To all my peeps who believe sweating...working up a good lather?...will help you lose weight. Well, you should be down a few belt notches by now. With high humidity and daily temperatures hovering near 100, the least amount of effort should produce buckets of weight reducing sweat. Think of how much you'd lose doing actual physical work.
Just think, you don't have to run off to the sauna or wear one of those plastic garbage bag sauna suits.
Haven't loss much have ya? Despite what many believe, sweating is not a weight losing process. Sweating is how the body cools down. It's called "evaporative cooling." Lick the back of your hand and then blow on it. Feel a cooling sensation? Now blow on the back of the opposite dry hand. Notice the difference? If you were a dog, you'd pant, huh,huh,huh. Elephants flap their ears. Reptiles craw under a rock.
People do loose weigh sweating but it's not fat which is what we think we're loosing. It is liquid, mostly water with some other bodily stuff like sodium and chloride which gives sweat its salty taste.
Athletes who have to make weight...boxers for example...may sweat off a pound or two in order to qualify for competition. Sometimes they wear sauna suits to do this.
Notice how weigh-in is always at noon or before. But the match is always held hours later? What do you think the dehydrated athlete is doing just after weigh-in? Consuming liquids...and eating.
The body wants to maintain balance. Sweat off a pound of sweat...you will put it back on with the next glass of water.
Warning:
Elevated body temperature and water loss while wearing a sauna suit can lead to dehydration or a possible heat stroke and, in extreme cases cause death. Thus, a sauna suit should not be worn while doing extreme exercise or in hot conditions. Many authorities discourage sauna suit use during exercise under any circumstances. A sauna suit is not intended for wear in a sauna.
Want to lose weight? Not exactly you don't. Your legs have weight. What many of us want is to lose fat. To do this, you must consume fewer calories than the body needs. Generally and simply speaking, the body most efficiently converts fat to energy at a heart rate of 60 to 80 percent of the heart's maximum pulse rate or beats per minute. It is also a pulse rate in which a moderately conditioned exerciser can hang the longest without tiring. The longer you hang, the more calories you burned.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
A misstep, a chance visit, a life saved
A woman,63, a university administrator, recently fell and fractured a bone in her right leg near the ankle. The injury required an operation and back home she went with instructions for limited movement.
During convalescence, the woman, a recent widow, unknowingly developed a pulmonary embolism...blood clot in the lung.
Pulmonary embolism occurs when blood clots become lodged in a lung artery, blocking blood flow to lung tissue. Blood clots often originate in the legs.
Blood clots are more likely to form in your legs during periods of inactivity, such as being confined to bed for an extended period after surgery, a heart attack, or... a leg fracture.
What this grandmother of two felt, not knowing the seriousness of what she was going through, was a sudden onset of shortness of breath and lightheadedness all coming shortly after the cast was removed from her leg about a week after the operation. She along with other family members associated the symptoms with the events...the excitement of the day along with her lack of exercise.
However, the following day, the woman felt worst. She tried to tough it out until her daughter, by chance, paid a visit and became alarmed at what she saw.
Ambulance was called and off to the hospital they went. There, the condition, the clots, were discovered. A life was saved.
A near death experience, caught in time. All this from a fall, started by a stumble from which the woman, a few years ago, could have easily avoided.
September 23 is Falls Prevention Awareness Day.
A time in which we celebrate the first of autumn while promoting public awareness on how to prevent falls among older adults.
Each year, one in every three adults age 65 and older falls. Many suffering debilitating injuries which can haunt them for the remainder of their lives.
During convalescence, the woman, a recent widow, unknowingly developed a pulmonary embolism...blood clot in the lung.
Pulmonary embolism occurs when blood clots become lodged in a lung artery, blocking blood flow to lung tissue. Blood clots often originate in the legs.
Blood clots are more likely to form in your legs during periods of inactivity, such as being confined to bed for an extended period after surgery, a heart attack, or... a leg fracture.
What this grandmother of two felt, not knowing the seriousness of what she was going through, was a sudden onset of shortness of breath and lightheadedness all coming shortly after the cast was removed from her leg about a week after the operation. She along with other family members associated the symptoms with the events...the excitement of the day along with her lack of exercise.
However, the following day, the woman felt worst. She tried to tough it out until her daughter, by chance, paid a visit and became alarmed at what she saw.
Ambulance was called and off to the hospital they went. There, the condition, the clots, were discovered. A life was saved.
A near death experience, caught in time. All this from a fall, started by a stumble from which the woman, a few years ago, could have easily avoided.
September 23 is Falls Prevention Awareness Day.
A time in which we celebrate the first of autumn while promoting public awareness on how to prevent falls among older adults.
Each year, one in every three adults age 65 and older falls. Many suffering debilitating injuries which can haunt them for the remainder of their lives.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Fall Prevention
As we prepare to promote public awareness on how to prevent falls among adults over 65, my homework assignment has suddenly become more than collecting statistical data.
My sister, the co-captain of her high school cheer leading team, the girl who stepped onto the track and caused some boys on the track team to go sit down because they feared she might out run them, is a year and two weeks shy of the milestone. She recently took a tumble on her front porch steps and suffered fractured bones and a dislocated right ankle. Treated and released, she is recovering comfortably.
About a year ago, our aunt, then 85, took a similar tumble down a short flight of back porch steps.
Aunt Eula, a retired award winning elementary school principle, sometimes thinks she is still running it...or that she should be.
She can still wear her skirts hemmed awfully close to the knee while wearing heels. She has over ruled medical authority on taking meds and the family has gently suggested that because she can...is not a reason why she should.
The tumble is a case in point.
A new front door to her home was installed to replace the old which had been placed on the rear porch to be removed later.
Ms, aunt Eula, the boss, all five feet nothing and maybe 135 pounds, a tomboy in her youth, could not wait for the door to be removed. So....!
Fortunately, a passerby heard her cries for help. Aunt Eula, fractures to her wrist, waited patiently on the ground until fire and police arrived to remove the door from her body, made to look even smaller and more frail under that big old wooden door.
We are a blessed family. We will smile about these things at Thanks Giving dinner but for many older adults and their families, falls are no smiling matter.
Each day, 10,000 Baby Boomers will turn 65. This will go on for the next 19 years. Over the course of their remaining years, statistics show that a third will fall. Of those who do, a significant number will suffer debilitating, even fatal injuries.
Of those who recover, many will suffer a fear of falling which in turn can lead to limiting the very activities that can prevent falls or reduce the seriousness of an injury due to a fall.
In 2007, the last year for figures, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, reported that over 18,000 older adults died from unintentionally falls.
Fall Prevention Awareness activities, set for September 23, the first of autumn, is to draw attention to the dangers of falling. It is sponsored by the Center for Healthy Aging in cooperation with the National Council on Aging.
My sister, the co-captain of her high school cheer leading team, the girl who stepped onto the track and caused some boys on the track team to go sit down because they feared she might out run them, is a year and two weeks shy of the milestone. She recently took a tumble on her front porch steps and suffered fractured bones and a dislocated right ankle. Treated and released, she is recovering comfortably.
About a year ago, our aunt, then 85, took a similar tumble down a short flight of back porch steps.
Aunt Eula, a retired award winning elementary school principle, sometimes thinks she is still running it...or that she should be.
She can still wear her skirts hemmed awfully close to the knee while wearing heels. She has over ruled medical authority on taking meds and the family has gently suggested that because she can...is not a reason why she should.
The tumble is a case in point.
A new front door to her home was installed to replace the old which had been placed on the rear porch to be removed later.
Ms, aunt Eula, the boss, all five feet nothing and maybe 135 pounds, a tomboy in her youth, could not wait for the door to be removed. So....!
Fortunately, a passerby heard her cries for help. Aunt Eula, fractures to her wrist, waited patiently on the ground until fire and police arrived to remove the door from her body, made to look even smaller and more frail under that big old wooden door.
We are a blessed family. We will smile about these things at Thanks Giving dinner but for many older adults and their families, falls are no smiling matter.
Each day, 10,000 Baby Boomers will turn 65. This will go on for the next 19 years. Over the course of their remaining years, statistics show that a third will fall. Of those who do, a significant number will suffer debilitating, even fatal injuries.
Of those who recover, many will suffer a fear of falling which in turn can lead to limiting the very activities that can prevent falls or reduce the seriousness of an injury due to a fall.
In 2007, the last year for figures, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, reported that over 18,000 older adults died from unintentionally falls.
Fall Prevention Awareness activities, set for September 23, the first of autumn, is to draw attention to the dangers of falling. It is sponsored by the Center for Healthy Aging in cooperation with the National Council on Aging.
Monday, June 13, 2011
You have to be functionally fit to avoid hard work
I've said on many occasions that older adults should concentrate on functional fitness. Meaning that at the bare minimum, we have to be fit enough to do the things we are expected to do on any given day. A little exercise, now and then, makes work easier.
One of my clients, Charles, 62, has improved his fitness from last year when he had trouble cutting his grass to where he now cuts his lawn and knocks off his mom's yard too.
Hugh, also 62, is a professional gardener. A hip injury a few years ago slowed him. Over the winter, he decided to do something about his physical fitness. His workouts included working on skills consisted with gardening. To duplicate moving bags of soil, fertilizer and mulch, Hugh corrected some bad habits picked over the years by concentrating on using his legs to lift 20 pound dumbbells.
He also worked on endurance, as it fits his work, by walking rapidly over short distances from one point in the gym to another.
He had to make decisions on the go, as on his job, by having to change directions on these short walk sprints. Changing directions on the move helps improves balance.
Recently, Hugh said he has resumed some duties that he had passed off to a subordinate.
Don, a friend, 70 plus, wanted a tree removed from his back yard. His baby girl was to be married. The wedding was to be in the back yard. The tree was in the way. Don, retired, likes to fiddle-faddle but in a nice way. After years of hard work, he's earned the right to faddle but in doing so, Don is in surprisingly good shape.
Two old guys took a twenty inch chain saw to the tree. Cut it into fire place logs. Stacked them and cleaned up the mess. Took three days, but we got it done. We celebrated with a beer and called it a day. Forty- eight hours later, a flawless affair was enjoyed by all.
A few days ago, Bob, another friend who owns a home remodeling company, stopped by to help hang a repaired window and it's frame over the garage door.
About a story and a half up, the decision was to use scaffolding from which we could safely work.
Absolutely nothing involved hard work. Pulling the scaffolding from Bob's truck and assembling it was as close as we got to heavy lifting.
As the early morning sun approached the ten o'clock sky, there was a fair amount of lifting, holding in place, manipulating this and that and climbing onto and off the scaffold.
Both Bob and I are 66, so there was some walking back and forth because we forgot something.
Bob's a funny guy and he paces himself by telling stories. So there were spells of hardy laughter. Swapping tales.
Laughing takes energy. All of this took energy. Not hard work energy but 90 minutes of continuos movement energy. Bending...twisting.
After getting the window in place, we repaired and painted the window trim and completed the job by re-adjusting the electrical line that supplies power to the garage from the house.
We put up scaffolding. We took down scaffolding. All tools put back in place. Swept
up. Job completed. Paid Bob. Tall glass of cool water. Overstuffed chair. ZZZZ, continuos movement ends.
One of my clients, Charles, 62, has improved his fitness from last year when he had trouble cutting his grass to where he now cuts his lawn and knocks off his mom's yard too.
Hugh, also 62, is a professional gardener. A hip injury a few years ago slowed him. Over the winter, he decided to do something about his physical fitness. His workouts included working on skills consisted with gardening. To duplicate moving bags of soil, fertilizer and mulch, Hugh corrected some bad habits picked over the years by concentrating on using his legs to lift 20 pound dumbbells.
He also worked on endurance, as it fits his work, by walking rapidly over short distances from one point in the gym to another.
He had to make decisions on the go, as on his job, by having to change directions on these short walk sprints. Changing directions on the move helps improves balance.
Recently, Hugh said he has resumed some duties that he had passed off to a subordinate.
Don, a friend, 70 plus, wanted a tree removed from his back yard. His baby girl was to be married. The wedding was to be in the back yard. The tree was in the way. Don, retired, likes to fiddle-faddle but in a nice way. After years of hard work, he's earned the right to faddle but in doing so, Don is in surprisingly good shape.
Two old guys took a twenty inch chain saw to the tree. Cut it into fire place logs. Stacked them and cleaned up the mess. Took three days, but we got it done. We celebrated with a beer and called it a day. Forty- eight hours later, a flawless affair was enjoyed by all.
A few days ago, Bob, another friend who owns a home remodeling company, stopped by to help hang a repaired window and it's frame over the garage door.
About a story and a half up, the decision was to use scaffolding from which we could safely work.
Absolutely nothing involved hard work. Pulling the scaffolding from Bob's truck and assembling it was as close as we got to heavy lifting.
As the early morning sun approached the ten o'clock sky, there was a fair amount of lifting, holding in place, manipulating this and that and climbing onto and off the scaffold.
Both Bob and I are 66, so there was some walking back and forth because we forgot something.
Bob's a funny guy and he paces himself by telling stories. So there were spells of hardy laughter. Swapping tales.
Laughing takes energy. All of this took energy. Not hard work energy but 90 minutes of continuos movement energy. Bending...twisting.
After getting the window in place, we repaired and painted the window trim and completed the job by re-adjusting the electrical line that supplies power to the garage from the house.
We put up scaffolding. We took down scaffolding. All tools put back in place. Swept
up. Job completed. Paid Bob. Tall glass of cool water. Overstuffed chair. ZZZZ, continuos movement ends.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Why do we stretch? Because it feels good.
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.
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.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Slip-sliding down a muddy hill can be hard on the bottom but good for the spirit
Why spend hard earned money on medication for an ailment that can be cured, let alone prevented, by going for a walk?
At three dollars and some odd cents per gallon, I'm starting to walk to Micky D's.
Experts, those academic types who have lots of time to think, study and research stuff, now feel that good old walking is as healthy an exercise as jogging, swimming or dancing.
What took them so long to figure that? Walking is extremely popular. Among the nearly seven billion folk making themselves at home on Earth, nearly everyone of them has tried it.
Walking is inexpensive. All you need are comfortable clothes and shoes, said Harold Rainwater of Asbury College, Wilmore, Ky. Rainwater is one of those thinkers.
For most of us, walking is easy to do and hard to get hurt.
Good shape are lousy, walking is great exercise, Rainwater said. "Virtually every cardiac rehabilitation program in America bases it's exercise regimen on walking."
So walking we will go.
Nature trails, advanced walking, are an extension of regular exercise but for serious hikers, the outings are not always routine.
Recreation areas like Forest Park in St. Louis are great for beginners but if challenge is why you eat Wheaties, try the 14 mile Chubb Trail linking West Tyson County Park with Lone Elk Park. Out I-44, from the Lou towards Six Flags, just the other side of 141. On the north side amongst those big old hills.
The trail is demanding but not overwhelming. Faint of heart need not try.
Switchbacks, drop offs, rocky, long descents and steep climbs. Playing tag with the Meramec for a mile or so, the Chubb, near the river's bank, is sometimes muddy and worst... flooded. From the parking lot, the trail meanders invitingly and then with out mercy... the hills... one after the other. Going and returning. Don't remember walking down hill. Must have...just don't remember it.
Once on a cold rainy, muddy day, I stopped at a site over looking a small creek trickling towards the river. Good judgment and common sense said call it a day and turn back but Nooooo not me. Down the slope I went, crossed the creek and up the other side where I slopped on for another few miles.
As I said, it was raining and muddy and upon my return to the creek, and it's overlooking slopes, things were worst.
About the height of a one story building, I figured if I lowered my center of gravity and with good foot placement, I just might...swoosh, I went. Sliding, twisting, reaching, grabbing for a twig, a root, a rock, anything. Boing, boing to the bottom and splat short of the creek.
I arrived in one piece but was covered head to toe in mud. Gee! It felt good to be a kid again.
At three dollars and some odd cents per gallon, I'm starting to walk to Micky D's.
Experts, those academic types who have lots of time to think, study and research stuff, now feel that good old walking is as healthy an exercise as jogging, swimming or dancing.
What took them so long to figure that? Walking is extremely popular. Among the nearly seven billion folk making themselves at home on Earth, nearly everyone of them has tried it.
Walking is inexpensive. All you need are comfortable clothes and shoes, said Harold Rainwater of Asbury College, Wilmore, Ky. Rainwater is one of those thinkers.
For most of us, walking is easy to do and hard to get hurt.
Good shape are lousy, walking is great exercise, Rainwater said. "Virtually every cardiac rehabilitation program in America bases it's exercise regimen on walking."
So walking we will go.
Nature trails, advanced walking, are an extension of regular exercise but for serious hikers, the outings are not always routine.
Recreation areas like Forest Park in St. Louis are great for beginners but if challenge is why you eat Wheaties, try the 14 mile Chubb Trail linking West Tyson County Park with Lone Elk Park. Out I-44, from the Lou towards Six Flags, just the other side of 141. On the north side amongst those big old hills.
The trail is demanding but not overwhelming. Faint of heart need not try.
Switchbacks, drop offs, rocky, long descents and steep climbs. Playing tag with the Meramec for a mile or so, the Chubb, near the river's bank, is sometimes muddy and worst... flooded. From the parking lot, the trail meanders invitingly and then with out mercy... the hills... one after the other. Going and returning. Don't remember walking down hill. Must have...just don't remember it.
Once on a cold rainy, muddy day, I stopped at a site over looking a small creek trickling towards the river. Good judgment and common sense said call it a day and turn back but Nooooo not me. Down the slope I went, crossed the creek and up the other side where I slopped on for another few miles.
As I said, it was raining and muddy and upon my return to the creek, and it's overlooking slopes, things were worst.
About the height of a one story building, I figured if I lowered my center of gravity and with good foot placement, I just might...swoosh, I went. Sliding, twisting, reaching, grabbing for a twig, a root, a rock, anything. Boing, boing to the bottom and splat short of the creek.
I arrived in one piece but was covered head to toe in mud. Gee! It felt good to be a kid again.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Never to old to learn something new
Once, at a dressy affair at a downtown St. Louis hotel, I escorted my frail, then 84 year old father to the rest room. Ready to leave, he stopped before a mirror, used his palm to brush back his hair, centered his tie, reset his pocket square and when satisfied all was well, grabbed his walker and we left. If he could, he'd have added a glide to his stride. A cut to his strut. In trying to remain physically, emotionally and spiritually fit, vanity counts.
As the care giver for my mom and later my dad, like so many, they were divorced, I learned a few things about aging. I'm trying to apply that knowledge to my skills as a physical fitness instructor.
I'm hitting the books again for additional training in working with older adults.
By year 2030, the number of folk 65 and older in the United States will be 70 million. Those 85 and older will be the fastest growing segment.
You'd think studying for this exam would be easy since I am one. A senior. But it's not. It's the details.
It's a lot like driving someplace new. We men, stereotypically speaking, want to wing it 'till we're lost... and then we read the directions.
The course centers on designing exercise programs for older adults.
What exactly is an older adult? Depends on who is talking but since I paid the American Senior Fitness Association to teach me, let's stick with their rules.
Middle-Age, 45 to 64. Young- Old, 65 to 74. Old, 75-84. Old-Old, 85-99 and Oldest-Old, 100 and over. We are living longer and exercise, like everything else, must adjust to a growing...older population.
At 66, I'm in the young-old group which is better than being old, young.
Lots of folks get old, young. Some, for reasons beyond their control but for others...aging prematurely is clearly within their control.
That's what health and wellness programs for aging adults are all about...avoiding becoming old, young. Exercise is part of the plan.
Goo-gobs of evidence show that exercise can reduce or prevent some of the decline associated with aging. Physical activity, both aerobic and strength, is good for the heart and promotes fat loss. It controls blood pressure and reduces blood sugar. Lowers stress and increases energy levels. It improves joint stability, balance and coordination.
Effective exercise helps us get to the rest room in time.
Functional exercise, that which we practice in the gym so that we remain independent at home, is the nail upon which I hang my sweat shirt of exercise.
For dad, physically active for much of his life but in his final years, sitting and standing while working on his wood carvings, bathing and personal grooming was close to all he could do independently and that... he took seriously and did well.
Then there was the time, scooting along on his walker at church one Sunday morning, he challenged another old- timer to race...but that's another story.
The World Health Organization recommends that older adults, with poor mobility, practice the skills needed to enhance balance and to prevent falls on 3 or more days a week. World Health also suggest that muscle-strengthening activities be done on two or more days a week.
When health keeps seniors from doing the recommended, then they should do as much as they can.-WHO
For a younger aging adult, not accustomed to exercise, skills such as hygiene, grooming and makeup, are enough to build an effective exercise program. Admit it or not. The intent of a well groomed, well dressed individual is to look good. To be physically fit is to complete the look. Exercise is an extension of makeup.
Persons motivated by a health issue, high blood pressure, also exercise to achieve a goal. Lower pressure.
On the other hand, exercise for an active older athlete, is an activity that they have always engaged. It is... who they are.
A friend, an avid hiker, once routinely walked a mile in thirteen minutes and some odd seconds, said he is now doing good to walk it in 20.
"But I can still hike 10," he said upbeat. "Just takes me longer," sighed he.
Thanks to a former president of the United States, shuffleboard, the image often used to illustrate old folk at play, is being replaced by the senior George Bush, who celebrates birthdays by jumping out of airplanes.
Lead by the likes of George the 41st, Boomers, who have never been quite about anything, are not likely to be quite about getting old-old.
As the care giver for my mom and later my dad, like so many, they were divorced, I learned a few things about aging. I'm trying to apply that knowledge to my skills as a physical fitness instructor.
I'm hitting the books again for additional training in working with older adults.
By year 2030, the number of folk 65 and older in the United States will be 70 million. Those 85 and older will be the fastest growing segment.
You'd think studying for this exam would be easy since I am one. A senior. But it's not. It's the details.
It's a lot like driving someplace new. We men, stereotypically speaking, want to wing it 'till we're lost... and then we read the directions.
The course centers on designing exercise programs for older adults.
What exactly is an older adult? Depends on who is talking but since I paid the American Senior Fitness Association to teach me, let's stick with their rules.
Middle-Age, 45 to 64. Young- Old, 65 to 74. Old, 75-84. Old-Old, 85-99 and Oldest-Old, 100 and over. We are living longer and exercise, like everything else, must adjust to a growing...older population.
At 66, I'm in the young-old group which is better than being old, young.
Lots of folks get old, young. Some, for reasons beyond their control but for others...aging prematurely is clearly within their control.
That's what health and wellness programs for aging adults are all about...avoiding becoming old, young. Exercise is part of the plan.
Goo-gobs of evidence show that exercise can reduce or prevent some of the decline associated with aging. Physical activity, both aerobic and strength, is good for the heart and promotes fat loss. It controls blood pressure and reduces blood sugar. Lowers stress and increases energy levels. It improves joint stability, balance and coordination.
Effective exercise helps us get to the rest room in time.
Functional exercise, that which we practice in the gym so that we remain independent at home, is the nail upon which I hang my sweat shirt of exercise.
For dad, physically active for much of his life but in his final years, sitting and standing while working on his wood carvings, bathing and personal grooming was close to all he could do independently and that... he took seriously and did well.
Then there was the time, scooting along on his walker at church one Sunday morning, he challenged another old- timer to race...but that's another story.
The World Health Organization recommends that older adults, with poor mobility, practice the skills needed to enhance balance and to prevent falls on 3 or more days a week. World Health also suggest that muscle-strengthening activities be done on two or more days a week.
When health keeps seniors from doing the recommended, then they should do as much as they can.-WHO
For a younger aging adult, not accustomed to exercise, skills such as hygiene, grooming and makeup, are enough to build an effective exercise program. Admit it or not. The intent of a well groomed, well dressed individual is to look good. To be physically fit is to complete the look. Exercise is an extension of makeup.
Persons motivated by a health issue, high blood pressure, also exercise to achieve a goal. Lower pressure.
On the other hand, exercise for an active older athlete, is an activity that they have always engaged. It is... who they are.
A friend, an avid hiker, once routinely walked a mile in thirteen minutes and some odd seconds, said he is now doing good to walk it in 20.
"But I can still hike 10," he said upbeat. "Just takes me longer," sighed he.
Thanks to a former president of the United States, shuffleboard, the image often used to illustrate old folk at play, is being replaced by the senior George Bush, who celebrates birthdays by jumping out of airplanes.
Lead by the likes of George the 41st, Boomers, who have never been quite about anything, are not likely to be quite about getting old-old.
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