Caregivers are urged to exercise so that they can maintain their sanity and health. Usually, the recommended exercise is something run-of-the-mill like walking, cycling, an aerobics class, jogging, yoga, etc.
Having lived with my parents for four months during a brutal caregiving stint that included my mother’s two brain surgeries, I strongly urge caregivers to engage in specific exercises that are designed to create seemingly unlimited energy, resistance to feeling drained, as well as never feeling groggy.
Top five exercises to prevent caregiver exhaustion:
Deadlifts as heavy as possible for 8 reps
Squats: rapidly 20 times with moderate weights
Dumbbell chest presses or bench presses as heavy as possible for 8 reps
Staircase dashing with 10-30 lb dumbbells in each hand
High intensity interval training on a treadmill (pump arms; no holding on)
My exercise regimen enabled me to lift my 135-pound mother with ease several times a day, literally race up and down the stairs many times throughout the day without getting winded, literally hop out of bed wide awake in the middle of the night (every night, multiple times) to tend to her, continue working for income, make endless trips to the hospital which was 40 minutes one-way (father couldn’t drive due to back surgery), yet never once feel drained, exhausted or sleepy.
The only physical fallouts were five days’ worth of bad tension headaches, and missing my menstrual cycle for five months straight.
The caveat to my exercise plan for preventing caregiver exhaustion is that it’s most effective for caregivers who are already trained. Not all caregivers exercise. Caregivers who have not been exercising cannot just jump into heavy weight workouts or intense cardio.
You should still do the exercises, but start out very lightly and focus on form first. Over time, increase the weight; increase speed up the staircase; and increase speed on the treadmill.
If you’re currently not a caregiver, but foresee that you’ll be taking this role in the future, now is the time to prepare your body. You just never know in what capacity your body will be needed.
Little did I know that I’d have to lift my mother several times a day, for two months, following her quintuple bypass surgery. Almost every time she got out of a chair, she’d begin passing out. The oxygen deprivation to her brain, from the dive in blood pressure, impaired her reasoning, and thus, she lacked the insight to correct the situation by sitting back down.
Because she refused to alert me every time she exited a chair, I could not let her out of my sight for a single minute unless she was sleeping, or settled into watching a movie with my father. My father was in no condition to jump up and tend to my mother because he’d had very recent back surgery and suffered from leg pain. It was all on me, and those deadlifts sure came in handy.
If you predict future caregiving responsibilities, hit the gym now, and hard, and do the recommended exercises with ferocity if you’re already trained; novices should start easy. Every caregiver should know about high intensity interval training. To learn more about this incredible fat-burning, energizing exercise, read here.