Keep Moving As You Age So That You Can Grow Older Gracefully!
“Life is about movement - everything that is alive moves.” (1)
What a great thing to remember! No matter your age, you have to move. As you age, you have to move more (than you may feel like)! Life equals motion. Motion equals life. Researchers are really delivering some great information on this topic that will motivate us all (and our loved ones!) to exercise so that we can all grow old and grow old(er) gracefully. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic and our McHenry chiropractic patients will all grow old better working together, exercising, moving, and meeting at the office for gentle Cox® treatment!
BED REST AND MOBILITY
Bed rest is not always best! It may be less frightening than moving and be even a bit soothing. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic will give you that! When hospitalized, there’s lots of bed rest, maybe even a bit too much for a patient’s liking! A study of patients in an acute care hospital ward found that inpatient mobility was low despite their individual capabilities and desires to move. (1) It’s so important to keep acute patients - and those with new bouts of back pain and/or neck pain, too - moving to get them better! Beneficially, acutely hospitalized older patients enhanced their muscle strength and power while they were in the hospital using an individualized multicomponent exercise program that incorporated power training in as little as 3 days! (2) In a review of the benefits of exercise for frail older adults, researchers emphasized the value of preserving functional abilities for those who want to grow old gracefully. They further emphasized that exercise and physical activity are good to prevent of falls, hospital stays, improved cognition, etc. Exercises from power training (yes – power training for older folks!) to resistance training, balance exercises, aerobic training, walking, etc. (3) Mobility is part of keeping frailty at bay, and OrthoIllinois Chiropractic encourages that!
FRAILTY AND MOBILITY
Those of us over 65 years old are said to be more at risk to frailty, increasing our risk of lot of other adverse health issues, both cognitive and physical. The desire we all have is that frailty is reversible. Researchers have studied this issue by reviewing published studies on this topic of frailty reversal. Luckily, 56.7% of the papers suggested that it is reversible (getting a person who is frail/severely frail to a state of being ‘pre-frail’ or just mildly so). (4) Those are hopeful outcomes! One study said that frail and even “pre” frail older patients showed better physical performance and function after a short (6 week) facility-based exercise program that involved a walking-based high intensity interval training. 64% upped their frailty rating. Particularly, muscle power improved by 47%, muscle strength by 34%, and aerobic capacity rose 19%. (5) And other additional benefits with physical activity in general: energy and a better emotional state! Frailty and aging tend to decrease energy levels and increase fatigue and emotional distress. Moving and physical activity has been described to contend with those feelings in older women as well as extend life expectancy and lower some negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. (6) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic thinks you’ll concur that these are positive things!
CONTACT OrthoIllinois Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Tom Menendez on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he shares the effectiveness of the gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating the elderly.
Schedule your McHenry chiropractic appointment soon. You’re alive. What a wonderful thing! Celebrate that with some movement.
