SENIOR MOMENTS / Are You Unbalanced?

Volume 1, Number 4

By Dean Walters

Senior Moments is dedicated to the issues we all face as we progress through our years.

This isn’t a mental health question. It is a physical fitness question. And it is an important physical fitness question. Here’s why: Every balanced fitness program requires three elements. They are:

  • resistance exercise
  • cardiovascular training
  • flexibility movements

The focus or emphasis can be on any one of the three, depending on your training goals or for improvement in a particular sport. But regardless of your goals, to completely ignore any one of the three is a mistake leading to imbalance.

For this discussion, let’s assume a regimen for general all-around fitness, rather than an exercise program for sport specific training. If you look around in most gyms or health clubs, you’ll find most people doing resistance work along with some form of cardio. The majority of the time, flexibility movements (stretching) that get lip service or completely eliminated. And this is true more so with men than women.

While it is certainly true that even if we do resistance training, we naturally lose muscle mass as we age, and no matter how much cardio we do, we can’t to the 400 meter run like we used to! But our flexibility is lost the quickest over the years, and since it also effects our balance, it is sadly one of the main causes of pain and injury as we age.

Of course one group of exercisers, the yoga adherents, don’t have the problem of stretching aversion. Stretching is their thing. For the rest of us who might need reminding, adding flexibility training to our workouts (not to mention our routine throughout the day) is extremely important. And stretching doesn’t have to be long and tedious. Some minutes of static stretching following workouts goes a long way in keeping a body supple and flexible. Yoga type poses or Qigong movements work great. However, for warm-ups moderate but dynamic movements are more appropriate than static stretching.

And remember: You don’t have to be a contortionist to reap the benefits of stretching. Some people are naturally more flexible than others. The idea is to relax and lengthen after contracting muscles during workouts. Establish the habit and you’ll feel the positive effects very soon. And long term, you’ll maintain good flexibility well into your senior years.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, balance often becomes a problem for seniors and falling is a serious concern. A lifetime habit of training that includes the three key elements of fitness exercise – resistance training, cardiovascular exercise, and flexibility movements – minimizes all areas of senior decline. So don’t ignore any one of the three. Stay balanced.

Dean Walters is a Certified Holistic Health Practitioner, a Certified Personal Trainer with specialties in Senior Fitness and Fitness Nutrition, and the owner of Well-Tech International.

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