Gardening for Relaxation

From growing flowers to your own herbs and vegetables, North and South Carolina provide the perfect climate for gardening. Moreover, gardening provides many active adults over 55 the opportunity to be outdoors, relax, and even reap some delightful health benefits.

Here are just a few reasons spending a bit of time tending to your garden in your retirement years can help you to relax and improve your overall health

• Boosts Your Vitamin D
  Getting outside on a nice day provides you with a healthy dose of Vitamin D from the sun. Of course, you need to be mindful of how much sun you get, but in small doses, natural sunlight has proven to provide lots of health benefits.
• Provides Fresh Air
  Being outside in the fresh air is lovely. Being outside and working with plants can actually increase the level of fresh air you’re getting. Plants remove CO2, while manufacturing oxygen, so a few hours in the garden ensures that you’re truly getting lots of fresh air.
• Improves Mood
  Gardening allows many people the opportunity to clear away stress, by allowing you to focus on the act of tending to your plants. The Vitamin D you’ll get from the sun is also a natural mood enhancer.
• Reduces Blood Pressure
  Gardening offers the opportunity for low stress exercise. While it is not considered an aerobic exercise, gardening does require muscle movement, which in turn burns calories, reduces stress from the release of endorphins, thereby aiding in lowering your blood pressure.

Gardening in our retirement years can be a very fulfilling outdoor activity, which will provide you with subtle health benefits, in addition to helping you to relax. Tribute Homes located in North and South Carolina affords the perfect locales with corresponding favorable climates to allow you to be outside year-round. For information on our active adult retirement communities, contact us directly by calling (800) 381-2984 or visit us on the web at www.tributehomesusa.com.

Health Benefits of Swimming

In addition to walking, one of the best exercises for active adults over the age of 55 is certainly swimming. Whether you're going to a local pool or taking advantage of natural waterways in the Carolinas, experts agree that swimming provides incredible health benefits to us in our retirement years. Here are a few of the ways that regular swimming can keep you in top physical shape as you age.

• Swimming can improve blood pressure
  As a low impact exercise, swimming is nonetheless laden with health benefits including reducing blood pressure. Because swimming helps improve circulation, and lowers blood pressure it may also lower your risk for heart disease and stroke.

• Swimming provides total body conditioning
  The act of swimming allows you to use muscles you may not otherwise use. Moreover, swimming utilizes all of your major muscle groups, so that both your upper and lower body muscles become more toned.

• Swimming Lowers Cholesterol
  Swimming, which is considered an aerobic exercise can help your body to raise the "good cholesterol" while reducing the "bad cholesterol." Your risk of heart disease is lowered when you improve your good cholesterol.

• Swimming lowers risk of diabetes
  Aerobic exercise such as swimming can help you to reduce the risk of diabetes, by helping you to burn hundreds of calories each week. For example, just 90 minutes a week of swimming the breaststroke can burn up to 900 calories. That can reduce your risk of getting diabetes from 10-15%.

Swimming is also a low impact exercise, which has a very low incidence of injury. Moreover, many doctors recommend swimming for active adults who have an existing injury. Swimming is a low stress exercise, which results in very little muscle strain, but great health benefits. However you should always consult your doctor before beginning any new physical fitness routine.

Tribute Homes in North and South Carolina understands that retirement may just be the beginning of your most active years. We offer low maintenance and energy efficient homes so that you can focus on yourself and your loved ones in your retirement years. For information on our lakeside or golf community homes for active adults 55+, contact us directly by calling (800) 381-2984 or visit us on the web at www.tributehomesusa.com.