4 Things That Do Not Have to Happen As You Age

AGING WELL IS POSSIBLE WITH THE RIGHT PROGRAM

This chart shows everything that goes into staying independent and active as you age:

It looks somewhat intimidating, right?? I can help you break it down and identify the main areas you should focus on.

You may be concerned about:

1. BALANCE ISSUES – Although balance is a complex issue with many factors coming into play, identifying your biggest “triggers” and being proactive will help.

It takes 2 weeks to reduce fall risk, and 30 hours of practice to reduce occurrence (Sherrington, 2011). The older you get, the less time you can afford to take between practice sessions!

PS – standing on one foot is NOT enough, You must be off balance 25% of the time in order to train for balance.

2. LOSS OF FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH – This is the ability to perform Activities of Daily Living.

One of the most important considerations here is CORE strength. Your core is your POWER. Everything we do throughout the day stems from our core, from getting in and out of bed, a chair and the car, to carrying groceries and more.

3. LOSS OF POWER – Power falls faster than strength as we age. What is power? The ability to move fast – get out of the way quickly, cross the street before the light turns red. It is highly correlated with reaction time,. 

How do we practice power as we get older? Move faster – slam a medicine ball, stand up from a chair as quickly as you can.

4. COGNITION – New research in neuroscience has pointed to physical plus cognitive exercise as a new, beneficial approach to delaying cognitive decline. In addition, “for the first time, an intervention – lifting weights – has been able to slow and even halt degeneration over a long period in brain areas particularly vulnerable to Alzheimer’s Disease” (University of Sydney).

 

YOUR HEALTH IS AN INVESTMENT, NOT AN EXPENSE