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 have to move. As you grow older, you have to move more (than you may want)! Life equals motion. Motion equals life. Researchers are really delivering some amazing information on this topic that will motivate us all (and our loved ones!) to exercise so that we can all age gracefully. Connected Chiropractic and our Elgin 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 soothing. Connected Chiropractic 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 uncovered information that inpatient mobility was negligible despite their individual capabilities and desires to get up and move around. (1) It’s 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 they were in the hospital using a personalized 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 emphasized the importance 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 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 away, and Connected Chiropractic encourages it!
FRAILTY AND MOBILITY
Those of us over 65 years old are said to be more susceptible 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 studied this issue by appraising 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 hopeful outcomes! One study shared that frail and even “pre” frail older patients showed better physical performance and function after a brief (6 week) facility-based exercise program that included a walking-based high intensity interval training. 64% improved 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 tend to lower energy levels and stated fatigue and emotional distress. Moving and physical activity has been described to contend with those feelings in older women as well as extend life expectancy and lower some negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. (6) Connected Chiropractic thinks you will agree that these are beneficial!
CONTACT Connected 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.
Make your Elgin chiropractic appointment today. You’re alive. What a wonderful fact! Celebrate that with some movement.
