Fitness After Fifty

You May Be Healthier Than You Think

You may be healthier than you think.  Now that is a novel idea.  Ron Sharp (The Independent. London (UK): January 26, 2010) wrote that despite the daily barrage of articles about new pills and new research studies that predict doom and gloom, that we are healthier than we think we are.

 

He suggests that worrying about our well-being is dominating our lives, and it is bad for us.  We spend so much time reading about new medicine and new studies that we ignore the simple things in life, when we are in fact living healthier lives that we might realize.  The media implies that if we don’t get eight hours of sleep a night, live stress free lives, drink eight glasses of water a day, or exercise every free minute, that we are all doomed to an early demise. 

 

The author picked out some key issues and talked about how you can live with them:

 

• Sleep:  Three quarters of Americans have trouble sleeping.  The experts think that these polls give the wrong impression.  It looks like you need six hours of sleep with seven being the ideal, but if you get less that that for a few days nothing terrible is going to happen.  If you are getting seven hours of sleep at night and you still feel tired, you should sleep more.  There is no hard and fast rule and no conclusive studies that give a cause and effect relationship between sleep deprivation and certain diseases.

 

• Prevention:  Is there a difference between prevention and early detection? For example, studies like mammograms are recommended for all women.  However a mammogram doesn’t prevent cancer, they just catch it at an early stage.  If you detect a problem early enough you can make changes in your lifestyle that may alter it, but getting the mammogram does not mean that you won’t get cancer.  The author is not saying that you should not have mammograms or colonoscopies, but he is saying that it doesn’t help to exceed the recommended frequencies because you think they will keep you healthier.

 

• Nutrition:  A healthy diet should be a given, but a few lapses are not as dire as article write-ups might have you believe.  You know you should eat what is good for you, but if you eat a big steak one night you are not going to drop dead tomorrow.  The rules are a lot looser than you might think.  If you eat a balanced diet for the most part, you are doing your job.

 

• Exercise:  Most people do not achieve the recommended quota of exercise, but any movement at all is going to be beneficial to your over-all well being.  Most active people tend to be fitter than they think they are.  It is good to be active, but don’t let yourself be paralyzed with guilt if you can’t achieve your lofty goals.

 

Eat your five meals a day, take exercise, avoid alcohol, monitor sugar and stress, but otherwise try to relax and enjoy the ride.  Worrying about every study that you read about or wanting to try every new pill advertized is not a good thing. Take good care of yourself and see your health care professional on a regular basis, but don’t worry about your health to the point that it is dominating your life.  What do you think about that?

 

 

 

 

 

Senior Fitness: Resistance Bands Could Work For You

Exercise is everything when you reach midlife and beyond.  Increasing muscle strength is vital when it comes to maintaining joint stability and flexibility.  The hard part is figuring out when and how to do it without spending an inordinate amount of time, injuring yourself, or spending a lot of money in the process.

 

 I just finished reading an article by Blake Hannon (St. Joseph News-Press. St Joseph, Mo: April 13, 2010). He discussed using resistance bands to spice up your fitness program.  Whether you are a beginner who just wants to get in shape, are dealing with chronic joint problems, or just looking for new ways to liven up your program, resistance bands may be the answer.

 

The good news is that using resistance bands or tubing is one of the safest and the easiest way to improve fitness, and they are just as effective as using weights. Resistance bands are certainly adaptable for everyday living and healthy movement.  The key is to work with resistance bands that are appropriate for your level of fitness.  A band’s color is indicative of the level of resistance, although colors vary by brands so try them out before buying.

 

The act of stretching rubber could be just what you are looking for.  Resistance bands are effective, easy to use, inexpensive, and travel friendly. The cost is minimal and you can do a lot of different things with just a few bands.   Some people’s joints can’t handle the stress of free weights or even the fixed motion of machines.  Exercising with resistance bands require little joint movement and are perfect if you have arthritic joint issues.

 

Primarily, the bands are used to work on muscle tone and definition.  However, they are versatile and if your aim is to focus on muscle growth, you can increase the amount of resistance in the bands by shortening the bands length or using different thicknesses.

 

Fitness bands are ideal if you travel a lot as they are flexible enough to pop in your suitcase, affordable, and entirely portable.  The author mentioned www.bodylastics.com if you are looking for a sophisticated home gym that you can pack in a bag, but you can find resistance bands at any store with athletic equipment.  Ask a trainer at the gym or check out videos and books so that you can plan a program that will pique your interest and work for you.

 

 

Couch Potatoes: Senior Fitness

Exercise is the fountain of youth or so modern medicine would have us believe.  Still, most of us spend more time thinking about exercise than actually doing it so it isn’t surprising that the term couch potato was coined.  Experts all agree though that exercise, in many cases, can be as powerful as medications and without the dastardly side effects.

 

Getting started is the hard part.  It is pretty much a known fact that people who exercise have more energy, manage weight more easily, and sleep better than people who don’t.  I know, deep down, that all of these statements must be true but it is hard to put a finger on the moment when you notice any of this.  I exercise a lot but have never experienced a runners “high,” or woke up in the morning thinking, “wow…I have so much energy today” (compared to what?).  I usually feel good but does that mean that you don’t? From what I have seen, I have more aches and pains than my couch potato friends, but I still manage to feel quite noble as I hobble down the hall.  I wonder if the change is ever as dramatic as they say, but I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because I know exercise is good for me.  So, how do we get you off of that couch?

 

The experts say that after years of inactivity, you should start by simply moving more.  Take more steps during the day, stand up when you talk on the phone, park further away from the door and take the stairs.  That is a start, but it takes a little more effort when you start thinking about how to mix aerobic exercise, strength training and flexibility training into the picture.  You don’t necessarily need a fancy home gym or a gym membership in order to get your exercise.  You can make vacuuming, sweeping and raking quite aerobic if you work at it, but what fun is that?  I hate vacuuming, sweeping, and yard work, and think a Zumba class, spinning or water aerobics is totally more fun.

 

But whatever your poison, find something that you will enjoy and work at it for 20-30 minutes at least three times a week.  Start slowly and listen to your body.  It took a long time for you to get into your present condition, and you aren’t going to be able to fix yourself overnight.  If you can only tolerate 10 minutes on the treadmill or one block in the neighborhood, that is okay.  In a few weeks you will be surprised at the improvement, one step at a time.

 

Some people say that they don’t have time to exercise or that they don’t need to exercise because they are not fat.  While exercise does require a certain commitment, 20 minutes of aerobic activity three days a week should be manageable.  After all, it takes that long to flip through the 300 channels that you have with your television remote.

 

The idea for the couch potato is to trick your brain into an exercise routine, according to Terry Foster (Detroit News, March 24, 2010).  He went through the same scenario that we all do.  He dreaded climbing on his bike and hated going for a walk.  He just plain didn’t want to it.  I agree.  I feel that way too, but sometimes you have to do it whether you like it or not.  You look at the clock while you are walking and you wonder if you will ever get to the 20-30 minute finish line.  The mental drain is what gets to you, long before you actually get physically tired.  Mr. Foster shared some tricks:

 

·        Listen to music:  You need something fast and upbeat to add some zest to your workout.  You can get audios with favorite tunes of every description and are calibrated to a certain beat.  For hikes or dog walks I like listening to books on tape to keep my mind off from my tired legs or aching feet.

·        Record favorite television shows or schedule your treadmill or bike time to coincide with program timing.  Walking or jogging on a treadmill to the Ellen Show or Dr. Phil is always quite fun.  Time seems to melt away quicker when you are entertained.

·        The third trick is to cover the clock.  It takes for ever if you are walking to the countdown of a clock.  Cover up the clock with a towel and only peak once in awhile.

 

It is often the mental game that dooms us.  At first nobody wants to exercise.  We don’t want to work up a sweat or tweak our muscles until they are sore.  But if you keep at it, and it becomes a habit, you will soon be consumed by guilt if you miss a session.

 

You must conquer the mental game to get your body in tune.  It isn’t just about working the body; you have to work the mind also.  So, let’s hear from the couch potatoes of the world.