Exercise is good medicine

Is exercise medicine?

Reviewing studies and health articles my perspective of being 67 this April the short answer is yes. Is it the only medicine? I would say no. Ask your doctor and see if he or she agrees with me.

Exercise has been known to help every part of the body. In short we were created to move. 

Some of the surprises I have learned: 

• 30 minutes of walking helps the brain health more than doing brain games. Brain games and new learning is very good for brains at any age. Healthy brains make new cells and rewire new learning throughout life.
• We can grow new muscle into our 90’s and I have known healthy centenarians to add muscle for increased sport and function performance. If we don’t work at it our muscle mass will decline as we age. I knew exercise slows muscle loss, but several studies has shown seniors can gain muscle mass to help maintain independence. 
• Based on my rehab experiences health can be restored
• My recumbent indoor bike has given me hope and health. I encourage every senior to get one. They are easy to maintain, easy to get on, safe and you are in control to follow doctor’s recommendations.

Recently I experienced my cerebral palsy made me tighter than a board. I never

see how easy it is to step through

experienced the extreme tightness in my upper body. I got on my bike at the easiest level and biked for 20 minutes then stretched. Felt better that night and the next day. Music, sports, audio books, indoor bike workouts - virtual or spin classes can help keep the biking interesting. Experiencing the benefits also helps. 

Lifestyle changes including exercise is not the only medicine. That would be a myth and propaganda. Many good people doing the right things will get sick and have terminal diseases. 

Medicine gives us many options with our health concerns and as we age it would be foolish not to take advantage of a medical team to capture as many good days as the Lord gives us. The myth would be that medicine cures all our health misfortune. No before it is all said and done we will have to cope with many conditions for the rest of our lives. 

Finding ways to exercise will help our senior years and help us to get the most out of the time we have left. Keep walking

Progress continues, stretching helps growing research

1st week in barely made my goal with 154 minutes. I needed more time to recover from inflamation. This week I feel better. Today I did a 30 minute spin class with two sets of band resistance.

I read an article on the benefits of increased flexibility with age. First article is from the Washington Post, the first link below. The other links were given in the Post's article. The second article is from Mayo Clinic suggests these benefits:

"Stretching can help improve flexibility, and, consequently, range of motion about your joints. Better flexibility may:

• Improve your performance in physical activities
• Decrease your risk of injuries
• Help your joints move through their full range of motion
• Enable your muscles to work most effectively

Stretching also increases blood flow to the muscle"

The third article reveals stretching your calf muscles 4 weeks can improve blood flow 3.5-5%. My calf muscles are effected by my CP and directly hinders blood flow back to the heart. I have noticed indoor biking helps. Stretching I have noticed helps, American Heart Society supported what I suspected.  Below is a link to basic stretches from Mayo Clinic. 

I have previously shared how flexibility has to be part of our senior fitness program. Keep walking

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/now-were-finding-out-you-should-do-two-kinds-of-stretching-slow-and-vigorous/2018/08/31/cd256266-9047-11e8-bcd5-9d911c784c38_story.html?utm_term=.cf993fbf46fa&wpisrc=nl_lean&wpmm=1
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/stretching/art-20047931
https://med.fsu.edu/uploads/files/Newspubs/Print/Calf%20stretching%20may%20benefit%20peripheral%20artery%20disease%20patients%20_%20Patient%20Daily.pdf
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/multimedia/stretching/sls-20076840