I have worked with a lot of clients between the age of 40 and 85 and one thing becomes startlingly clear . Those who spend a long time sitting , working on a computer or not executing a proper exercise programme : lose strength and fitness at an alarming rate ! ….all recalling how they used to be able to ……( fill in the blank ) and now this task is “ seemingly impossible … This is Aging - but it need not be this way if you train for it
Lateral lunge - you can also do this as a great body weight exercise .
The other losses that you may not be aware of but that are critical for life are :
Balance
Co-ordination
Speed and acceleration
Unless we train these skills we lose them . The brain is very good at down regulating tasks which it no longer has use for . Think of the brain as your computer system of the body - it processes an unimaginable amount of actions like talking, reading, picking things up , thinking , sleeping not to mention all the biological tasks that happen without us even thinking about them - breathing, the beating of the heart and so on
We are designed to become very efficient at the regular things we do in order to survive - resulting in the things with which we do not engage in being shut down or deactivated by the brain - our software - in order to focus on being more efficient at what ever tasks we give it to do regularly .
Some people , for example , become excellent at sitting and watching TV - meanwhile world war III could be kicking off behind them and they would be totally oblivious !
So my advice to you would be that if you are over 50 - you need to train your brain and body for Balance, Co-ordination , Speed and Acceleration otherwise you will lose them.
For example : can you think of someone who has had a fall ? Perhaps a friend ? A parent or relative ? How do you think a fall happens ?
You lose your footing ( lack of balance ) you are unable to save the fall ( speed , acceleration and co-ordination ) and you wind up falling and breaking something : a wrist, an arm , a leg or a hip …. This is just the beginning of the story ….
We lose strength in our bones and our muscles with age anyway ( exercise helps to mitigate this ) - compound this with not being able to use the muscles and bones during the healing process which may take 6 weeks - ever seen an arm after the cast has been taken off ? The muscles have shrunk and the arm is a shadow of its former self .
It is very challenging to recover this strength back to its level prior to the break if you are over 50 - and here begins the slippery descent downhill .
“ An estimated 684 000 fatal falls occur each year, making it the second leading cause of unintentional injury death, after road traffic injuries. ”
“ Around 1 in 3 adults over 65 and half of people over 80 will have at least one fall a year. ” https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/falls/
Hopefully this has explained to you why - if you are over 50 then you need to be training to prevent the fall in the first place .
Start moving your body - and once you have started NEVER stop . Whether you exercise or not you will experience a decline in your strength and fitness with age - however without exercise , in later life - this decline will be like falling off a cliff
Train for life . Train lateral motion, strength and fast twitch ( acceleration and speed ) muscle fibres , train co-ordination and train balance ( stand on one leg and put your sock and shoe on - see my you tube / Facebook / instagram video
Lets not forget the amazingly powerful benefits of daily exercise : Blood flow to the brain , more efficient pumping of the heart, increased self confidence, more energy, better sleeping, more positive outlook on life, purpose, help to live out the last decade of your life as happily as you can .. and a million more .
Please reach out for a gentle walk around the block with me and your local community , find out about how to qualify for a free consultation on how to get you started or find out about your group exercise class for over 50´s
“ A rolling stone gathers no moss ”
www.katiehandyside.com please contact me today for yourself or to get someone moving that you care about . Katie x
Comments