Five Key Areas of Fitness Crucial to Successful and Healthy Aging

by | Oct 17, 2010 | Uncategorized

Successful, healthy aging has three important components –
1. Low probability of disease or disability;
2. High cognitive and physical function capacity;
3. Active engagement with life.

Healthy aging requires extending ourselves in 5 key areas of fitness.

Cardiovascular Heart Fitness
Muscular Strength
Muscular Endurance
Flexibility
Body Composition.

There are additional areas not traditionally considered part of physical fitness like balance training and mental training but that will be for a later topic.

Keep in mind these are general guidelines but they will give you a bases of understanding. Remember, implementation will be key. As you’ve read before in my blogs you can get all the facts you need in books, magazines and the internet, but establishing a way to implement good health habits is an absolute must for healthy aging. For now, review the basics below and we’ll build from there.

Cardiovascular Fitness• A minimum workout or exercise period of 20 -30 minutes, four days a week.
• The heart rate should reach a minimum of 70% its safe peak. A commonly used formula for determining the safe heart rate peak is 220 minus age multiplied by 0.70 = HR minimum. To illustrate, for a 71 year old minimum the safe heart rate peak is 104 beats per minute (220 -71 = 149 X 0.70 or 104) while exercising the heart. People on beta blockers will not use this formula and instead will learn perceived exertion techniques.

• Exercise must use leg muscles and be continuous motion to be considered cardiovascular in nature. Ex. walking, biking, stair climbing, jogging, elliptical trainer, cross country skiing.

Muscular Strength• How much your upper body can lift for one repetition.
• How much your lower body can lift for one repetition.
For now, if you have not been training, do not try this one repetition maximum as injury is likely. That can come later after you have been training however there are rules that apply to this one depending on our ages.

Muscular Endurance
• How many repetitions your upper body can lift in one minute.
• How many repetitions your lower body can lift in one minute.

Flexibility•
The range of motion one has in such areas as the hamstrings (back of legs), upper and lower back areas, shoulders, hips, neck, and quadriceps ( front of thigh.)

Body Composition
• Being at a weight that is comfortable for the individual given his or her lifestyle needs. It would include being at a weight that does not contribute to elevated blood sugars, lack of energy, cardiovascular risks, osteoarthritis, and other increased body fat health issues.
• Also includes having a Body Mass Index (BMI) that is considered within normal range. A BMI of 18.5 to 25 indicates optimal weight; a BMI lower than 18.5 suggests the person is underweight while a number above 25 would indicate an overweight condition.

Note: The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a widely used measurement for calculating the body composition of relatively sedentary individuals with an average body composition. There are a number of BMI calculators on the internet. The formula for determining BME is to take one’s weight in pounds multiplied by 703 and then divide that product by one’s height in inches squared. To illustrate: 5 foot 10 inch man (70 inches tall) weighing 170 pounds would have a BMI of (170 X 703) / (70 X 70) or 119,510/4,900 = 24.39

In upcoming posts we’ll get started on making sense of each category as it applies to our ages, current health conditions, and most importantly healthy aging. In the meantime, if you have any questions related to your own health fitness plan, just shoot me an e-mail and I will be happy to conjure up the best answer I have. I’ll look forward to it!

Get Old Fast the New Generation’s Way

by | Jun 22, 2009 | Uncategorized

In past generations we got old and died. Welcome to the new generation. Now we get prematurely old and decrepit, and only after many years of being this way do we die. Want to get old and decrepit fast? Follow me. I’ll show you the quickest way to a long, decrepit, ripe old age. Read below, but before you do, keep in mind that I had a little fun with this post and I think you will too. It’s less formal than previous posts but it’s packed with my typical desire to get you looking your best, feeling your best, and performing your best! Go ahead and read on:

Be a part of the New Generation

1. Steadily gain 2 pounds per year beginning at the age of thirty. Your goal should be to arrive at age 60, sixty pounds heavier than when you were age 30.

2. Each year that passes celebrate your birthday by consuming more white flour and sugar than in the previous year. This amount will vary per individual. Strive for increased amounts in each passing year.

3. Exercise only if absolutely necessary. Shun those that promote it and hold fast to the position that those who teach it are crazy.

4. Enjoy friendships of similar mindsets. Stay clear of even casual friendships that entice you to eat in moderation, exercise with knowledgeable competent trainers, and or discourage you from overindulgences in any form.

5. Disregard overzealous doctors who exaggerate the significance of simple common diseases and “supposedly bad health numbers.” Disregard their hyperbole about high blood pressure, pre diabetes, diabetes, high cholesterol, high LDL’s, low HDL’s, obesity, and a little inflammation in the body.

And if by Chance, you are not as “ambitious” as this new generation of prematurely old before your time fellows, but instead aspire to looking good, feeling good and leading a more vital lifestyle, then keep reading. Together, we’ll make sense of what you need to be doing to live a more vigorous lifestyle! It won’t be overnight and it won’t be gimmicky. I am confident you’ll thank yourself for changing your life in a slow progressive manner that focuses on healthy lifestyle changes that are meaningful and keep you from aging prematurely like our “new generation friends.”

Our Wealth is in Our Health,
Kim Miller