Active aging

The New York Times had a report on “active aging” a couple of days ago.

Coincidentally, a few minutes I sent my family a note about cardiovascular exercise and blood pressure. My family has a strong history of heart disease, and I've always been mindful of it. I was a long distance runner in high school and college, and switched to the stairclimber when I started working.

I've gotten lazy the past few years, focusing more on weight training than my cardio routine. And that's made a difference, as my blood pressure rose sharply.

Last year when I was training for the AIDS/LifeCycle, I noticed a big drop in my blood pressure and pulse rate. But then I slacked off again, and earlier this year my pressure was up again. Getting back on the stairclimber for 20 minutes a day for the past couple of weeks has brought it back down again.

It can be easier than you think... you just got to get moving.

From the Times article:

Fact: Every hour of every day, 330 Americans turn 60.

Fact: By 2030, one in five Americans will be older than 65.

Fact: The number of people over 100 doubles every decade.

Fact: As they age, people lose muscle mass and strength, flexibility and bone.

Fact: The resulting frailty leads to a loss of mobility and independence.

The last two facts may sound discouraging. But they can be countered by another. Regular participation in aerobics, strength training and balance and flexibility exercises can delay and may even prevent a life-limiting loss of physical abilities into one’s 90s and beyond....

Even if you have a chronic health problem or physical limitation, there are safe ways to improve fitness and well-being. Any delay can increase the risk of injury and make it harder to recoup your losses....

Jim Concotelli of the Horizon Bay Senior Communities in Tampa, who oversees fitness and wellness program development for communities for the elderly in several states, noted this year in The Journal on Active Aging that many older Americans were unfamiliar with exercise activities and feared that they would cause injury and pain, especially if they have arthritis or other chronic problems. Yet by strengthening muscles, he said, they can improve joints and bones and function with less pain and less risk of injury.

The key is start slowly and build gradually as ability and strength improve. Most important is simply to start — now— perhaps under the guidance of a fitness professional or by creating a program based on the guidelines outlined here.

Read the full article here. And don't forget to move a little more. :-)