Fitness over 70

Ever since 1967, when Kenneth Cooper came out with the first article I ever saw about aerobics, a word and concept that as far as I know, that Dallas physician invented, I have been interested in fitness.  Four years ago, I gave a talk to a group of seniors about fitness but I thought about it for years before that.

Since I have gotten older, I have found too little about good fitness that is focused on people of age 70 and older.  I realize that baby boomers are just now reaching the age of 65 and that longevity has not been as long as it is now so there hasn't been much chance to develop theory and data on that age group. Especially for men, too much of what I have found is aimed at being a version of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his muscular prime, not that relevant to life in the older decades. 

 

I think of fitness along with good drinking of water and good sleep as subjects that are important, often neglected and more or less available to all at no or low cost.  As far as exercise goes, I always remember a page I saw in Kenneth Pelletier's "The Best Alternative Medicine" where he says that the realization that exercise is very important and equivalent to the discover of penicillin in medical and healing power.  Here is an except from a portion of the book where he is emphasizing the value of using what is at hand, often something simple and ordinary, like a horse, not exotic like a zebra. 

 

 

In my recent visit to the physical therapist to get help for my back, she prescribed exercises with a thera-band.  That is a wide stretch band which comes in different thicknesses and, therefore, resistances.  They are silent and can be used in many ways and positions.  They are merely a tool, but a good one, I guess, and convenient and quick to use and inexpensive.

Here are the books that she recommended:

• APTA Book of Body Maintenance and Repair
• Age Defying Fitness: Making the Most of Your Body for the Rest of Your Life
• Anatomy for Strength and Fitness Training: An Illustrated Guide to Your Muscles in Action

Looking at the Amazon.com pages on them, I thought the 2nd looks good and got a copy.

While fooling around with the American Physical Therapy Association web site, I was lead to the set of the most complete norms for 60-90 year olds I have even seen.  They are in this book
http://www.amazon.com/Senior-Fitness-Manual-Roberta-Rikli/dp/0736033564/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293912101&sr=1-1

You can probably borrow the book from a library if you are interested.  I don't know if it was worth it, though.  The "Age-Defying Fitness" book has some good ideas and tests you can use to check yourself in their six areas of posture, strength, endurance, balance, and flexibility.