Sharing new ideas to help strength and weightless as we age.

I came across an article from the Cooperized newsletter related to strength training as we age. It is to our advantage to learn to use resistance training as we age. I have read many studies that show we can slow the rate of muscle loss or even add muscle well into our 90's. We are not all at the same level of health and with our doctor, we can design a fitness program tailored to our needs and health.
There are a variety of tools out there and gyms to use at home or the gym fit for seniors.
Combining walking, biking, running, swimming, gardening, housework there are ways to boost our war to 150 minutes of active movement we need as we age.
In the Article, Lean In and Tone Up Patrick Fisher Cooper Fitness Center Professional Trainer shares the benefits of building lean muscle and practical ways to develop a routine. Because most of us are on some calorie reduction diet we are not taking in the time or calorie intake of muscle builders to bulk up.

60 and after he recommends 45% of our fitness is
strength training. This helps muscle loss and bone
density.

In the article, he talks about changing reps from 12 to 20 or 30 reps which will keep the body challenged to develop muscle definition. 12 reps more weight, 20 to 30 less weight. Several weeks for each one.
Dr. Ken Cooper shares a chart on how the % of cardio and strength training changes as we age. The older we get the more strength training we need.
In practical terms, this helps our heart, brain, and ability to keep us independent able to do what we need to do. Muscle is one way to increase our metabolic rate. Losing muscle makes it harder to lose weight. Keep walking

https://cooperaerobics.com/Health-Tips/Fitness-Files/Lean-in-and-Tone-Up.aspx

Building strength and muscle can be part of healthy aging

Looking at related articles from the NYT and LA Times I started with an article from Gretchen Reynolds March 20, 2019 “Why lifting Weights Can be So Potent for Aging Well”.

One thing I like about the Times is the practice of linking you to their sources which will be other articles or medical research and studies. This part of the reading is less sensational and more informational. Here you can see the strengths and weaknesses of the studies. What seems to be verified and what are the questions and concerns to be looked into more. 

Some highlights

• only 17% of seniors actually do resistant training.
• The study was done of 81 healthy seniors between the ages of 65-75
• for three months they all did and twice a week, the next 3 months still supervised once or twice a week they continued, workout at a gym paid for by the study - all improved their strength.
• Then supervision stopped and they were on their own (Would they continue?) It was predicted 30% would continue. 46% of the participants continues working out. (This stat was given in the study itself, Reynolds estimated around 50% in her article) Some of them just once a week. All of them continued to improve strength. 
• One reason was presented as a factor in them continuing, they felt confident at the gym. 

This is a small study and it deals with healthy aging. The study confirms earlier studies that we can build muscle in our old age. We can improve our strength. This translates into confidence which will improve our chances to continue.

Expect a slower rate of growth of muscle mass due to age. Grab onto we can still gain strength. Developing a fitness strategy in retirement ages to our interest in life, promotes a healthy brain and can lead to motivation to live better.

Gym workouts, weights, bands, TRX, cans and containers from the pantry, body workouts can lead to stronger bodies. 

A stronger body can continue to live more independently and help gives us more days worth living. 

Yes, I know we can improve our spiritual, mental, social lives as well, but I believe those goals are enhanced by good fitness routines we can develop. Tomorrow I will share some things that can help us if we are not so healthy. Keep walking.

Today my emphasis is strength training, the how the Fatman way

Today my emphasis are body exercises and resistant band exercises. 

List of my fatman exercises

Kitchen workout

• adapted pushups off counter I do 20 reps
• adapted dips at counter corner - Using the corner of the counter with my hands located at my side behind me I do squats and also push ip with my upper body doing a dip. The first two dips I mainly use my legs then at dip 3 -15 or 20 reps I used my upper body more. By rep 12 I start to feel a burn in my triceps. I push hard to 15 and may let up as I work to 20.
• 12 to 15 heal raises

  

  My feet are flat on ground

• 12 lounges on each side using hand to steady me.

Bed workout - This concept came from an idea to fight my anxiety attacks I had about sleep and breathing and death. The exercises help me have confidence I could always get out of bed. My fears though real were both irrational and medical as well. In short my brain wasn’t working right. Medicines to help my serotonin levels and cognitive therapies helped me recover. The exercises may help any senior.

• sit ups or crunches - feet on the ground lay back on the bed and do a sit up. I have added places pillows behind me where it is more of a crunch. I do 1 to 3 sets of 20 sit ups.
• Squats from the bed 15 to 20 - What I like about this the bed limits how far I squat down. One can do these from a steady chair. A healer for my knees. Practical strength to get up and move.
• adapted push-ups off my dresser - My dresser is lower than my counter and therefore harder. 20 reps

  Band workouts two sets (look into band resistance and how to do it)

• shoulder press
• triceps press - hands start behind the head and push up
• curls
• rows
• squats
• chest press
• dead lifts

I will add more to this routine

The work outs are great for breaking up my workspace, Strength training is a must as we get older. Our goals is to keep moving and independence. Side effects if we work at it we may slow down muscle loss or even add a few pounds of muscle as we age. We are all different and our workouts can vary. As always check with doctor and experts on senior fitness. Keep walking

Getting older fight back

Mark twain said, "Age is a matter of mind over matter, If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.”

In the Wall Street Journal today SUMATHI REDDY reported on a study the aging process as it effects the eyes, ears, brain, bones and strength.

In all of these areas we can develop strategies to slow loss of function to maintain the ability to bugger on.We need to begin fighting back on aging from our 30s on. With hearing we may have to do it sooner.

For myself having cerebral palsy my balances always been a struggle. As we get older many of you will begin to have problems with your balance. Balance can be improved by paying attention to our strength.

Source Wall Street Journal

Our ability to learn new things peaks in our 20’s. By our 40’s it is harder to learn new things. I have found personally in the workforce that we are often thrust into new jobs or opportunities that require us to learn new things. It won't work to just say, “I’m an ole dog and I can't learn new tricks.” What we lose in our memory task we can adjust by our acquired ability to stay at until we learn. As we get older were pretty good at that. 

If we are passive and ignore the normal decline when we get older it will become harder to deal with things. If that is the case, I think it's a good idea to not give up. We still can improve the quality of our life and it is still possible to add some time to our life. I have reported several times that if we begin with a health team from our 30s on and practice what is good lifestyle habits we can gain as much is seven years to our life. For Scientific and medical support for that you can check out Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s Cooper aerobics, Real share with Dr, Oz, the American Heart Association to cite a few.

If we make lifestyle changes in our 50s we can average about two years to our lifespan. We all know that medical intervention has improve our life span from the 30s to the 70s in the last hundred years. 

Ignoring and possibly fearing the unknown in aging won't do at all. Facing up to our health with a good GP and medical support can make all the difference in the world. From time to time I was treated for physical therapy. For me it works much better then all the painkillers. Recognizing that I had a problem with depression help me find professionals and put the depression in recession. There're other things that I have down to prevent cancer and heart disease. Anecdotal evidence isn't always the best, but my brother ignored the warnings of smoking and heart disease and he passed away way to young. 

Source: WSJ

Reddy reported strength training can help balance. Today I did my strength training with my fat man exercises and my resistance bands. If our core and lower body has strength we will have better balance. I am counting on that helping me with aging and CP. Thank God most of you just have aging deal with. Please observe older people. In order for you to move around independently you are going to need spend time with strength training. I love the training that people can do sitting when they are aged. If you want mobility, than you will need to keep moving. 

Invest in resistance bands or tubes, dumbbells. Learn to do body strength exercises. Added strength training program in your retirement. It will be good for your heart and help you keep your independence. Keep walking

Check out the articles

http://www.wsj.com/articles/dont-wait-until-youre-older-to-fight-getting-old-1472488840?tesla=y

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27356977

Add strength training to get back into the swing of things

Many of you know by now everywhere you look there are articles and information about health. Sometimes I find new information and other times I find more support for good ideas that I have already looked at. 

The Wall Street Journal an article by Heidi Mitchell Does Stress Make  us forgetful? Heidi interview Dr. Sinja of Yale who informs us if we have stress that is controllable it helps us to perform to our ability. Our memory functions very well we are in a situation when we can plan and work towards a goal. The problem with stress is if we are presented with the situation where wehave too many tasks to perform or too short of time to do what we need to do, we get a overloaded and we panic. Instead of reacting with reason we react emotionally. Normally these things that we would remember we now forget. If we are multitasking 10 things at once, each thing that we are trying to do only gets about 10% of our efficiency. Another problem with stress if we have too many major stresses our brain functions less. 

The good news is Dr. Sinya it Informs us that if we get enough sleep, eat small healthy meals and exercise our brain heels stress and our memory can be restored.

In another article from the Wall Street Journal Laura Johannes reports The Benefit of Pumping Iron Late in Life. Research shows intense strength training helps fend off age-related disabilities. When I first started studying health in my middle 50s Dr. Cooper of Cooper aerobics centers presented studies about the benefit of strength training for aging adults. Strength training has been shown beneficial in rehabbing injuries and recovering quality-of-life for greater independence. Research is cited here where are the benefits of muscle gain from strength training and the same is true of the benefits of aerobic training appear to be about half the gain as younger people.

I would not get discouraged about that because we usually start from a weaker point in our health. The benefits we get from our muscle gain greatly improves our quality of life. I have good reason to share with you strength training should be part of your weekly routine. Strength training can have a tremendous relief over pain of arthritis and have been proven to return people back to a normal life. The article gave an example of people in their 70s. Dr. Cooper reported people in their 90s who were able to put on muscle. The strength training form and modification are key ideas.

Leslie Sansone and others have reported in their research how walking improves brain health. Walking is more healthy for you then crossword puzzles. Strength training helps with cardio health and apparently helps us boost our higher level brain tasks. Strength training is really new to you then consult a trainer. Checking with your doctor and take a look at programs for seniors to use strength training to improve muscle and joint health. Check out the articles and keep walking.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-benefits-of-pumping-iron-in-later-life-1426475062 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/does-stress-make-us-forgetful-is-that-why-we-cant-find-the-car-keys-1426527607 

Do you know the story of Bethany Hamilton?

Bethany Hamilton

I always like revisiting story that I have read about before. Bethany Hamilton I read about 8 years ago who 11 years ago was attacked by a shark and lost her left arm. She overcame her injury and return to competitive surfing. She is now 24 years old and she still competes. She has recently written a book, Body and Soul in which she reaches out to motivate young girls to live healthier lives. She leads by example and you can see the picture she maintains a fitness level and weight control. She hasn't allowed her loss of a limb to stop the disciplines of a professional athlete. 

She uses the suspension training that I've shared with you and you can see that she can modify to give her body a balanced strength workout that would directly relate to surfing. Can you imagine the coordination and strength it takes to get up on the board when you're catching a wave. I can't do it. I have used a bodyboard and I've been tossed around the California surf like a beached whale. 

My experience with the waves in California's is they are pretty strong. I experience a riptide that was taking me out to sea and it was cool to practice when I learned to swim parallel to the coast and then easily move back into the shore. A riptide isn't very wide but you can't swim directly back in. I am a strong swimmer and I could not directly swim against a riptide. You have to swim a little parallel 20 to 50 feet and then you get waves taking you back in. Every year there's people who drown because they trying to go directly against the current. The Pacific in California is a lot cooler than West Florida in the Gulf so Barb doesn't like going to water. I am trying to navigate the water with CP, Once I'm out A little deeper I'm okay but the waves by the shore they can be pretty strong. 

Bethany says she likes the suspension training because she can take it with her anywhere and she likes working outdoors. Check out a couple videos online about how people use this and remember you can always modify to fit your fitness level. Some people really are quite strong with it but we can use it regardless of our fitness level. Try to look at a couple videos of people who modified for themselves and you'll get the idea. 

Strength training is your program. No matter what tools you use there is away for you to strength training that helps you maintain or increase your strength no matter what your age. Bethany and myself demonstrate that suspension training or strength training can be modified to the disability. Keep walking