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 want)! Life is motion. Motion is life. Researchers are really sharing some amazing information on this topic that will inspire us all (and our loved ones!) to exercise so that we can all age gracefully. Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC and our La Grande 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 comforting. Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC will give you that! When hospitalized, there’s 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 get up and move around. (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 integrated power training in as little as 3 days! (2) In a review of the benefits of exercise 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, 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 Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC encourages that!
FRAILTY AND MOBILITY
Those of us over 65 years old are said to be more at risk to frailty, amplifying our risk of several adverse health issues, both cognitive and physical. The hope we all have is that frailty is reversible. Researchers have analyzed this issue by going over published studies on this topic of frailty reversal. Luckily, 56.7% of the papers proposed 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 positive outcomes! One study said that frail and even “pre” frail older patients showed 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. Specifically, muscle power went up by 47%, muscle strength by 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 are more apt to decrease energy levels and raise fatigue and emotional distress. Moving and physical activity has been reported to fight those feelings in older women as well as increase life expectancy and lower some negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. (6) Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC thinks you will agree that these are positive things!
CONTACT Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
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.
Make your La Grande chiropractic appointment today. You’re alive. What a wonderful thing, one to be thankful for by moving!
