Old guys sitting around Micky D's like to stretch. The truth be told... few can do it better. The only folk known to stretch the truth more are politicians running for something.
Guys who once swapped tall tales at the corner saloon now do it with a cup of coffee at a diner. Cheaper than a bottle of beer and we don't have to dodge police on the drive home. Besides, the light is better. We can see what we're smiling at.
Prepositionally speaking, life at the end...can be just as carefree and rewarding as in any other life stage. But we have to work at it. If stretching the aging mind is healthy, then so is stretching the aging bod.
Stretching the truth in tales that can leap tall buildings, comes natural to outdoors men, athletes and Don Juans. It can be healthy, relaxing and enjoyable. Women are not bad at it either.
Loss of flexibility, like gray hair and a thickening middle, is part of aging. Like gray, our tummy, hips and back of the arm...loss of flexibility is a negative that can be corrected.
Aging gets blamed unfairly for lots of things associated with a decline in physical fitness but inactivity is also to blame. Exercise including stretching, has been shown to maintain and improve physical fitness. Think cardio, strength, flexibility, balance, coordination. All can be improved through moderate exercise.
Consider Ed, 63, a new client who is starting out on a new adventure. He is recently retired. Over weight pretty much all his life, he probably does not give a hoot about working out in a gym. What Ed cares about is walking his dog, working in his flower garden and assisting his mother.
Health issues, his weight for example, has slowed him to the point that he has considered, with doctor approval, a physical fitness program. Just so that he can do what he enjoys, walking the dog, his flowers and caring for mom. Each activity involves an element of strength, flexibility, balance and coordination.
Another benefit to being all we can, is staying on our feet. Strengthening the aging bod is protection against the leading cause of injury to adults over 65...falling. The ability to recover from a misstep. "I'm down on the floor and I can get up," brags Bill Walls.
A friend, Walls, 74, is a retired furnace repairman who occasionally gets busy with someones furnace. This means he is stretching, bending and crawling around on a cold basement floor. To say that Walls is as agile as a teenager is streeeeetching the truth. But Walls is over 70 and he's one of the guys mouthing off at Micky D's.
Notice how, in wild life documentaries, a prey animal, when threatened, will do anything and everything to stay on it's feet, even when attacked by predators. Falling is not good. As aging adults, we must do everything we can to avoid it.
In the United States, 20 to 30% of older people who fall suffer moderate to severe injuries such as bruises, hip fractures, or head traumas.
With age, tissue making up muscle tend to become less elastic. Muscle loses range of motion and becomes less flexible. The lost effects posture, a drag on our youthful appearance. It also effects balance and agility, we become vulnerable to falls.
Stretching lengthens muscles which helps us to zip a dress or reach an item on a top shelf, or craw around on the floor with grandchildren. It helps us maintain mobility and balance which can help us get to the bathroom in time. Just ask Ms. Jay. At 86, she is still quite active. She is independent, lives alone in the home she has owned for over 60 years, though she concedes that she has moved closer to the door leading to the rest room at church..."Just in case."
Bob, 80 plus, slowly drags himself into the gym each Sunday morning about 9.
"Been out late again," I say. "Yep," he smiles. Bob dates back to Gas Light Square. He is a long time Saturday night swing dance enthusiast.
Bob, Ms. Jay and Walker, whether they exercise at a gym or not have been life long physically active people. Slowed by age but not yielding to it, they remain active and independent.
Some names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Some information obtained from the American Senior Fitness Association, About.Com, and the American College of Sports Medicine
More on stretching.
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