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

2nd week of 150 minutes

Mostly indoor biking High intensity workouts.

Finished week 2 reaching 150 min of exercise aerobic, strength activities.
Besides 4 days of aerobic biking I included two sessions of indoor walking and two stair walking as well. I did two minute rounds of shadow boxing, all of the activities push into aerobic fitness. Shadow boxing I wild a little more and this week I will do at least two strength training workouts. 

I'm cool, ready to go

With different activities my minutes will go up with biking 4-6 times pushing my aerobic fitness. Walking and stairs don't look like much but with a life time of falls and injuries I am trying.

I side benefit is better flexibility. I have more challenging balance issues than in the past. Indoor walking helps. 

How to make indoor walking work? Try a recumbent stationary bike. Very easy to get on the bike and very stable. The support on back and comfort is a plus. One can listen to an audio book or follow a fitness program on TV, smartphone, tablet or computer. Listen to music or TV to help time past. Every couple of minutes change resistance up or down to stay in your heart range for an aerobic workout. Listen to your body if breathing or heart rate gets to high lower your level and intensity until heart rate goes down. Make sure your doctor has given you some guidelines that fit you.

Having distractions makes the time fly and before you know it you reached your goal.

If you walking outdoors walk early or later and stay hydrated. This year we are not used to the heat. Walk trails with plenty of shade. Use sunscreen and a big hat. If you have not been walking go for short walks. There are days when it is just too hot to be outdoors. Keep moving. 

New page how to make indoor biking work.

Remember my older friends to check with your doctor before you begin an exercise program. You are always in control of how are you exercise. Walking with the fat Man is all about adapting to who we are. Follow your doctor's advice and take your time to get fit. 

Portable bike

I am incorporating two new strategies into my winter workouts. I have long been a fan of Leslie Sansone's indoor walking programs. Now I've added two different programs using indoor bikes. My exercise bike is an air bike. Besides the pedaling, the bike can move with upper arm movements. The bike is not made for spin classes but right now I'm adapting with it. When the spin class changes intensity I do the same. Another bike that I can use is just pedals that adjusts the resistance. I have a great chair that I use and it creates a recumbent bike. This gives me good back 

If you have a sitting chair with arm
rests this experience is very doable.

support with a comfortable seat. The newer spin and exercise bikes would be improvement, but until I can save up these bikes this will work. The cycle is very portable and flexible, if I move two smaller quarters this device can be very easily adaptable.

Online spin classes are available. You can join a class with interaction and monitoring at a cost or find free ones. These classes vary in amount of time from 20 to 25 minutes to an hour. You can monitor how long you do the class at your own pace. Start out with a shorter time and build up to a longer time and you can control your intensity. If you are fit you can keep up with the class if you are working to get fit you can pace yourself following the beat of the music where you might not be going as fast as the class but you are changing intensity with them. Or if you need to you can slowdown to keep a healthy heart rate. The spin classes are designed for younger people and right now I haven't seen a spin class for older people. But I'll keep looking.

Note how easy it is to step through.
Stability and comfort with a good
workout. We can age with it.

Another way to use your bike is to follow a virtual trail. You can choose different locations and you can control the speed and Power that you need to use your bike. When you're biking out on the street you can put your bike in a lower gear that keeps you peddling easier to keep the motion of biking. On trails I see a lot of people coasting. That's okay for sightseeing and all movement is good. But when you're biking for fitness you want to keep your legs moving, so bikers use their gears to make that happen. Moving slower to go uphill or to just slow down the intensity change gears. The same is true for indoor biking you just keep changing the gears to keep your legs moving and yet have times where are you are simulating traveling on flat land and going up hills.

So far I've noticed in these workouts some of them tell you when to change gears. Others do not but you can follow the music or how you see the terrain change to make those same changes as you would if you were biking. And once again you can't control your time on the bike. If third way indoor biking is used is watching TV or listening to music. I

have done better listening to music than watching TV. I think a recumbent bike would be best for TV

A spin bike, as with all of these
Suggestions look for the bike that
fits your purpose. Bikes come in
different cost so check it out the
Reviews and purchase the best
quality that you can.

watching. This seat is more comfortable. I wonder if TV makes me more lazy?

I have CP and biking outdoors my recumbent bike has been revolutionary. It is made my bike riding more comfortable and easier to move up hills an overall enjoy a faster ride. The three wheels give me the balance support that I need. The technology for bikes and chairs give many more people with disabilities mobility and fitness options.

My outdoor experiences help me understand making the most of indoor options. The advantages of doing these in a class is the socialization and support that you can get. The advantages of doing them at home are one of safety, exercise that your discretion, and convenience. Biking can help circulation, conditioning, muscle and bone strength. What I like about it is another option along with walking that you can do in the wintertime. You can also exercise when it's hot or bad weather. There is also the safety of your home. Adding a virtual class or experience, we're doing it watching TV Or listening to music gives your mind something to think about while walk biking. For me, biking an indoor walking are activities that I can do without falling. 

I came across a bike that allows you to put your laptop on a stand to bike in an office. They have created desks that you can work from standing. Having wanted you can do biking can't help put movement into your day. It will be interesting to see you what people do with this thinking. Well make sure whether by bike, walk, run or swim to keep walking.