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| Sure, time flies when you're having fun but when the fun catches up...look out. During one's 20s, 30s and 40s, life clips along at breakneck speed, and
timewise, something usually has to give. Often, this something is exercise. |
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| Then, reaching our 50s, with kids grown and retirement looming, we find with dismay that our stamina and vigor have been replaced by creaky joints and blurry vision. For some of us, the only youthful characteristic we have left is the reckless abandon with which we accumulate prescriptions. |
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| Exercise-deficient lifestyles contribute to many age-related medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis. |
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| "As they age, people decrease muscle use. Unfortunately, older adults lose strength three times as quickly as they can gain it back," says Danielle Heinrichs, a physical therapist at Longmont, Colorado's Medically Based Fitness (MBF), a medically-based exercise therapy clinic that largely serves an over-50 clientele. "So those bedridden for several weeks often experience significant deconditioning - sometimes to the point where ordinary tasks like getting in or out of chairs becomes difficult." |
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| Happily, many national medical studies show that exercise programs, begun at any age, whether 40 or 84, offer innumerable benefits including increased metabolism, enhanced glucose control, better heart function and blood flow as well as improved strength, balance and mental acuity. |
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| Aging frequently erodes independence as illness and physical decline require caregivers, whether family or hired, to take on tasks previously performed by the individual. Studies have shown that in addition to building up strength, which facilitates the ability to return to daily chores, exercise also promotes endorphin release and higher brain oxygen levels, which help counteract the depression prevalent in older populations. Organized exercise or a daily walking regime enlarges one's social network, which becomes a secondary factor in combating depression. |
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| "At
MBF, the social aspect has as much benefit as the strength and cardiovascular training," says MBF's director, Marci Smith. "People visit our facility several times each week and see the same six to 10 people each time. Often, they see their therapists and workout friends more frequently than family members." |
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| Seeing peers actively coping with serious health problems or watching someone a decade older move dedicatedly through an exercise routine motivates many clients, Smith says. |
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| Maggie Miller at 86 deals with congestive heart failure. As a result, Miller's heart doesn't pump as strongly as it should, which means simple efforts often tire her. Her progressive decrease in physical functionality and related weakness meant that a struggle with pneumonia several years ago required an extended hospital visit and long recovery time at home. The lengthy bed rest left Miller so weak she had difficulty walking upon recovery. |
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| Consequently, Miller's doctor prescribed an exercise therapy program. Since beginning a regime that consists of strength and balance training mixed with stationary bike riding for cardiovascular benefits, Miller now gets in and out of chairs easily. Improved balance allows her more control while she's walking, meaning that she no longer needs a walker at home. |
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| "I dread the balancing exercises but I don't want to go back where I was physically. It used to take me four or five tries to get out of a chair and I always needed a walker, including at home," she says. |
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| Exercise therapy for chronically ill patients generally qualifies for Medicare coverage. Once a patient's improvement plateaus, Medicare will no longer pay but the sense of well-being and accomplishment often propels exercise program graduates forward. |
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| Gilbert
Adolfson, an 80-year old retired economist, says he's currently in the best shape of his life. After a succession of heart bypass surgeries and a recent kidney removal, Adolfson now strength trains twice weekly and walks or swims the other three weekdays, taking weekends off. |
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| "After my kidney operation, Medicare paid for a year of exercise therapy. After that I only stopped my exercise program once for a week. At the week's end, I found my fitness was back where I'd started before the kidney operation," says Adolfson. "So now I know to keep it up permanently." |
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| As newscaster Tom Brokaw's "greatest generation" approaches life's final stretch, it again leads the nation. Many embrace current medical research and engage in exercise programs like yoga, aerobic exercise and stretching. |
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| Retired boomers will represent 20 percent of the population by 2010. As this generation helps refine contemporary geriatric research, it too will contribute a wealth of knowledge about the body's response to aging from which subsequent generations will benefit. |
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