Comment regarding “Finding the right Exercise for You”

The following is a comment posted to an excellent Blog post From Science of Ageing.

I include the link to the original Blog here

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exercisenoboredom says: October 3, 2017 at 1:04 am

Thank you for posting about this workshop. I would like to add that for many ageing people a helpful suggestion is to find an experienced Physiotherapist. My argument is that there are few over 50’s who have no exercise relevant pathology whether minor or progressive. It’s often this pathology or fear of further injury, that is keeping people out of exercise. Experience in managing and improving health issues can be invaluable in setting people on a safe and sustainable exercise path. Combining both varied and effective exercise in a way that is not overwhelming and then making it inviting is an educated skill.
Progressing exercise safely and effectively is one of the most significant failings of beginning an exercise lifestyle. People need advice, encouragement and exercise plans that have been proven to work and often need to be experienced alongside targeted exercise programmes that are dealing with pathology already present. Physiotherapists are used to relating to patient’s GPs and trainers to create the best longterm outcome.
Whether you are a health professional or interested reader I would encourage you to find a Physio you trust and get them involved in your/your patients exercise life.
Go and talk to your Physio!

What Do You Think?

(Featured Image By Jennifer Cottrell “Look Around” from Esperence Adventures)

Mrs Smith (not her real name) made a face when I asked her about her activity. “I hate exercise!” She grumbled.

However she didn’t ..not really. When we got down to the nitty gritty, she liked to be able to potter, garden and make her amazing sewing creations. Like many she equated the idea of exercise with getting sweaty and puffed. She thought it would feel horrible and be embarrassing. So, we broke it down to acceptable portions. She tried them and she got fitter! She got stronger. She can now get out of a chair without pain and wander around the shopping centre without puffing! What is most important is that she doesn’t think of herself as hating exercise.

Why is that important? Because we are beginning to realise how much our personal beliefs about our physical activity affect our overall health. In fact just thinking we are less active may shorten our life.  It seems sensible that our identity helps form our life choices. What we haven’t realised is the actual role our thoughts play.  In a very recently completed U.S. study individuals who perceived themselves as less active than others were up to 71% more likely to die in the follow-up period than those who perceived themselves as more active.

Like Mrs Smith we need to consider our mindsets. How do we make sure we are giving ourselves the best possible thought boost for our health?  As a Physio I have been in the persuasion game for decades. If I can get someone to buy in to the truth, I’ve treated them with success. Not everything works with everyone but here are a few suggestions that usually work.

It doesn’t take much thinking to decide you like feeling well and want to be pain free. So you are healthy in that regard. Think about what you like doing. Whether it’s work or hobbies or looking after grandchildren you are motivated to to keep doing these. When you link these thoughts you find you do things to be able to enjoy your life. So you are motivated. That’s a big one. When people get this, we can break down activity into baby steps with targeted outcomes.

For Mrs Smith we kept it to three simple exercises. Very doable and frequent throughout the day. When these started to work we could add in walks. Just short ones. Frequent 10-15 minute wanders down the street. She wasn’t intimidated and happily progressed.

Using this method I have seen people who viewed themselves as sedentary joining a gym or an exercise programme!  Many of these people years later are still exercising happily almost every day. Apart from feeling better their biggest change is their mindset.

So what do you think? Should you change your mindset? This Blog is a good place to start. Follow it and be encouraged. Changing your mindset may save your life!

Made to Move

(Featured Image By Jennifer Cottrell. “It Is Reflected”.  From Esperence Adventures)

Extreme Sitting

From birth to old age we are made to move. Movement shapes and frames us from simple growth to high level functioning and almost everything in between. Now it doesn’t take a great leap to recognise we have a problem. We are moving less and sitting more. In fact it could be argued we are making sitting into an extreme sport! Cars, small gardens, theatre rooms, sofas in coffee lounges.. (feel free to add to the list)..are all helping the cause of the sedentary butt!

The logical outcome to this has been poor health on so many levels. Sitting is the new smoking.  It has contributed to poor physical and mental health in a roller coaster way. From my experience as a long time physiotherapist I have heard all the reasons for sitting. I like it myself. My idea of the best day is often snuggled up on a comfy chair with a great book and an apple. However it fast loses its logical appeal when blood sugar rises, diabetes threatens and you puff after one flight of steps.

Why the Blog?

Welcome to my blog. Here I am attempting to provoke some thought and present some information to help get the butts off the sofa. My desire is not to create guilt. Goodness knows there is enough of that wherever you look. It is to deliver some common sense solutions and present some new ideas that will help wake up awareness and shore up determination to improve health with exercise.

Wait!

Before you groan and close down the page here is a promise. It will relate to everyone. From the sweet little toddler to the aging grandma (like me.) There are great ideas to embrace and lightbulb moments to enjoy. Exercise is much simpler than you think. It can be as simple as sitting on the floor, going out to the letter box or chopping a few extra veges and so creating a movement based lifestyle. Targeted exercise alone plays a very important role in specific injuries and joint conditions. I am often excited by new research into prescribed exercises easily done at home. Exercises that short cut suffering and speed up recovery.

So stay on board

My basic aim is to help people be soundly informed. There is a precursor to every good outcome and every sad story. There is a preventer that didn’t happen or a choice that made the difference.

I’m going after the good outcomes!

 

I Mean Really..Why Exercise?

(Featured Image by Jennifer Cottrell ‘Steveson Air’,  from Breathless in Canada)

Recently my elderly father had a fall.  My strong Dad. I remember him fixing everything. The steady one. The one who nursed my mother through Alzeimer’s Disease. The one who accepted every debilitating stage with courage and strength. Here he was, ridiculously frail and shaky. Unable to even cut up his food. Stuck on dialysis three times a week and unsafe to get out of bed alone.

But thats not the end. Because he did get out of bed. Struggling along most reluctantly on a walking frame. Frequent walks, bed exercises, regular meals and good medical care and he is slowly coming back. He hated the getting up and walking. He hated the dependency and the sheer hard work of it. But he did it. He is doing it. He will make it back home. Back to the cat, the weekly council bus outings and the feisty relationship with his beautiful, equally elderly lady friend.

Thats my motivation. Exercise is a saviour. Its a restorer. Even at 84 it strengthens your muscles hardens your bones and changes your mindset.

I first learned this as a pudgy rather lazy 14 year old. Puffing around the block in netball training, I got fitter. No longer puffed, no longer red faced and hating it. So much fitter that I was recommended for the interschool long distance comp. Me! The hide-in-a-book, introverted sports failure. I followed my dream into physiotherapy and was breath taken with the crazy human ability to heal with exercise. I studied even further and became the first WA postgraduate in  orthopaedic physiotherapy.

Now it’s part of my life. Public and private. I see it every day, healing and helping. I prescribe targeted exercise for particular conditions and I see people coming back! Coming back from debility and pain to capability and confidence. I see my middle aged husband go from a severe back injury to a 12 K runner. I see myself likewise stronger and fitter than last year. Recovering from injuries and able to tackle far flung adventures with good muscles and reliable fitness. I see stress managed, anxiety relieved and depression countered every day by the simple achievements of exercising.

I am indeed passionate about exercise. Here is my proviso… It is not about the perfect body. Its not about weight loss or competition or horrible comparison! It’s most assuredly not about stereotyping or sexualizing. Its about doing what I was made to do, at the stage I find myself in, to feel as well as I am able to be. Simple.

Avatar Annotation

(Featured Image By Jennifer Cottrell ‘How did We Get Here?’ From Breathless in Canada)

Life hands you many adventures. Some planned and some not.

This little picture was taken last year during a 20k hike through a national park in British Columbia Canada.

It was a freezing cold day and as a small group of over 50s we were unsure about the conditions. The hike turned out to be utterly awe inspiring and lead to perhaps the most eye popping scenery I had ever seen! Scenery accessed because we could manage a long hike in the middle of the national park.

I chose this picture for my avatar because it epitomises the freedom and joy that exercise can bring.

Freedom to do and keep doing adventurous things. Joy in the confidence that you can both survive and thrive in your adventures.