In the fitness world the most common training methods is called progressive resistance training which means starting with small weight and slowly building up with many repetitions is not the best way to make gains in every day functional movements such as sitting in and out of a chair, gait speed and stair climbing.
As a champion for the international council on active aging (ICAA) I believe passionately about the impact that movement and lifestyle can have on how well we age.
Check out these 6 tips for aging well from the ICAA:
1. Start or vow to continue healthy lifestyle behaviours—regular physical activity, appropriate diet--that permit you to stay as active as possible.
2. Ignore ageist stereotypes—the fact that you’ve reached a certain age does not mean you are doomed to decline mentally and/or physically.
3. Socialize with others--people who engage with others are less likely to feel depressed and isolated and more likely to feel happy and optimistic about their lives.
4. Expand your knowledge and skills—lifelong learning can help you find greater meaning in your life.
5. Avoid quick fixes—if something sounds too good to be true, it is. “Companies that sell so-called ‘anti-aging’ products are simply graywashing,” says Milner. “That means they’re exploiting the fear of aging by positioning their products as ‘cures’ or ‘fixes.’ But aging is a natural process, not a disease, and an older person isn’t a ‘broken’ version of a younger one.”
6. Join ICAA’s Changing the Way We Age® Campaign (www.changingthewayweage.com) today to help change society’s perceptions of aging. Apply to become an ICAA champion—a role model, educator and ambassador for change—or a campaign partner.
Good Luck
Erin Billowits
Vintage Fitness
Serving all of the Greater Toronto Area including Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, Newmarket, Brampton
This week a blog by Colin Milner, the president of the international council on active aging, was sent through to me all about how much grandparents have to teach their grandkids about exercise and healthy living. Read through the article and think about what you could do with your grandkids to keep them active:
- Start a vegetable garden with them
- Go on a weekly bike ride
- Take a cooking class together
If you are interested in an exercise class that includes you and your grandkids here in Toronto, Canada let me know and I will set one up.
Good Luck
Erin Billowits
Vintage Fitness
Serving all of the Greater Toronto Area including Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, Newmarket, Brampton
A Chip Off The Old Block
BY COLIN MILNER ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2011
Want to help kids get fit? Get their grandparents in on the act!
What could a newborn have in common with a 21-year-old, a 45-year-old, a 68-year-old and even a 92-year-old? They’re all different generations of the same family. At the turn of the 20th century, when people had a shorter lifespan, these family members may never have come to know each other. But today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average length of life is at an all-time high. Males born in 2002 can expect to live to 74.7 years, and women born the same year can look forward to living to 79.9 years, up from 74.4 and 79.8, respectively, from 2001 (Child Trends DataBank 2004).
Yet even as longevity rates rise, a report from the Fabian Society in Britain suggests that children’s poor eating habits could result in them living shorter lives than their parents (Stoate 2002). Is the trend toward longer life now in jeopardy? Considering the rise in childhood obesity and the waves of early chronic conditions, such as diabetes and osteoporosis, that argument could certainly be made. But does the future have to be that bleak?
Image via Wikipedia
Where to Start
The solution to this looming health crisis may well lie with those who are experiencing longer lives—the grandparents. According to a survey conducted for AARP, grandparents reported sharing a number of roles with parents in children’s lives, including teaching children values, entertaining them and listening to their problems. Research from Georgia State and Duke Universities supports these findings, showing that grandparents are more involved in their children’s lives than ever before (Chu 2004) . Part of this shift is probably due to the fact that today’s older Americans are spending about 20 years longer than the previous generation in the grandparent roll–and they take that role seriously.
Grandchildren bring love, laughter, youthfulness, energy and purpose to the lives of their grandparents. At the same time, grandparents provide maturity, knowledge, stability and unconditional love in the lives of their grandchildren. In many cases grandparents also represent the keepers of family history and values, making them potential role models for the younger generation.
Children are the future, but if we don’t do something about their current health status, their future may be shorter than that of previous generations. By enlisting the help of older adults with activity that meets the needs of both generations, we give children a link to the past and a more positive perception of aging, and we give them and their grandparents a brighter, healthier and more fulfilling future.
By Colin Milner, founder and chief executive officer of the International Council on Active Aging® (ICAA) .
I recently attended a lecture by Len Kravitz, a well known physiology researcher all about “the science of longevity”. It was an amazing talk full of detailed research studies showing theories about why we age and the best way to age well. Based on hundreds of studies the top 10 tips for aging well are:
Reviewing a book by Peter Williams called “exercise throughout life” reminded me of the statistics about older adults and muscle weakness. Muscle strength and size decrease as you age between 3-5% every ten years which doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that by 65 the degree of strength that a person has can be 65-70% less than what they had 30 years before!
An extensive new study done by the American Cancer Society looked at how much leisure time people spent sitting with increased mortality rates. The study examined 53,440 men and 69,776 and lasted 14 years. Not surprisingly, the more that you sit the higher incidence of an early death especially from cardiovascular disease. One of the interesting finding of the study is that even amongst the active participants that sat 6 hours a day they got sick and died more often than the active participants
You knew that exercise was good for you by strengthening your heart muscle, building your bone density and strength as well as combating stress but did you know it actually slows down the aging process?
A new study done at the Sackler School of Medicine in Israel, shows that to age gracefully you need to slow down the loss of muscle mass. Both muscle mass and muscle function decline as you age, a condition called sarcopenia. The combination of sarcopenia along with osteopenia, the loss of b
