The Hamilton Spectator

HOW TO AGE ACTIVELY

Exercise helps combat many health conditions

- Ernie Schramayr, CPT, is a Medical Exercise Specialist in Hamilton. He helps his clients manage medical conditions with exercise and you can follow him at ErniesFitn­essWorld.com. 905-741-7532 or erniesfitn­essworld@gmail.com ERNIE SCHRAMAYR

Some of my most active clients are over 60. They are dedicated, driven and desperate to keep doing the things they love to do. Things like playing golf, cycling, making music, travelling, working or being with their grandkids.

The physical challenges they may face include arthritis, hormonal changes, diabetes, cardiovasc­ular disease and osteoporos­is. Fortunatel­y, there is an abundance of evidence showing that exercise has a positive impact on all of these conditions, as well as on depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

I’ve developed a list of four keys to be mastered for someone to age actively and successful­ly, despite the physical challenges that might appear.

1. Keep your quadriceps strong

Human beings start to lose skeletal muscle in their 30s if they don’t do some type of strength training to maintain it. This muscle loss results in slower metabolism, increased body fat and diminished performanc­e in daily activities. All adults should be doing something to reverse this trend.

To age actively, there is one important muscle group that determines whether someone remains independen­t or if they become a dependent in later years.

The strength of the thighs (or quadriceps) determines whether someone is able to use stairs, use a toilet, get up from a couch, get into a car, climb a ladder, bend to pick up a golf ball, etc. …

Performing exercises like squats, stepups and lunges is the best way to do this. There are infinite variations of these moves that can be adjusted based on personal ability levels.

2. Use high intensity aerobic interval training

Recent research has shown that even seniors can benefit from adding high intensity intervals to their workouts. Walking hills or adding short speed “bursts” to daily walks can have a positive impact on blood pressure and body compositio­n. Greater health benefits can even be achieved in shorter amounts of time versus longer, steady state aerobic workouts. And an added bonus is that decreasing workout time helps save joints from overuse.

“High intensity” is a relative term so each person should be working at a level that feels challengin­g to them. I recommend taking your total workout time and adding 20-30 seconds of faster paced “work” every 3 minutes. For a walking workout, the “work” could be faster walking, jogging or hill climbing.

Consulting with your physician is recommende­d before adding this element to your exercise routine.

3. Protect your joints

While I am advocating overall strength training and high intensity aerobic exercise for older adults, I am not in favour of highimpact workouts that can damage joints. Arthritis is already a fact of life for many, if not most, people over the age of 60.

The best way to keep joints healthy and working pain-free is to build supporting muscle around them by doing a variety of strength activities. Alternatin­g between different types of exercise is an effective way to do this without suffering from overuse injuries. In other words, change your routine at least once per month.

4. Stay flexible

Strong muscles will help you perform better, protect your joints and stay leaner. Flexibilit­y will allow you to stand up straighter and move with much more ease.

A daily stretching routine that I’ve developed called The Big 4, is a routine that will stretch the entire body in only four moves. You can watch a demo of the routine by going to my website home page and clicking the YouTube button.

I believe in “under doing” things until an older client has learned proper exercise form and an appropriat­e intensity level has been establishe­d for them. When this happens, they enjoy the benefits of a progressiv­e fitness program like anyone else.

After a year of undergoing MRI exams and managing my pain and injury, my shoulder surgery date is almost upon me. Knowing that I really can’t do anymore longterm damage, I’ve increased the training load of my fitness program and for my shoulder specifical­ly. My pain level is a little higher than it has been, but, in an odd way, this gives me comfort knowing that I’ve made the right decision to go through with the procedure.

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