EXERCISE
"To enjoy the glow of good health, you must exercise."
- Gene Tunney
I could write a year's worth of blogs on exercise, but today I'll break down the 3 types of exercise everyone must be doing. Exercise is extremely important because not only does it keep you healthy, but when done correctly it prevents injury, and the rapid loss of function so many of our geriatric population experiences.
1. Cardiovascular Training
Without oxygen, the cells in your body die. So it makes sense that the better your blood is at transporting oxygen, the healthier your cells can be. So your workout routine must involve some kind of fitness exercise where you are pushing your lung capacity and working up a sweat. This in turn will increase your body's ability to circulate oxygen throughout your body.
And the best part about cardiovascular training? Research is emphatically showing that it isn't how long you work out for that is important, it is how intense you exercise. So you don't have to set aside an hour a day to run 6 miles. You will get much better results with far less time spent exercising, as long as you are pushing your heart rate.
This is why High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is gaining so much popularity. What is HIIT? It involves short bursts of maximum effort followed by longer periods of rest. How intense do you want to go? Ideally you want to train at or near maximum heart rate for short bursts. To calculate your maximum heart rate use this formula: 220 minus your age e.g. if you're 45 years old your maximum heart rate would be 220-45=175 beats per minute. It is both dangerous and unnecessary to maintain maximum heart rate for long periods.
A great example of this training would be using a treadmill or a stationary bike for only 10-15 minutes. Warm up for 2 minutes, then sprint full out for 20 seconds, then walk or pedal slowly for 2 minutes and then repeat until you have completed your time. The short bursts of intense activity followed by the mild "rest" period is what increases your body's aerobic capacity.
If you think you are currently too unfit to do any type of cardiovascular training, then it is even more important that you get started immediately. Actually, it really is a life or death matter! Just start walking for 10 or 20 minutes a day and improve from there.
2. Strength Training
As we get older, loss of muscle strength and tone can happen extremely quickly, because muscles work on a use it or lose it basis. As you age, if you don't have enough leg or upper body strength, then falls become a common danger, followed by an inability to get back up. A lot of people think "this won't happen to me" but take a look around at the 70 and 80 year old's that you know. How many of them are strong enough to maintain balance, or get themselves back up after a fall? A very common cause of death in our aged population is a pulmonary embolism (blockage in the blood vessels of the lungs) following a fractured hip due to falling.
So don't wait to get older before you want to increase your muscle strength. Start now. You don't have to lift enough weights that you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. Just work your muscles enough that they get stronger over a period of time. In my opinion some of the best weights exercises you can do involve kettlebells. It's well worth your time searching the internet for some safe kettlebell workouts and purchasing your own, if you don't belong to a gym. Also find our video series on the Sarpy Chiropractic Youtube page demonstrating some of these. Even better is bodyweight exercises. Push-ups, pull-ups, these kinds of things.
And ladies? You definitely should be lifting weights too. It's a myth that you will get bulky by lifting. That will only happen if you are also taking some kind of supplement to stimulate that muscle growth.
3. Flexibility Training
Every adult should be doing some kind of flexibility training. This includes both stretching (to lengthen the muscles which improves your range of motion) and myofascial work (to soften the muscles and remove all the knots). Most people have some idea what stretching is, but myofascial work might be new to you. This involves using something like a foam roller to essentially "knead" out all the tight spots in your muscles.
If you don't do any flexibility training then not only are you more prone to injury, but as you age you will become extremely tight, lose your range of motion, and lose your balance. This quickly leads to chronic illness due to lack of movement and lack of blood circulation. The end result is not good!
Please share this with anyone who might benefit, and leave any questions below. If pain is stopping you from exercising please contact us and see if we can help!
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