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 realize! No matter your age, you really must move. As you grow older, you have to move more (than you may desire)! Life equals motion. Motion equals life. Researchers are really delivering some great information on this fact that will motivate us all (and our cherished family members!) to keep active so that we can all age gracefully. Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers and our Baton Rouge 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 frightening than moving and be even a bit calming. Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers will give you that! When hospitalized, there is lots of bed rest, maybe even a bit too much for a patient’s liking! A study of patients in an acute care hospital ward found that inpatient mobility was low despite their individual capabilities and desires to move. (1) It’s vital 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 improved their muscle strength and power while hospitalized following a personalized multicomponent exercise program that integrated power training in just 3 days! (2) In a review of the good that exercise offers for frail older adults, researchers emphasized the value of preserving functional abilities for those who want to age healthily. They further put emphasis on the fact that exercise and physical activity are effective 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 Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers encourages it!
FRAILTY AND MOBILITY
Those of us over 65 years old are said to be more susceptible to frailty, increasing 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 proposed 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 positive outcomes! One study said that frail and even “pre” frail older patients showed better physical performance and function after a brief (6 week) facility-based exercise routine 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 rose 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 reported to contend with those feelings in older women as well as extend life expectancy and cut back on some negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. (6) Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers thinks you’ll concur that these are beneficial!
CONTACT Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers
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.
Make your Baton Rouge chiropractic appointment now. You’re alive. What a wonderful thing, one to be thankful for by moving!
