk with balance even in uphill roads and uneven terrains. Calf raises also help in pumping blood up from legs to the upper-body and brain.

• Lunges
  Lunges help in strengthening quadriceps and hips. This exercise specially helps in improving the ability to get out of chair without any assistance, and lifting the chores around the house.
• Partial squats
  Partial squats help in providing steadiness to the body, and helps in improving hip flexibility, quadriceps and hip flexor strength.
• Heel stand
  This part of leg exercise strengthens the lower legs, making you able to raise your toes without tripping.
• Hip extension
  Hip extension helps in strengthening hip joints and muscle which helps in improving the ability to walk and propel yourself forward.
• Straight leg raise
  This is specifically effective to advance your leg and helps in walking with greater ease. This leg workout helps increase the strength of quadriceps and hip flexor.

If you are suffering from any medical or physical condition that restricts your movement, consult a physiotherapist or trained professional who will guide you accordingly.

Most women who are going through menopause often complain about frequent night sweats. Basically, a night sweat is nothing but unusual perspiration during the bedtime. This condition can make a woman uncomfortable and disrupt her sleep as well. Although they can occur due to many reasons such as infections, medication, cardiac diseases, fluctuations in blood pressure, cancer, idiopathic hyperhidrosis, etc. menopause has come across as one of common night sweat causes.

What causes night sweats during menopause?
Menopausal night sweats are caused mainly due to erratic hormonal fluctuations in a woman’s body. This means that the body’s estrogen levels fall drastically which directly affect the hypothalamus (an area of the brain that manages the body’s temperatures). The hypothalamus basically senses the rising temperature, and in order to restore the balance, it triggers your sweat glands to cool off the body.

If you are tackling with a similar situation, don’t get worried as there are several ways to manage menopausal night sweats.

• Relaxation techniques  Often once you wake up due to night sweats it’s hard to fall asleep because of the restlessness. To evade this situation, try some deep breathing exercises so that you can calm your nerves. These can gradually help bring down the effect of hot flashes and help get back to your slumber.
• Exercise  If you are looking for a long term solution, then use some form of physical exercise to alleviate your symptoms. Certain studies conclude that women who work out regularly have fewer episodes of night sweat and hot flashes. This could be helpful especially if you happen to be overweight, as body fat can cause distress by confining extra heat aggravating night sweat and hot flashes. So accommodate some simple physical training in your schedule. Also, try to make necessary alterations in your diet. For instance, avoid heat inducing ingredients, depend on foods that have a cooling effect on your body.
• Room temperature  Are you tackling with night sweats on repeated occasions then ensure to focus on smaller details like room temperature. Use a fan or lower the temperature while sleeping. So even you are awakened due to perspiration you will be able to soothe your body instantly. Also remember to wear comfortable clothing, preferably cotton or linen so that your body could breathe.

The above-listed home remedies can help you handle menopausal night sweats, however, if these don’t work for you, consult a doctor. They can recommend you with prescription drugs or hormonal therapies. Don’t forget that there are several night sweat causes and menopause is just one of them. So if you experience any additional and unusual symptoms then immediately seek medical intervention to gain clarity about your health.