Fitness For Seniors

Here was my morning workout.  40 x kettlebell swings 10 x kettlebell lift (squats) and place 10 x right side cleans 10 x left side cleans 10 x pushups Repeat 5 times. Adjust to your own needs and level of fitness. I used a 20 kg kettlebell. Consult your medical professional before embarking on a rigorous exercise program. 

How many steps are required for good health? For many years, 10,000 daily steps has been the recommended threshold that one should try to achieve to stay healthy.  There is much discussion in the news and social media as to whether 10,000 steps is really necessary. Some have derided this number, quoting research that suggests that 4,000 - 8,000 steps are sufficient and that the need for 10,00 steps is a myth . Others have pointed out that the need for 10,000 steps was based on the  Japanese character for 10,000 and was used in marketing the first pedometer.  More recently recently studies have shown that 15,000 steps  provides significantly better weight management benefits as compared to 10,000 steps. Exercise targets The key to keeping fit is to have exercise targets. Exercise targets should be SMART (Specific, Manageable, Attainable and Time-bound) and must also be able to be in line with your fitness objectives. These targets should be "stretch targets", which ...

Recently, 74 year old man employed as "logistics" worker fell off a truck loading platform. Sadly, the worker died as a result of the fall.  Such accidents are not rare but the risks can and should be minimized through application of the Hierarchy of Risk Controls . Should seniors work in physically demanding jobs?  The immediate reaction from the public was that seniors should not undertake such work. Some suggested that seniors should not undertake any strenuous work. Others believe that seniors should not have to work at all.  I have a different opinion. I agree that many seniors should not undertake work which requires lifting uncomfortable loads, particularly where work at height is involved. (In this case, the platform was 1 m off the ground).  Chronological age is not the same as biological age However, we must be careful not to view all seniors of equivalent chronological age as being of the same biological age.  A person who has take  steps to fig...

Exercise intensity Exercise intensity is a measure of how hard you are working during a workout. There are different ways of measuring exercise intensity including the "talk test" for aerobic activities, using a "rate of perceived exertion" (RPE scales) and heart rate. With the integration of heart rate monitors into even the cheapest fitness tracker, heart rate monitoring is the most convenient measure of exercise intensity.  Exercise with an elevated heart rate of at least 30 minutes per day in the MVPA zone (>64% of your maximum heart rate) is recommended as being good for your cardiorespiratory fitness.  A minimum of 30 minutes per day in the MVPA zone may also help you stay young! Autophagy means self-eating.  The body eats itself. Sounds frightening? In fact autophagy is an essential cellular activity.  A decline in our ability to maintain autophagy is a sign of aging.   There are different types of autophagy. (I will only mention macroautophagy, m...

 Weatherman said it would be a cloudy rainy day...  Overhead presses Bicep curls Angled front presses 

Picking relatively objects (in my case 20 kg) off the floor will keep your lower and upper body toned as you progress into your senior years.  This exercise will work your pecs, arms, grip, legs and back and assist in maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness and balance.  Consult your medical professional before embarking on a rigorous exercise program https://youtu.be/m83kkLbYMes

The August edition of Nature Aging has a very interesting review article on frailty. Frailty is a state weakness, most often associated with old age. Indicators of frailty are weakness fatigue weight loss low physical activity poor balance low gait speed visual impairment and  cognitive impairment Frailty as a root cause of other age-associated diseases The development of frailty is associated with not just an increased risk of an disability or death from falls but also increased risk of developing physiological diseases including Alzheimer's disease Cardiovascular disease Hypertension and stroke Rheumatoid arthritis and Diabetes Frailty is also linked to an increased susceptibility to infection, including COVID-19. Our skeletal muscles provide an important metabolic stimulus and regulatory function for the rest of our body. The loss of this stimulus and regulation leads is largely responsible for the susceptibility to disease.  Adding on to this is a loss of independence wh...

Back injuries due to unsafe lifting practices are common in workplaces where persons have to move objects between different elevations (up and down). Learning how to lift with your legs and your glutes, with support from your upper back, shoulders and arms will help reduce the risk of an injury. Squats and deadlifting with weights have been suggested as exercises that one can do to strengthen the your posterior chain muscles, while teaching good lifting technique. Kettlebell lifts In these videos, I am demonstrating 3 deadlifting workouts using a kettlebell. To raise the kettlebell further, I use my legs, hips and upper body to gently jerk the kettlebell to the height of the platform. Note how the kettlebell stays in line with my centre of gravity.  I am pushing through with my heels and then push hips forward by extending my glutes. My back remains straight and abs tight.  When returning the weight to the ground, I push my hips back to keep by back straight. The kettlebell st...