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fitness tracker

3 Pros vs. 3 Cons of Wearable Fitness Trackers – Are Any Right for You?

/21 July 2021/ All MFN blog/

Fitness trackers are some of the hottest tech gadgets on the market. They can measure your daily steps count, monitor your heart rate, log how many calories you’ve eaten, and even analyze your sleep quality. Some models can read your blood oxygen levels and use GPS technology to keep track of your running, walking, or biking route. Many people swear by making this type of “wearable” technology a part of their daily routines.

But is there any merit to all this hype?

Are fitness trackers a passing trend or a worthy addition to your health and exercise routine?

Why wear a fitness tracker?

We all know that it’s important to exercise regularly, especially as we age. Studies have shown that physical activity can extend longevity, prevent cardiovascular disease and stroke, and combat the onset of dementia. Having a regular exercise routine is an important part of keeping your body feeling young and in shape. The trouble is that many people struggle with keeping up a consistent workout routine. This is where fitness trackers come in.

Fitness trackers are wearable health devices designed to monitor your activity level. They come in all shapes and sizes, from simple models that are little more than glorified pedometers to advanced smartwatches that can track your body’s vital signs in micro detail.

Tracking your fitness activity also can be an important step to taking charge of your health because it makes people more conscious of their health. Having a log of your activity level and vital signs can also be a valuable tool to share with your doctor or personal trainer. Seeing hard data makes it easier to create a sustainable routine you can stick to.

The Pros of Using a Fitness Tracker

Helps build routine

For many people, blindly exercising without any way to track their progress can be frustrating. It can be hard to find the motivation to get moving when you have no way of knowing if your efforts are working. Wearing a fitness tracker allows you to see your progress in real-time and make adjustments. If you track 5,000 steps a day, you can make it a goal to gradually increase to the recommended 10,000 steps per day. It can be motivating to see your numbers improve, which makes it easier to stick to your routine.

Motivates you to move more

Most of us spend far more time than we’d like to on the couch. Sitting too much can be deadly. It’s a good rule of thumb to get up and move for 15 minutes for every hour that you spend sitting down. Many fitness trackers come with built-in reminders for this exact reason, helping you remember to get up and move throughout the day.

Keeps track of your dietary choices

Many fitness trackers offer ways to input your daily food and water intake via the connected apps. Keeping track helps make sure that you’re getting adequate nutrition. Studies have shown that tracking your food intake can lead to weight loss, even without following a specific diet plan. The information can also help a dietitian or a personal trainer get an idea of your daily meal plan. They can use this data to help you formulate a healthy diet, and logging your choices regularly can help you stick to it.

The Cons of Using a Fitness Tracker

Can be overwhelming

Some people may find the amount of data to be overwhelming. Many devices offer far more options than the average person needs, and the high cost of some premium models means they may not be an ideal investment. Those who are less technically savvy may also find the device’s smartphone app frustrating to use, or simply not worth the trouble.

Ask yourself what’s most important to you to keep track of — such as your heart rate, number of steps and estimated number of calories burned — then look for models that only track those features. You’ll save money and save your brain from information overload.

May lead to obsessive behavior

The detailed stats that a fitness tracker provides can be a tremendous motivation for some people. But for others, this may open a gateway to obsessive behavior. Many people can’t help but fixate on obtaining perfect stats, and may push themselves too hard to achieve them. The number on the screen is only a best estimation of your daily activity, not a measure of your self-worth! It’s also worth noting that fitness trackers are not medically accurate with their stats, and there can be vast discrepancies between different models.

Not as useful in the long-run

While a fitness tracker can be a valuable tool to motivate you in the early stages of your fitness journey, they’re not as useful for keeping the weight off in the long-run. Surveys have shown that around ⅓ of people who buy fitness trackers stop wearing their devices after six months. Other studies have found that they’re not as helpful for losing weight as most people would believe. A randomized trial by the Journal of American Medicine found that people who didn’t wear a fitness tracker actually lost around 8 pounds more on average compared to their device-wearing counterparts.

Does that mean that wearing a fitness tracking device will inhibit your progress? Not necessarily. Those in the study who wore the trackers still saw improvements to their body composition and physical fitness thanks to their new diet and exercise routines. That’s because the trick to living a healthy lifestyle is finding a routine that works and sticking to it. If the fitness tracker helps you do this, excellent! If not, another method of motivation might be better for you.

The Best Alternatives to Fitness Trackers

It’s worth noting that shelling out hundreds of dollars for a fitness tracker isn’t the only way to monitor your health. If you want to get an idea of what your heart rate is like while exercising, try this simple experiment: go for a brisk 30-minute walk around your neighborhood. When you get to the halfway point, try singing one of your favorite songs. If you can sing it perfectly without any hesitation, up the pace.

You can also set “stand up and move” reminders on your watch or smartphone. For tracking your food intake, there are a number of apps available to let you log your daily meals. Some people enjoy keeping a physical food journal rather than going with a purely digital route. You can always experiment until you find the right method.

The Bottom Line

When used correctly, a fitness tracker can be a helpful tool that offers detailed feedback on your body’s activity level and other aspects of your health. If you need an extra boost to get moving or want to keep a close eye on your progress, they can be a worthwhile investment. However, if you have a tendency to obsess over small details or don’t need the extensive data that a fitness tracker provides, another option might be better to track your progress. Ultimately, how you choose to track your activity is your choice. Whatever option you choose, the important thing is that you keep moving and stay active at a healthy level.

Originally printed on aviv-clinics.com. Reprinted with permission.

Aviv Clinics delivers a highly effective, science-based treatment protocol to enhance brain performance and improve the cognitive and physical symptoms of conditions such as traumatic brain injuries, fibromyalgia, Lyme, and dementia.

Our intensive treatment protocol uses Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and cognitive and physical training as well as nutrition management for better brain health. The medical program closely tracks clients’ progress before, during, and after the treatment protocol, using customized tablets and other technology. Based on over a decade of research and development, the Aviv Medical Program is holistic and customized to your needs.

Aaron Tribby, M.Ed is Head of Physiology for Aviv Clinics where he is responsible for managing a team of physiologists, physical therapists, dietitians, and stress technicians at Aviv Clinics – the first hyperbaric medical treatment center of its kind in North America dedicated to improving brain performance. He also oversees the cardiopulmonary exercise tests and CPET in the clinic, responsible for analyzing each test. Leading to Aviv Clinics, his clinical experience is focused on health and wellness, strength and conditioning and nutrition within both the non-profits and private sectors including Mercy Hospital and MusclePharm, respectively.

 

References

  • Aviv Clinics – Brain Performance. Aviv Clinics USA. (2021, July 1). https://aviv-clinics.com/hyperbaric-medical-program/.
  • Gartner Survey Shows Wearable Devices Need to Be More Useful. Gartner. (2016, December 7). https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2016-12-07-gartner-survey-shows-wearable-devices-need-to-be-more-useful.
  • Jakicic, J. M., Davis, K. K., Rogers, R. J., King, W. C., Marcus, M. D., Helsel, D., Rickman, A. D., Wahed, A. S., & Belle, S. H. (2016). Effect of Wearable Technology Combined With a Lifestyle Intervention on Long-term Weight Loss. JAMA, 316(11), 1161. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.12858
  • Langhammer, B., Bergland, A., & Rydwik, E. (2018, December 5). The Importance of Physical Activity Exercise among Older People. BioMed research international. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6304477/.
  • Patel, A. V., Maliniak, M. L., Rees-Punia, E., Matthews, C. E., & Gapstur, S. M. (2018). Prolonged Leisure Time Spent Sitting in Relation to Cause-Specific Mortality in a Large US Cohort. American Journal of Epidemiology, 187(10), 2151–2158. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwy125
  • ScienceDaily. (2019, February 28). Tracking food leads to losing pounds. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190228154839.htm.
Senior couple on country bike ride

Creating Fit and Functional Older Adults

/20 July 2021/ All MFN blog/

Beginning in the seventh grade, I became fascinated with age—specifically how our bodies’ functional capacities decrease with the passage of time. When I once shared this perception with my 98-year-old grandmother, she said, “Just wait until you’re 80.” I’m still far from 80, so I can only imagine how difficult it will be then to stand up from a chair or run around the neighborhood.

The biggest factor in the decline in physical capacity with age is level of physical activity. When your clients remain active throughout adulthood, they can retard the aging process and continue to live a life worth living. I know 70-year-olds who are fitter than 30-year-olds.

Physiology of the Older Adult

After age 30, most physiological functions decline at a rate of approximately 0.75 to 1 percent per year. Perhaps the biggest functionally-related physiological change with age is a decrease in muscle mass, called sarcopenia, which is due to a loss of motor units (a motor neuron and all the muscle fibres it connects to) and atrophy of fast-twitch muscle fibres. With the loss of motor units comes denervation of muscle fibres (a lost connection between the motor neuron and the fibres within the motor unit). This denervation causes the muscle fibres to deteriorate, resulting in a decrease in muscle mass, which significantly decreases the older adult’s muscle strength and power, making certain activities of daily living difficult.

Men and women generally attain their highest strength levels between ages 20 and 40, after which the strength of most muscle groups declines, slowly at first and then more rapidly after age 50. Muscle strength decreases approximately eight percent per decade after age 45, with greater strength losses occurring in women compared to men. In both men and women, lower body strength declines more rapidly than upper body strength.

With the loss of muscle mass also comes a loss in mitochondria, which decreases muscular and aerobic endurance. Mitochondria are unique in that they have their own specific DNA, so when older adults lose mitochondria, they also lose mitochondrial DNA. If your clients want healthy functioning muscles as they age, they need lots of healthy mitochondria.

Cardiovascular fitness also declines with age, in part due to a decrease in maximum heart rate and stroke volume (the volume of blood the heart pumps per beat). With a lower maximum heart rate and stroke volume comes a lower maximum cardiac output (the volume of blood the heart pumps per minute), a decreased ability to deliver oxygen to the muscles, and thus a lower VO2max (the maximum volume of oxygen the muscles can consume). VO2max decreases by 8 to 10 percent every 10 years after the age of 30 in healthy, sedentary adults. When maximum cardiovascular functioning declines, so does the workload that can be tolerated at a given percentage of the (lower) maximum. Decreases in VO2max with aging can be variable, particularly if your clients remain active. But if not attended to, a youthful run becomes an aged walk.

Training the Older Adult

Although many physiological factors decline with age, up to 50 percent of this decline is due to deconditioning rather than aging. With proper training, your clients can lessen the physiological effects of aging and remain fit and functional.

Arguably, cardiovascular exercise will always be more important than strength training throughout your client’s life because heart disease is the most common cause of death for both men and women. No one has ever died of a weak biceps muscle. But people die of weak hearts every day. One cannot live very well or very long without a strong heart. Since the risk of heart disease increases as people age, older adults need cardiovascular exercise just as much or even more than do younger adults. Like younger adults, older adults should do at least 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise on most, if not all, days of the week. The more physically fit one remains, the slower the rate of cardiovascular decline. Maintaining exercise intensity, rather than a higher volume of training, is the key to minimizing the loss of aerobic fitness as your clients age.

Strength training also becomes more important as people age. Given that aging is accompanied by a decrease in muscular endurance, strength, and power, resistance training should take on greater weight (pun intended) when training an older client. I’d even go as far to say that every person over the age of fifty should strength train because that’s about the age at which people start to lose a significant amount of muscle mass. And that loss in muscle mass with age affects your client’s ability to function. If you’ve ever seen a senior citizen try to stand up from sitting in a chair or witnessed how catastrophic a fall can be to a senior, you know how much benefit strength training can have. The positive effects of strength training on bone density, muscular strength and endurance, balance and coordination (which reduces the risk of falling and fractures), functional mobility, physical aesthetics, and self-esteem cannot be denied.

Train older clients with heavier weights and fewer reps per set to target improvements in muscular strength, or with lighter weights lifted quickly to target the fast-twitch muscle fibres and improvements in muscular power. Greater strength gains occur at intensities of 80 to 90 percent of the one-rep max (the maximum weight that can be lifted just once). Although we tend to think of power training as something done to improve athletic performance, it has big implications for older adults, whose muscles lack strength and power. Research has shown power training to be very effective for strength and power development in seniors. Since it takes longer to recover from workouts as people age, give your clients more time between intense resistance and cardio workouts.

If you train older adults with higher intensity, less volume, and more recovery between workouts, not only will they be fitter and stronger, they may even be able to keep up with my 98-year-old grandmother.

From CanFitPro magazine. Sept./Oct. 2017.  Reprinted with permission from Jason R. Karp, PhD

Jason Karp, PhD, is the 2011 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, 2014 recipient of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition Community Leadership award, and creator of the REVO₂LUTION RUNNING™ certification. He has more than 400 published articles in international running, coaching, and fitness magazines, is the author of eight books, including Run Your Fat Off and The Inner Runner, and speaks at fitness conferences and coaching clinics around the world. Get training programs and autographed copies of his books at run-fit.com.

Senior-doctor-throat-open-wide

Parkinson’s Symptoms: “OPEN WIDE” – A Trip Down Our Throat

/15 July 2021/ All MFN blog/

Our throat muscles, through which we speak, sing and scream, give us our signature sound. In many situations, people affected by Parkinson’s disease (PD) have diminished voice control. According to Wikipedia, Parkinson’s disease can cause changes in speech. The voice may get softer, breathy or hoarse, causing others difficulty hearing what we say. Speech may be slurred. Speech changes can interfere with communication, which can be isolating and harmful.

Other causes of voice disorders include infections, stomach acids that move upward in the throat, growths due to a virus, cancer and diseases that paralyze the vocal cords. Here is a brief understanding of what, how and ways to care for your precious voice.

What Are Your Vocal Cords?

Your voice box sits between the base of your tongue and the top of your windpipe, which is where your Adam’s apple likes to hang out. (The Adam’s apple is more pronounced in men than in women.) The vocal cords are two bands of smooth muscle membrane tissue, each covered in a mucous membrane, that stretch across the voice box like the strings on a guitar.

How They Work

When you’re quiet: listening, observing, perhaps meditating – your vocal cords sit apart, creating a tunnel through which you breathe in. But the moment you begin speaking, they clap together as the diaphragm pushes air up from the lungs. This air causes a buzz sound or vibration and sends sound waves through your throat, nose and mouth, which amplify them. As these “hums” pass through, they are transformed into song or sentences.

Your Sound

Vocal cords vary in thickness and length, which is why each person has his or her unique tune. Think of the singer Barry White’s voice. Deep and strong. Those who have booming voices, such as Barbra Streisand have larger resonating cavities (throat, nose and mouth).

Take Care of Your Cords

Yelling, or screaming can cause inflammation and lesions on your vocal cords. Even a long-lasting cough can do damage. If you are hoarse, rest your voice. Speak softly and try to avoid throat clearing, even if your throat is congested. Drink lots of water to thin excess mucus and lubricate. Menthol and eucalyptus can be irritating.

For those with Parkinson’s disease, if you notice your voice is diminished, see a speech-language pathologist (SLPs) specializing in voice therapy. They can assist with diagnosis, assessment, planning and treatment of voice disorders including difficulty with swallowing. Some exercises include moving your tongue up and down, moving it from corner to corner, placing your tongue at the tip of your mouth or smiling and saying “EEE” loudly. Repeat 10 times, at least twice a day.

Reprinted with permission from Lori Michiel. 

Lori Michiel, NASM, has been assisting seniors in their homes since 2006 with customized exercise programs including those designed to address Parkinson’s, metabolic disorders, arthritis and diabetes. These adaptive programs are specifically designed to improve balance, circulation, flexibility, mobility and promote independence. Lori Michiel Fitness has over 40 certified trainers who are matched with clients in Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange Counties. Connect with Lori at www.LoriMichielFitness.com.

deep-breathing

Your Rate of Breathing Can Reveal Your Health!

/14 July 2021/ All MFN blog/

Minute Ventilation (VE) is the amount of oxygen we breathe in or out over a given period, usually a minute. Hence Minute Ventilation.

Healthy Minute Ventilation is between 5 and 8 liters/minute of oxygen (normally 12-14 breaths per minute).  There are times when Minute Ventilation is increased, for example, during exercise, which is good.  But other times could be an indication of disease.

During exercise, the physiological demands on the body require you to consume more oxygen to offset the lactic acid and CO2 that are byproducts of increased activity. Our respiration therefore increases from 35 to 45 breaths /minute in healthy young adults, to elite athletes which can achieve 60+ breaths per minute.  This is necessary to offset the effects of increased activity. This amazing process continues throughout our lives keeping us in balance!


An interesting recent twist to this is breathing aware athletes have been taking less breaths, utilizing more oxygen, and recovering faster with conscious breathing techniques. The number of breaths per minute now have dropped to the low 20s for intense exercise! Research from Patrick McKeown, the author of The Oxygen Advantage, has shown that controlled nasal diaphragmatic breathing can greatly decrease the number of breaths needed, increase the oxygen uptake, enhancing performance!

Disease states are a different story.  Certain conditions like cardiovascular disease or diabetes require more oxygen to provide the same recovery process that a healthy person requires, therefore putting more stress on the body.

Here are some examples of corresponding disease states and the corresponding oxygen needs at rest:

  • Healthy Subjects ~8 L/min
  • Heart Disease ~16 L/min
  • Diabetes ~15 L/min
  • Asthma ~15 L/min
  • COPD ~15 L/min
  • Cancer ~14 L/min
  • Sleep Apnea ~16 L/min
  • Hyperthyroidism ~16 L/min
  • Epilepsy ~14 L/min
  • Panic Disorder ~13 L/min

Referenced from www.normalbreathing.com

As you can see, disease states put a heavy burden on the respiratory system and have a detrimental effect on overall health. In essence, their bodies are constantly exercising! 

Deep breathing techniques, specifically diaphragmatic breathing are an easy, learnable, and quick way to help offset the burden of disease states on our health. The better you breathe the less you need to!

Conscious breathing along with recognition of triggers of stress (for another blog) can create almost immediate changes in our health.

Take a deep breath!

Reprinted with permission from authors.

Mike Rickett MS, CSCS*D, CSPS*D, RCPT*E is a nationally recognized health and fitness trainer of the trainers, fitness motivator, author, certifier, educator, and the 2017 NSCA Personal Trainer of the Year.  He has been a fitness trainer for more than 35 years. With Cheri Lamperes, he co-directs BetterHealthBreathing.com, a conscious breathing educational program focusing on the diaphragmatic technique to enhance overall wellness.  In addition, he also directs the personal training site ApplicationInMotion.com.

aging-hands

From Stifled Screams to Suicide: More People 85+ Choose the Latter

/13 July 2021/ All MFN blog/

In my private practice, I hear people repeatedly say, “I feel so ____ and I just want to yell.”

“Do you?” I ask. Fairly often the answer is, “No.”

I ask, “What stops you from yelling?” We may explore this reluctance, or I might ask, “What would need to be different for you to feel comfortable yelling, screaming, humming or making some other audible release?”  

Perhaps you too feel like releasing energy in this way. Recently, a woman in her eighties shared with me, “I was shopping with my friend who is 35-years younger than me and all the store clerks’ directed their answers to her when I was the one asking the questions. Even if I screamed, right there in the store, I am certain I wouldn’t be heard.”

There is a disproportionate number of older adults who commit suicide. Many countries are witnessing declining rates, while the US is seeing higher rates – with older Americans having the highest suicide rate of any age group. While older Americans contribute to 13 percent of the population, this age group accounts for 20% of the people who commit suicide. 

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reported in 2019, that suicide among those 85 years and older represented the second largest number of suicides by age range, with the greatest number being among those in the 45 to 64-year age range. 

There are many reasons why a person may seek out mental health support – fear, stress, anger, sadness, confusion, substance abuse concerns – and yet the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates a mere 3% of people 65 and older have made the brave move of utilizing mental health services. 

We can turn to the research of Speer & Schneider to see a direct link between untreated mental health and physical manifestations – immune and cardiac functions, increased susceptibility of infections, higher levels of reported pain, asthma and increases in length of recovery following surgery. Just think of how much less physical health needs there might be if we tend to our mental health.

Some older adults are much more likely to get a physical check-up than access mental health services. Another reason for some older adults not accessing mental health services may be due to insurance payment disparity. Medicare covers 80 percent of procedures and processes related to physical health and only 50 percent of mental health. Discussions of cataracts, glaucoma and hip procedures flow from the mouths of some older adults as freely as the Neuse River flowed once the Milburnie Dam was removed. And yet when it comes to talking about mental health, chatter is at a minimum.

I invite you to tap into your primal roots and begin making noise. Harmonize your body by screaming, yelling, humming or something else. Let it out. Perhaps love can fill the space that is being occupied with years of stifled screams.

Adrienne Ione is a cognitive behavioral therapist and personal trainer who integrates these fields in support of people thriving across the lifespan. As a pro-aging advocate, she specializes in the self-compassion of dementia.

Website: yes2aging.com
Guided Meditations: insighttimer.com/adrienneIone
Facebook: silverliningsintegrativehealth


References

Speer & Schneider. (2013). Mental health needs of older adults and primary care: Opportunities for interdisciplinary geriatric team practice. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(1).

boomers-biking

Mountain Grit: Meet Jim

/12 July 2021/ All MFN blog/

For all you medical fitness professionals out there, meet Jim, 75. Jim exemplifies the mindset towards aging that we all can emulate.

From urban to suburban, rural to remote, ‘the glass is half-full – so let’s fill-it-up’. SPIRIT truly can change the way and the pace at which we age.

[Excerpted from The Training Corner column in the Lone Peak Lookout]   

Q: Hi Pat!  I am sick and tired of my family members and friends telling me to slow down.   

I am 75 and in pretty darn good health. I was blessed with some good genes. Both of my very active parents lived well into their 90s. I’ve never gotten fat, and I quit smoking and heavy drinking back in my 20s. I drive my wife crazy because I am one of those ants-in-pants guys who just can’t sit still until the day is done. OK, I have some aches and pains, wear a hearing aid and need glasses just for reading. No big deal!   

Right now, I am in the throes of remodeling my daughter’s kitchen. I thrive on projects. They are a challenge, so I am always looking for something to fix. I am also the go-to guy when my neighbors need a helping hand. My true passion is calf-roping, so I mentor and teach the younger dudes. Yeah, I can still do it, but I lost my favorite horse last year, so I coach instead. My wife and I love the outdoors, and enjoy hiking, fly fishing, skate skiing and snow shoeing 1-2X/week.

We do all of our own outdoor maintenance, too. If for some reason, my day is void of physical work or play, I walk for 30 minutes, just to keep the pump pumping.  

I did construction all my life, and my back and shoulders act up on occasion. But over the years, I have collected a bag of maintenance tricks from various physical therapists. I have a morning routine of breath-work with tai-chi like moves, and some core preservation exercises. I use that foam roller with the bumps, too, my best friend for about 10 years, now. This regimen seems to work.  

Pat, am I just plain oblivious to this aging thing? Isn’t the body in motion the best brain and overall health potion? I am confident in my skills and abilities, so why would I slow down?  Any suggestions on telling the naysayers to put a sock in it?

Jim, 75

Pat’s Answer:  Hi Jim!  No, you are not oblivious. Yes, a body in motion is the best path to aging younger. Continue to get up and get after it every day. You have purpose, passion, meaning and relevance in your life. There is no need to slow down. You are thriving at 75, and are inspiring others. Keep up the pace, unless something rocks your competence and confidence. We CAN continue to learn, grow and discover throughout our lifespan, if we avoid ruts, complacency and stagnation.

Here is some ammunition for you:

  • Traditional retirement is dead. We reWIRE!  60+ is the time to wind up, not wind down. Act III is ripe with opportunity, adventures, vocations, projects, dreams and sharing the wisdom. You chart your journey.
  • The way and the pace at which we age is malleable. It is deeply rooted in Hardiness and GRIT, not talent. When we invest in our 5 Pillars of Hardiness (Purpose, Movement, Diet, Rest-Recovery-Regen, and Stress Ops), through DAILY habits, patterns and practices, we fortify our resilience, durability and robustness for the long haul. Aging is NOT a disease. It is an accumulation of how we react and respond to the ‘ups and downs’ of life, how we adapt to and bolster our reserve capacity.
  • Aging is living life to the fullest, a journey. 35 is seasoned, that is we have reached our peak biological development. This does not mean that we cannot continue to learn, grow and discover, nor set personal bests in physical endeavors. Check out the Senior and Master Games.   
  • We are individuals. We age at different rates. We are unique in personality, upbringing, physical work-play experiences, life lessons, and ‘what makes us tick’. “If I choose to climb a ladder and clear snow off the roof, quit barking at me. I know my limits, after doing it for 40 consecutive years. And by the way, I take no MEDS, so my balance is pretty darn good.”  
  • “We don’t live life to be safe and healthy; we live safely and healthfully to live life to the fullest!”

From Albert Einstein, and so relevant today, “A ship is always safe at shore, but that’s now what it was built for.” Reasonable risk is the springboard into learning, growth and discovery. Push out of the comfort zone, or slide backwards. A fool-proof safe, static and secure mentality can lead to stagnation, apathy, and even depression. 

In summary, Jim, keep moving, working and playing ‘til you can’t. Vintage vehicles need DAILY maintenance to run well, so continue your morning regimen. If you notice that you are losing strength, you may need to tweak your training for strength and power gains. Mentor and lead by example. No need to preach to the naysayers. Just ask them, “What makes YOU tick? Ok, I’m not YOU.” 

In the soon to be released, Cardiac Rehab Fitness Specialist course, be prepared to rethink your approach to coaching people up to living life to their fullest. In my Pillars and 7S Buckets approach to reclaiming, restoring and rebuilding Hardiness for the long haul, you will be inspired to change the way and the pace at which you age. Jim has the Spirit, and Hippocrates had it right…

“Know the person who has the disease; not just the disease who has the person.”  —Hippocrates

Patricia ‘Pat’ VanGalen, M.S. brings a unique blend of education, practical experience, common sense application, science and research to her lecturing, teaching, training and coaching. She launched her professional career 40+ years ago in physical education and coaching, then spent the next 10 years in corporate-industrial fitness, health promotion, cardiac rehab and injury risk reduction programming design, implementation and management. Visit her website, activeandagile.com.

Senior-Fall-Prevention

After a fall, would you make it back up? Moves for Functional Fitness

/8 July 2021/ All MFN blog/

The primary reason we move to a long-term care facility is not an illness but dependence on others due to physical weakness. Deconditioned seniors have the greatest potential to improve functional strength. With practice, you can develop muscles to recover from a fall. Fear only increases our risk.

A Recovery

Imagine you fell. Take deep breaths. Do toes and fingers move? Where is the phone? If it’s not close, you roll, drag, crab walk or crawl. Once near a chair or low table:

  1. Roll onto your belly. Rest.
  2. Raise onto forearms and knees. Rest.
  3. Aim your buttocks toward the chair. Rest.
  4. Press up to hands and feet. Rest.
  5. Go backwards to the chair. 
  6. Back your hips onto the chair. Rest.

The 10 Moves

Hopefully, you never fall, but practiced weekly, these exercises can improve strength and stamina for moving in bed, sitting up and life. Do these on your bed. Have a friend nearby. Start with one exercise 1-3 days a week for 1-3 weeks. Then add on. To gain more, try them under the weight of your covers. Listed in progression: 

  1. Practice rolling. Lie sideways across the bed; feet hanging off. Exhale away from the bed. The exhale stabilizes your low back and releases pressure on the heart. Face up, roll to each side. Rest. Repeat 10 times. Roll from face down to your sides. Rest. Repeat. Roll from the foot of the bed to head of the bed. Rest. Repeat 10 times. Avoid rolling from edge to edge on the bed. 
  2. Lie on your side; place your upper hand on the bed. Exhale- push on your lower elbow and top hand to lift shoulders and head up. Rest. Repeat 10 times. Switch sides.
  3. With no pillow, lie on your back to lift your hips. Exhale before and during the lift. Rest. Repeat, but stay up for a count of 5. Do not hold your breath! For low back issues, try it with one leg straight. Rest. Alternate. Repeat.
  4. Lie on your side with a head pillow. Keep head, shoulders and knees down; lift your hips with an exhale. Rest. Repeat. Stay up for a count of 3. Switch sides. Try it up, on one elbow. Rise out of the shoulder. Press into your upper hand too.
  5. Practice scooting: Lie face up. Exhale- lift your hips, shift them to one side, lower hips. Then lift to return to center. Repeat, alternating sides. Try scooting twice to each side, adding your upper body to travel. Stay on the bed!
  6. Crawl onto the bed on all fours. Engage your abdominals for support. Practice staying on forearms and knees. Rest. Repeat, adding a few seconds. Practice on hands if your wrists allow. Rest. Repeat.
  7. Crawl onto your bed from the foot of the bed. Crawl to the headboard. Crawl backward. To practice crawling sideways, enter the bed from the side. No slippery bedspreads!
  8. Drag your hips or crab walk on forearms or hands. Use deep breathing to move. Rest often. Use your glutes. Stay aware of your location on the bed.
  9. Standing with back of legs touching a chair, walk hands down the legs and back up to standing. Sit to rest. Repeat. Stop if dizzy. From a fall, standing is not a goal, but prepares us for the next move.
  10. When you feel ready to walk on all fours on the floor, stay near a couch or low table. Look behind to go backward. Sit to rest. Repeat. 

Please Note

Do whatever you can. Many of us feel dizzy or have joint limitations that affect performance. The biggest mistake is to quit, because of temporary discomfort or lack of confidence. With consistent practice, discomfort typically lessens.

Another way to recover from a fall involves kneeling to a lunge position next to a chair. This works for able-bodied seniors. Find what is best for you. Every week, practice your weakest steps until you gain confidence.

As an ACE-certified Medical Exercise Specialist with decades of experience training fragile to fit seniors, Emma Spanda Johnson designs adaptive exercise programs, for clients of all abilities. She is a nationally certified personal trainer with an Orthopedic Specialty. Emma offers virtual training sessions, visit her MedFit Network profile for details.

 

References and Resources

Smiling elderly woman training in a group

It’s time to play!

/7 July 2021/ All MFN blog/

I had just returned home from an amazing educational conference in Arizona. Some of the most educated and credentialed humans in the fitness world had come together to share and learn the most up-to-date and evidenced-based systems in the fitness world. My thoughts felt like a bag of ping pong balls had been dropped, bouncing in many directions at once.

I was getting out of my car on the way to get groceries. All the lessons, lectures, and workouts swirling in my mind. I was looking for a common thread. What was the connection to all that I have learned?  Then, I hear this clippity clack clippity clack! I look over my shoulder in the parking lot of a Publix. There was this young girl holding her mother’s hand. She had her princess outfit on, crooked crown, fake jewels and plastic shoes. The shoes skipping on the pavement was the clippity clack sound that made me look. I giggled at the difference between mom’s face, stress, deep thought and worry, and the young girl’s free and happy smile. Then I see them in the store. The young princess was leaping from colored tile to colored tile. I could see the imaginary moat she might be trying to cross while being chased by the creatures below.

I flashback to a seminar and one of the drills I just experienced with Master Instructor, Andy Hainey. Bounding in multiple planes of motion to challenge the athlete’s ability to accelerate and decelerate force efficiently. This beautiful happy princess was naturally doing some of the most advanced programming I flew thousands of miles to study.

BOOM! It hit me. PLAY…. she was PLAYING! The sessions and lessons that shone brightest and stayed with me from the workshops, were those that felt like play. They were technical and evidence-based, and they were fun! No one used jargon or spoke of the sagittal plane or the eccentric phase.  They made it fun.

Benefits of Incorporating “Play” into Your Programming for All Ages

The are many studies of the benefits of play and physical relation between activity in youth populations. The evidence shows a positive relation between physically active youth, and seven areas of cognitive performance (perceptual skills, intelligence quotient, achievement, verbal tests, mathematics tests, developmental level/ academic readiness, and other). Sibley et al., 2003

Playing increases enjoyment and adherence at all ages. It creates a positive reaffirming cycle of success. The more you enjoy something, the more time spent doing it. The more time spent doing an activity, the more skilled you become. The greater the skill level you achieve or the higher the achievement, the more you will enjoy doing the activity. 

We forget what it was like to play as we age with all the responsibilities and stresses we have We are told to put childish things aside. As a “fitness professional” we are blessed to keep playing in many senses of the word. I have spent many hours of my life educating myself and gaining certifications. While I believe that time has been well spent, my clients continually tell me their favorite aspect of our time together is the fun factor.  

Many feel as though they haven’t repeated a workout ever. This is not the case. I do follow the NASM OPT model. It is a progressive system that can be applied to every aspect of fitness training. Our body has a miraculous ability to adapt to specific demands placed on it. That is my primary guide to programming for my clients. Once we establish their baseline abilities through comprehensive assessments, and what goals they want. Then we create the program based on the S.A.I.D. principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands). The assessments many times feel intimidating and clinical and set that as the tone for you and your client.  If we as trainers and coaches make the assessments fun and non-intimidating games (I use the term drills in place of games for my adults many times) or play, we can start creating a positive nurturing environment for our clients.  Don’t just show them where they are deficient. Let them show and celebrate what they are capable of.

Bottom line is, have fun and play! You will enjoy every session. Your clients will look forward to each session. They will give their all and get better results.  Keeping clients training is one of the most challenging parts of what we do.  Embrace your inner child, and theirs. Get them to hop from stone to stone in monster infested waters or bring out the agility ladder. Either way just play!

Coach Pete Guzman is a NASM Master Trainer with CES, PES, YES, CNC, SGPT MMACS and 4th degree Black Belt. Look for his upcoming seminar in June to find out more about youth programming and adding fun to your clients’ journeys.