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 get older, you have to move more (than you may feel like)! Life equals motion. Motion equals life. Researchers are really sharing some great information on this topic that will motivate us all (and our cherished family members!) to move so that we can all grow old and grow old(er) gracefully. Minster Chiropractic Center and our Minster 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 scary than moving and be even a bit soothing. Minster Chiropractic Center will give you that! If you have ever been hospitalized, you know there’s 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 move. (1) It’s so important to keep acute patients - and those with new bouts of back pain and/or neck pain, too - moving to get them better! Beneficially, acutely hospitalized older patients enhanced their muscle strength and power while hospitalized using an individualized multicomponent exercise program that integrated power training in as little as 3 days! (2) In a review of the benefits of exercise for frail older adults, researchers stressed the importance of preserving functional abilities for those who want to grow old gracefully. They further put emphasis on the fact that exercise and physical activity are good to prevent 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 Minster Chiropractic Center encourages it!
FRAILTY AND MOBILITY
Those of us over 65 years old are said to be more at risk to frailty, amplifying our risk of several undesirable health issues, both cognitive and physical. The hope we all have is that frailty is reversible. Researchers have studied this issue by appraising published studies on this topic of frailty reversal. Fortunately, 56.7% of the papers suggested 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 hopeful outcomes! One study shared that frail and even “pre” frail older patients demonstrated better physical performance and function following a short (6 week) facility-based exercise routine that involved a walking-based high intensity interval training. 64% improved their frailty rating. Particularly, muscle power improved by 47%, muscle strength rose 34%, and aerobic capacity by 19%. (5) And other additional benefits with physical activity in general: energy and a better emotional state! Frailty and aging are more apt to decrease energy levels and increase fatigue and emotional distress. Moving and physical activity has been described to fight those feelings in older women as well as extend life expectancy and reduce some negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. (6) Minster Chiropractic Center thinks you will agree that these are beneficial!
CONTACT Minster Chiropractic Center
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Tom Menendez on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he shares the effective gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating the older patient.
Schedule your Minster chiropractic appointment soon. You’re alive. What a wonderful fact! Celebrate that with some movement.
