Tag: Mobility

How to Stay Active and Mobile in Your Senior Years

What scares you the most about growing old? Is it Alzheimer’s, dementia, cancer, or a devastating neuromuscular disease?

Then there’s age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, hearing loss.

There’s a long list of age-related diseases we can acquire or succumb to as we age. But there is one thing that we can do: avoid general deterioration.

 

I spend a lot of time watching older people and observing the daily activities at the residential facility where my 97-year-old mother lives. And there are things that stand out for me.

 

Movement—

I am taken aback and saddened by the tremendous loss of mobility.

A large number of them use walkers. They slowly move from elevator, to dining room, back to the elevator, hunched over their four wheels, in hopes that they don’t teeter over, fall, and break a bone.

The longer they use the walkers, the more they hunch, the more they move with their legs in a splayed out position, shuffling more than picking up and swinging their legs in a natural gate.

They spend far too much time sitting in a chair, watching television. So often it’s the only mode of entertainment they have.

And the lack of activity contributes to a steady decline in strength and mobility, flexibility and balance. Muscle tone deteriorates to the point of no return.

Flexibility is compromised.

Fat to muscle ratio changes, with muscle coming out on the losing end.

All of that deterioration leads to a decrease in balance, an increase in falls, and more loss of mobility.

And sadly, all of that inactivity also increases your chances of suffering memory deterioration and dementia.

 

A different picture—

And then I go to the gym and see elder adults in their seventies, eighties and nineties trying to maintain whatever they’ve got in order to stay mobile and flexible and strong so they can enjoy life more. They tell staying strong and mobile is what motivates them to exercise.

And I wonder which camp I want to end up in, or am more likely to.

I know from experience that the more and longer you sit and spend parked in a chair or on a couch, the more likely it is you will deteriorate. I’ve been stunned how quickly it’s happened to me over the last year. Before I realized it, nearly a year had elapsed without my adhering to the regular exercise program I’d been following for years.

And I’ve paid a price for it. Now I’m trying to slug my way back to strength, flexibility and mobility. It’s tough. But I’m determined to ward off the walker as much and as long as I can.

 

What you can do—

It isn’t complicated. And it isn’t expensive. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but here’s some things you can do to:

  • Daily stretching exercises. Harvard Medical and Mayo have some great suggestions on their websites.
  • Join a gym and do some light weight lifting. If you can’t do that, then buy some small weights to do upper body exercises at home. Learn how to use your body weight as resistance for muscle strengthening.
  • Buy a DVD that teaches you tai chi, a great activity for people into their senior years. It increases breathing, strength and balance.
  • Take yoga for its breathing, strengthening and flexibility benefits. It’s also a great social activity, although I wouldn’t endorse the spiritual aspects of it.
  • Take daily walks.
  • Increase your protein consumption. Recent research indicates seniors need more protein.

 

The important thing is to pick out something you can do to keep moving and stick with it.

Maybe you can put off buying a walker a little longer than the average person.

Until next week,

Keep moving!

Andrea

“Certainly there was an Eden….We all long for it, and we are constantly glimpsing it.” —J.R.R. Tolkien

Welcome to Workout Wednesdays!

When you hear the word “workout” what goes through your mind, and body? Excitement? Ambivalence? Dread? Do your hands sweat from excitement, or fear? Are you instantly transported via a PTSD flashback to your ninth grade physical education class where you loathed putting on those classy polyester gym shorts and block-shaped exercise top and got relegated to the worst team in the class because you were a bona fide “klutz” and couldn’t coordinate the timing of basketball dribbling or manage to get your foot to make contact with a slow-moving kickball to save your life?

I won’t tell you I can relate, because I can’t (except for the ugly gym shorts and top). Coordination (to precision) was my forte, and I oozed competitive spirit. I hated being shown up, and I seethed internally if I lost. (Although my hand-eye coordination with a tennis ball and racket was horrible, I was determined to overcome that failure and showed up on the tennis court every day one summer to learn how to play with the guys in doubles.)

And I was strong. Stronger than some of the guys in my class. Even guys who took me on in arm wrestling in college were stunned when I slammed their arms to the tabletop.

But as a coach and physical education teacher, I took a completely different approach.

My greatest desire was to instill in all of my students a love of the complexity of the human body and human movement. I wanted them to appreciate physical health for the sake of being physically healthy, not for the sole purpose of competing or beating someone else. I wanted them to develop a lifelong love of fitness. Not necessarily “exercise” in the traditional term, but general, overall fitness. So instead of grading them on what they could do, (because, frankly, some of them would have failed the class if I had stuck to a traditional can-do grading system), I graded them on how much they improved from the day they walked into my class to the day they exited it for the semester or year. And I also tacked on some brownie points for good behavior and honest participation.

And you know what happened? Some of those kids, who entered my class with their arms clamped across their chests and an I’m-not-going-to-do-anything-you-ask-me-to-do look on their face left the class feeling pretty proud of themselves and their accomplishments. They had fun. They ended up being able to pass a soccer ball to a teammate, which meant they were able to participate in the shear fun of doing that. They had strikes in bowling after weeks of rolling gutter balls. I actually cheered and cried with one of my students who never thought she could accomplish anything remotely related to physical education or movement.

And that’s what we’ll do with our Workout Wednesday time—help you change your outlook on fitness and develop a program that works for you. One you can adjust as you desire or need based on your current fitness level, future (improved) fitness level, age or physical capacity.

 

Not just for the body

Why is exercise important?

I’m sure you know the standard answers: Reduces your risk of heart disease and stroke, cancer, and other major debilitating and death-causing diseases. But do you know what scientists have discovered the most important side effect of exercise is?

            Your brain health and function. Neuroscientists say that when you exercise, so does your brain, and it probably benefits the most from it, by forming new neuron connections. In short, exercise helps keep you young and sharp!

But there are important tips to maximizing this effect. And we’ll cover those.

And we’ll explore connections like:

  • Exercise and sleep
  • Exercise and Mood and Mental Health
  • Exercise and Sex
  • The Importance of Flexibility, Balance and Mobility

 

We’ll also explore nutrition and the latest diet trends and fads. And we’ll learn how to identify food sensitivities and allergies that affect your overall health and mood.

 

Fair Warning!

Let me warn you ahead of time: I’m not a big fan of some of the extreme, “elite fitness” programs, which I won’t name here. I think a lot of you know what they are. And in succeeding posts, I’ll tell you why. I was a highly trained, competitive athlete for YEARS, and I’ve worked collegiate athletes and Olympians, so I know the mindset. I understand the obsession. But you could say I’m a recovered athlete. I’ll explain that in another post too.

But first, we need to get started and prepared for next Wednesday.

 

Getting started

Just as you do for the spiritual component of your life, you need to lay a good foundation for the physical. And that means getting some baseline measurements and assessments recorded. That way you know where you are, better decide where you want to go, and then track how you’re doing getting there. So, before next Wednesday, I invite you to do the following:

 

  • Buy yourself a fitness/workout journal. One of my favorites is BodyMinder: Workout & Fitness Journal. It’s got great grids in it to record cardio and strength workouts and dietary notes. I’ve provided the link for you at the end of this post.
  • Another great journal is the HealthMinder: Personal Wellness Journal. This helps you identify the health of nearly every part of your body. It’s one of the ways I was able to identify some of my food sensitivities. I can’t recommend it highly enough for tracking your overall health!
  • Finally, the DietMinder: Personal Food and Fitness Journal is also great to have handy.

 

Next, you’ll need to learn your:

 

  • Blood Pressure—Before you get out of bed in the morning, record your blood pressure. You can find a good cuff at your local drugstore or online. Wake up, take a few breathes, slap on the cuff and take your blood pressure while you’re still lying down.

 

  • Blood Pressure Again—Then sit up and take it again. Women will likely see a drop in their pressure. Wait another five minutes and take it again. It should have stabilized. Note both of these readings, both the big number (known as systole) and the smaller number (diastole). I’ll explain what each of these mean in the next post.

 

  • Resting Heart Rate—Now, if your blood pressure cuff doesn’t have the capability to measure your resting heart rate along with the BP, then you’ll need to do it manually. You can do that by placing your index and middle fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe. You can also place these same fingers over the inside of your wrist. DO NOT use your thumb! It has its own pulse and will throw off your count. Now for the proper counting. While many medical office personal will take your pulse for just ten seconds and then multiply it by six for a minute count, I don’t recommend that method since it’s not as accurate as measuring it for a full minute with your fingers.

 

  • Weight—Then, hop out of bed, step on the scale and record your weight. This should be a first thing in the morning weigh-in, after you’ve emptied your bladder. Go ahead and disrobe for this. Record it in your journal with the date.

 

  • Body Measurements—Get out a measuring tape and measure the circumference of your chest, waist and hips. The waits measurement should be around the belly button area, or just slightly below it. Also record the circumference of your thighs and upper arms. You’ll probably need help for the arms.

 

  • Resting Breathing—Next, lie on the floor and breathe normally. Place your hand on your tummy to see if your abdomen moves up and down. Breathe deeply and check it again. Breathe in through your nose AND out through your nose. (I know, breathing out through your mouth was the standard for years.) Do the tummy check with your hand. Is your breathing smooth or jerky? Does your chest, and not your abdomen/tummy rise when you breathe in? We’ll be addressing proper breathing techniques too.

Looking ahead

That will be enough for us to get started next Wednesday. But do think about one more thing.

What kind of exercising do you like to do? What would you be most likely to stick with?

 

Reference/Journal Links:

Here’s the list of links for those journals, but any regular journal will do. These just make it easier to jot numbers down in the right columns and trigger your brain in all areas of fitness.

By the way, I don’t get anything from Amazon or the publishers for recommending these books. I just found them years ago in a Reno, Nevada medical facility I was visiting with my dad. Snatched them up. They’ve been around for 16 years and have great ratings.

BodyMinder workout journal

www.amazon.com/BODYMINDER-Workout-Exercise-Journal-Fitness/dp/0963796844/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522802240&sr=8-1&keywords=bodyminder+workout+and+exercise+journal

HealthMinder Journal

www.amazon.com/HEALTHMINDER-Personal-Wellness-MemoryMinder-Symptoms/dp/0963796879/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0963796879&pd_rd_r=J8BT3Q9KV0VSPJ53WXJH&pd_rd_w=WIgnS&pd_rd_wg=pOM4P&psc=1&refRID=J8BT3Q9KV0VSPJ53WXJH

DietMinder

www.amazon.com/DIETMINDER-Personal-Fitness-Journal-Exercise/dp/0963796836/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0963796836&pd_rd_r=J8BT3Q9KV0VSPJ53WXJH&pd_rd_w=WIgnS&pd_rd_wg=pOM4P&psc=1&refRID=J8BT3Q9KV0VSPJ53WXJH

 

I hope you’ll join me here again Friday for Free-for-All Fridays. We’ll cover a variety of topics, including recreational ideas, current news and recommended articles, stories and books to read having to do with balanced living!

Until then,

Blessings!

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

 Photo Courtesy of Andrea A Owan