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 grow older, you have to move more (than you may feel like)! Life is motion. Motion is life. Researchers are really putting out some amazing information on this fact that will inspire us all (and our loved ones!) to exercise so that we can all grow old and grow old(er) gracefully. Pure Chiropractic and our Concord, NC 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 calming. Pure Chiropractic will give you that! If you have ever been hospitalized, you know there is 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 is vital 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 enhanced their muscle strength and power while hospitalized following an individualized multicomponent exercise program that incorporated power training in as little as 3 days! (2) In a review of the good that exercise offers for frail older adults, researchers stressed the importance of preserving functional abilities for those who want to age healthily. They further stressed that exercise and physical activity are effective for the prevention 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 Pure Chiropractic encourages that!
FRAILTY AND MOBILITY
Those of us over 65 years old are said to be more susceptible to frailty, increasing our risk of several adverse health issues, both cognitive and physical. The hope we all have is that frailty is alterable. Researchers have analyzed this issue by going over published studies on this topic of frailty reversal. Fortunately, 56.7% of the papers proposed 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 showed better physical performance and function after a short (6 week) facility-based exercise program that included a walking-based high intensity interval training. 64% bettered their frailty rating. Particularly, muscle power went up 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 tend to decrease energy levels and stated 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 reduce some negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. (6) Pure Chiropractic thinks you will agree that these are positive things!
CONTACT Pure Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Tom Menendez on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he details the effective gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating the older patient.
Schedule your Concord, NC chiropractic appointment soon. You’re alive. What a wonderful thing, one to be thankful for by moving!
