One of the most heard phrases in fitness circles is, “If you don’t use it, you will lose it.” Or the shortened version is, “Use it or Lose it.” This is referring to the fact that if you do not use your body, you will lose muscle mass, muscle strength, cardiovascular endurance and flexibility. There are examples of individuals in their 90s that can still do the splits and others that look like a bodybuilder. Almost all of them are examples of continuing an active lifestyle from a young age to a senior citizen age. Not many start at an older age and make gains like that, but there are enough who have started after retirement and have been able to reverse the signs of getting older. The workouts do not have to be a strenuous, all-out effort but should be of moderate intensity. One source recommends 150 minutes a week to achieve a reduction in early death risks by 24%. The biggest benefits are heart health, improved balance and maintaining a level of muscle strength for daily life.
The one comment amongst the senior citizen folks is when they drop something or they see some change lying on the floor and they think, “Will I need that anytime soon or is it worth my effort to pick up that quarter on the floor.” A simple thing like picking something up from the floor becomes a real challenge when the person loses flexibility. Most people will think about bending forward to pick up on objects as flexibility. What flexibility includes is the ankle joint, the knee joint, the shoulder joints, the neck movement, as well as the trunk flexibility. As these joints lose the range of motion, other aspects of the body are affected. Balance is one of the major problems when you lose flexibility. And due to the fact that falls are one of the most common causes of injury in older people, the need to maintain flexible joints can be a life saver.
Flexible ankles are an easy correction. The common runners stretch before a race of leaning against a wall and keeping the heels flat on the ground is one exercise to do. With support, it is advised to let the ankle roll over to the side like when you sprain an ankle. I like to put my toe on the floor and let my foot move back and forth to loosen it up. There are several ways of pointing the toes to maintain that direction for flexible ankles. The knees can be kept flexible by sitting on the floor and drawing the knee up toward the chest and bending the knee joint as much as comfortable. There is no need to bend the knee under a weight bearing situation if the main purpose is to maintain flexibility.
One exercise I recommend for the hamstring muscles that does not require trying to touch your toes while keeping your knees locked has a person sitting on the floor. Bring the upper leg up to the chest and hold it with the arms tight against the chest. With the lower leg now parallel to the ground this is zero percentage of flexibility. The exercise has the person trying to straighten the lower leg up so the leg is straight. Think of a straight leg as 100%. If you can get it at a 45-degree angle that is 50% flexibility. Each degree counts as a percentage of flexibility. It is impossible to strain the hamstring muscle doing this exercise. Even trying to kick the leg straight will not produce enough force to strain the muscle. It isn’t like doing a bounce movement trying to touch the toes as that can pull and strain the hamstring. And while the person is sitting down, they can stretch the lower back by trying to put their chest on the top of their legs. I have seen a number of individuals try this and about the only movement is having the head nod in a “yes” motion. One of the common complaints is that when the person tries to move forward the hamstring muscle hurts. This happens because the low back is tight and in order to lean forward the pelvic girdle (the bone you are sitting on) attempts to assist by rotating forward. Since this is the attachment for the hamstring muscle and you are sitting on it, the muscle will hurt trying to stretch when “nailed” to the floor. If this is the case the next step is to sit on the edge of a chair and try leaning forward between the legs. This will create less strain on the legs and still help keep the low back flexible.
A little movement every day to include some resistance exercise, some balance activity, and some movements to maintain a level of flexibility will go a long way to improving quality of life.
I will include more exercises next week. In the meantime, stay warm but stay active and moving.
