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 reminder! No matter your age, you really must move. As you grow older, you have to move more (than you may feel like)! Life equals motion. Motion equals life. Researchers are really putting out some great information on this fact that will motivate us all (and our cherished family members!) to move so that we can all age gracefully. Amelia Chiropractic Clinic and our Fernandina Beach 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. Amelia Chiropractic Clinic 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 found that inpatient mobility was low 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 hospitalized using 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 stressed the value of preserving functional abilities for those who want to age healthily. They further emphasized that exercise and physical activity are effective to prevent of falls, hospital stays, enriched 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 Amelia Chiropractic Clinic encourages it!
FRAILTY AND MOBILITY
Those of us over 65 years old are said to be more prone to frailty, amplifying our risk of several undesirable health issues, both cognitive and physical. The desire we all have is that frailty is alterable. Researchers have analyzed this issue by reviewing published studies on this topic of frailty reversal. Fortunately, 56.7% of the papers suggested that it is reversible (returning a person who is frail/severely frail to a state of being just pre-frail or just mildly frail). (4) Those are promising outcomes! One study said that frail and even “pre” frail older patients demonstrated better physical performance and function following a short (6 week) facility-based exercise routine that included a walking-based high intensity interval training. 64% improved their frailty rating. Specifically, muscle power went up by 47%, muscle strength rose 34%, and aerobic capacity rose 19%. (5) And other additional benefits with physical activity in general: energy and a better emotional state! Frailty and aging tend to decrease energy levels and raise fatigue and emotional distress. Moving and physical activity has been described 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) Amelia Chiropractic Clinic thinks you will concur that these are beneficial!
CONTACT Amelia Chiropractic Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Tom Menendez on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the effectiveness of the gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating the older patient.
Schedule your Fernandina Beach chiropractic appointment now. You’re alive. What a wonderful fact! Celebrate that with some movement.
