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 have to move. As you get older, you have to move more (than you may want)! Life equals motion. Motion equals life. Researchers are really putting out some amazing information on this topic that will motivate us all (and our cherished family members!) to keep active so that we can all age gracefully. Young Chiropractic and our Easley 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 is not always best! It may be less scary than moving and be even a bit soothing. Young Chiropractic will give you that! If you’ve 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 capacities to move and desires to get up and move around. (1) It’s so important 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 improved their muscle strength and power while they were in the hospital following an individualized multicomponent exercise program that integrated power training in just 3 days! (2) In a review of the benefits of exercise for frail older adults, researchers emphasized the value of preserving functional abilities for those who want to grow old gracefully. They further stressed that exercise and physical activity are good 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 at bay, and Young Chiropractic encourages it!
FRAILTY AND MOBILITY
Those of us over 65 years old are said to be more prone to frailty, increasing our risk of several undesirable health issues, both cognitive and physical. The hope we all have is that frailty is alterable. Researchers have studied this issue by going over published studies on this topic of frailty reversal. Luckily, 56.7% of the papers suggested that it is reversible (getting a person who is frail/severely frail to a state of being just pre-frail or just mildly frail). (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 program that involved a walking-based high intensity interval training. 64% bettered their frailty rating. Particularly, 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 decrease energy levels and raise fatigue and emotional distress. Moving and physical activity has been reported to combat those feelings in older women as well as extend life expectancy and cut back on some negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. (6) Young Chiropractic thinks you will agree that these are positive things!
CONTACT Young 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 elderly.
Schedule your Easley chiropractic appointment now. You’re alive. What a wonderful thing! Celebrate that with some movement.
