While advancing age does affect our health, our daily habits are more indicative of our quality of life and longevity than the number of candles we blew out on our last birthday.
Every day, I work with members who, using simple lifestyle changes, report increased bone density, decreased or even cessation of Type II Diabetes treatment, and avoided knee or hip replacement, all through consistent, impactful habits.
If we were to distill all the ways to positively impact our health, we would yield the “Five Superpowers of Wellness:” nutrition, sleep/rest, movement, mindset, and connection.
Today, we will be talking about movement! Notice I didn’t say “exercise.” While it is essential to move our bodies in various ways, research is clear that it need not be long or complicated. Simply moving our bodies 150 minutes a week can mitigate much of the disease and dysfunction that a sedentary lifestyle brings.
You can achieve even more benefits by being strategic and knowledgeable with these 150 minutes per week—or 20 to 30 minutes daily. As is often the case, the solution is not complicated, nor does it require a hefty investment of time. Always remember that movement in the company of others is also great for your emotional and cognitive health!
Move your joints through their full range of motion every day.
Our joint health is vital. Each day, we want to move each joint in a full range of motion. If you begin at the foot, you’ll notice that as we proceed up the body, we encounter stable joints (like those in the foot) followed by a moveable joint (such as the ankle). The stable joints move in one direction (like the hinging of the knee or elbow), while the moveable joints (like the ball and socket joints of the hips and shoulders) allow movement in all directions. When we move our joints, the motion lubricates the joint capsule with synovial fluid and removes toxins, and our central nervous system gets the message that we intend to keep moving these joints to the fullest of their range.
At Heritage Palms, members have several opportunities to perform this vital movement, from our 1:30 p.m. “Sit to Be Fit” classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, and “Chair Yoga and Tai Chi” at 1:30 p.m. on Fridays, to our “Flexibility and Agility”class on Saturdays at 7 a.m.
Complete body resistance training twice a week.
While our joint health is vital, maintaining muscle strength and balance is just as important. Many are surprised to learn that the forward head posture and rounded back associated with aging are largely preventable – even if our parents had this posture. Our bodies adapt along with what we ask them to do. If we aren’t mindful of strengthening all our muscles, and instead ask our bodies to adapt only to what we do each day, we will suffer first from muscle imbalance, then joint dysfunction, and ultimately injury and medical intervention.
It helps us to think of our bodies as puppets; specific muscles contract while other muscles lengthen; this force-couple relationship enables us to move. As we perform certain activities more than others, some muscles become “stuck” in contraction, while others have been “turned off.” We see this in the lower back pain associated with sitting for long periods. Or in a golfer’s one-sided hip, knee, or shoulder pain. Unless we do something to counteract this imbalance, it will be a matter of time before significant dysfunction and injury occur. Once the issue has crossed into injury, medical intervention becomes necessary, and the potential for permanent damage becomes real.
By training our whole body twice weekly and quickly addressing limitations in movement, we can make great strides against muscle atrophy, loss of bone density, and injury.
At Heritage Palms, members have abundant opportunities to perform complete body resistance training, from personal training to our many strengthening classes, such as “Mat Pilates” on Mondays at 8:30 a.m. and “Body Sculpting” at 3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Tai Chi – the Ultimate Antiaging Routine
If I could only recommend one discipline to members, it would be Tai Chi. Tai Chi was a military discipline. The idea was that if a person were taught a perfected movement and learned to execute that movement slowly and precisely – even uniting the movement with their breath for optimal execution – then practiced over and over, when the time to fight came, they would be able to quickly and efficiently execute the pattern for the best results.
Tai Chi is a highly beneficial practice for healthy aging, offering numerous advantages for physical and cognitive functions in older adults. Overall, Tai Chi enhances the quality of life for older adults and provides a safe, low-impact exercise option that encourages social interaction through group classes, making it an ideal choice for those seeking to age healthily. “Tai Chi” classes are held at noon on Fridays; and “Chair Yoga and Tai Chi” at 1:30 p.m. on Fridays – both in the AC’s Fitness Classroom.
Above all, move! Download a fitness tracker app and look for as many opportunities as possible to move your body in a way you enjoy!
