Our Greatest Generation
- By:Melissa Anne Allen Allen
I recently helped a very good friend of mine move her grandmother here from Chicago to live with her and her family, since she could no longer take good care of herself on her own. The experience opened my eyes to a lot of day-to-day activities that I, for one, took for granted. That started me thinking about activities and exercises that seniors could do in order to prolong the aging process. And ironically, a reader also emailed me asking me to devote more interest to fitness for seniors, at the same time.
First, I'd like to address the concept that fitness can be enjoyable. It doesn't have to be viewed as something that you simply "get through"; it can be fun to actually do, not just "be done with." I realize that most of you seniors worked very difficult jobs (often physical in nature) and lived lives that paralleled those jobs, and I want to be the first to acknowledge your hard work. You sacrificed in order to provide better lives for your families. Naturally, when someone puts in years of hard physical work, it is expected that you should be able to live a life of leisure, as you deserve it. But I think you first need to adjust your mindset concerning fitness.
Making fitness enjoyable is the key to making it a lifestyle, rather than simply an empty chore that you drudge through. It is similar to the way in which we find meaning in our work, which makes getting out of bed in the mornings much easier. Learning this is something that comes with time, and that requires consistency. It is different for each person-some people get hooked on the euphoric feeling that comes during or after exercise, while others are very in tune with their bodies and notice not only physical changes, but an increase in mental capabilities as well. Although I can't tell you what aspect of exercise will serve as your motivator, what I can tell you is some various ways to merge fitness into your lifestyle.
Since many seniors live on limited budgets, they simply don't have the means to hire a trainer or undertake an expensive sport to get in shape. Walking and hiking are two of the most economical and versatile means of exercise that come to mind. I will be doing a more detailed article in an upcoming edition mapping out some safe walking routes around the area. In one of my past articles I offered some suggestions on hiking in the San Diego area and suggested the book, Afoot and Afield in San Diego County. It offers great hiking trails and rates them according to difficulty, length of time it takes to complete, and other statistics about the trail. While many people enjoy hiking, others prefer walking because they don't have to drive to the trail location.
Another approach rather than to take on new behaviors (exercises), is to modify your existing ones. A friend of mine recently told me a story about trying to get a senior to exercise with no ado, because the senior viewed exercise as not practical and a waste of time. But once the senior could see some practicality in it, he quickly changed his attitude. This was accomplished by choosing an exercise that he viewed as valuable, and in this case it was chopping wood.
Many of you work around your homes and gardens and can appreciate modifying some of your current workload into a fitness regime. Anything requiring lifting should always be done with the legs, not the low back muscles. This form of a modified squat serves as a compound leg exercise. An overhead shoulder press can be emulated by lifting an object overhead using a pushing motion. In other words, whenever you put a box up on a shelf.
Digging is an excellent exercise for the upper body, as well as sawing and trimming back bushes and trees. Even cutting your own grass is a great form of fitness that also saves you money when you do it yourself. In past articles, I've also talked about choosing a parking spot as far from the entrance as possible in order to incorporate some exercise into what would have been simply a quick in-and-out shopping trip.
Of course you should always check with your doctor before taking on any new physical tasks, and always incorporate progression-begin slowly and build at a safe rate. Hopefully some of these ideas have been helpful in your quest for functional fitness. So give these ideas a try, and I encourage all of you with questions or suggestions to please jot me a line or two expressing your thoughts.
About the author:
Melissa Allen, CPT, BS, is a certified personal trainer