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 really must move. As you age, you have to move more (than you may desire)! Life is motion. Motion is life. Researchers are really sharing some great information on this fact that will inspire us all (and our loved ones!) to exercise so that we can all grow old and grow old(er) gracefully. Johnson Chiropractic and our Richmond 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 isn’t always best! It may be less frightening than moving and be even a bit calming. Johnson Chiropractic will give you that! If you have ever been hospitalized, you know there is a lot of bed rest, maybe even too much for your liking! A study of patients in an acute care hospital ward uncovered information that inpatient mobility was negligible despite their individual capabilities and desires to get up and move around. (1) It’s vital to keep acute patients - and those with new bouts of back pain and/or neck pain, too - moving so that they can heal! Beneficially, acutely hospitalized older patients enhanced their muscle strength and power while they were in the hospital following 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 stressed the value of preserving functional abilities for those who want to age healthily. They further stressed that exercise and physical activity are valuable for the prevention 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 away, and Johnson 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 undesirable health issues, both cognitive and physical. The hope we all have is that frailty is alterable. Researchers have analyzed this issue by appraising published studies on this topic of frailty reversal. Fortunately, 56.7% of the papers proposed 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 promising outcomes! One study said that frail and even “pre” frail older patients demonstrated better physical performance and function after a short (6 week) facility-based exercise program that included a walking-based high intensity interval training. 64% upped their frailty rating. Specifically, muscle power improved by 47%, muscle strength rose 34%, and aerobic capacity rose 19%. (5) And other advantages with physical activity in general: energy and a better emotional state! Frailty and aging are more apt to lower energy levels and raise fatigue and emotional distress. Moving and physical activity has been described to fight those feelings in older women as well as increase life expectancy and reduce some negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. (6) Johnson Chiropractic thinks you will agree that these are beneficial!
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Tom Menendez on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the effective gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating the older patient.
Make your Richmond chiropractic appointment now. You’re alive. What a wonderful thing! Celebrate that with some movement.
