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Motivation to exercise a key for senior health
By PATRICIA ZAPOR
Catholic News Service
Motivation to exercise, a prob-
lem for people of all ages and
physical conditions, can be espe-
cially challenging for the elderly.
Even for people who have
never particularly exerted them-
selves, doctors say beginning a
workout regimen can slow the
aging process, improve longevity
and ease the symptoms of arthri-
tis and other ailments.
The Center for Science and
the Public Interest notes that be-
ginning exercise even after.the
age of 60 or 70 can increase life
expectancy by lowering blood
pressure, increasing levels of
good cholesterol, decreasing the
risk of heart disease and slowing
the rate of bone loss.
But the first hurdle is to get
the elderly to start, said physi-
cal therapist Larry J. Nosse, an
associate professor at Marquette
University in Milwaukee.
"I start with getting people to
determine what their personal
goals are," Nosse said. "It might
be as simple as being able to walk
Out of the nursing home to go with
the family for Thanksgiving. So I
break it into steps, set functional
goals for how to reach that point."
People even more confined by
symptoms of aging may set
goals like having the upper body
strength to be able to hold an in-
fant grandchild unassisted, he
said.
Dr. John Morley of the St.
Louis University Medical School
said the biggest exercise benefit
on which he focuses is helping
prevent falls, a major threat for
aging people.
"It can also make diabetes or
arthritis easier to control," the
geriatrician said. Exercise won't
make either go away, but it can
keep a diabetic from needing in-
sulin and tend to allow arthritic
joints to hurt less, he added.
"As we get older, we all start
to face our morbidity," Morley
said. "Moderate exercise is likely
to keep someone going more
than anything else they can do."
He recommends exercising
with groups as most beneficial,
as "the reality is, we are all more
" likely to exercise with friends."
Senior centers and other com-
munity centers are places se-
niors who are living on their own
can start. Morley recommended
that seniors consider swimming,
"which is a less stressful way for
many people to exercise."
In the 40 to 50 group presenta-
tions Nosse gives each year, he
concentrates on persuading his
audience to commit to doing some-
thing to improve their strength.
"Even talking about good pos-
ture, I can get 100 people to im-
prove the way they're sitting or
• show them how to increase their
motion," he said. '¢rhat can help."
"People have to acquire the
frame of mind that exercise is
good for the elderly," Nosse said.
"One quarter to one third of the
strength loss the elderly have is
from disuse. I can almost guar-
antee if someone will work on it,
they can get a 25 to 30 percent
increase of strength."
Road Warrior
Motivation is key for a good start in any exercise program.
Exercise can increase life expectancy by lowering blood
pressure and decreasing the risk of heart disease.
-- CNS photo by Mimi Forsyth
Parish a placeto stretch and tone body and soul
By KARA VOZEL
Special to the Message
was a joint initiation between
myself' and the church men-
hers," Wittgen said. Felh)w
parishioner and certified aero-
bics instructor Lisa Floyd con-
ducts the 45-minute sessions,
which are held on Tuesday and
Thursday nights at 7 in St.
Joseph's gynmasium.
,Vorkouts generally con@ist of
stretching and toning exercises
which aw)id overtrenuous
movement. Floyd recently intro-
duced her group to Dynabands,
"'gdant, thick rubber bands which
you use to create self-controlled
tension" and thus to better mon-
itor personal flexibility. Wittgen
also mentioned that group mem-
bers had worked a few chair ex-
ercises into their routine, but de-
cided to discontinue those exer- Rose Sartore afrmg that exer-
"Al:e you going to start an ex-
ercise program', r'
• "'I really need some exercise.
Is there anything you call' do?"
Questions such as these, says
registered imrse Judy Wittgen,
were aniong several asked regu-
larly by adult parishioners of St.
Joseph Church, Evansville,
nmny of whom are retirees or
are approaching retirement age.
Until this spring, when
Wittgen, one of two nurses hired
by parishes in the Diocese of
Evansville, implemented a low-
impact aerobics program to ful-
fill her parishioners' needs.
"Actually, it (the program}
cises upon learning that Floyd
had printed instructions flee fin"
the taking and easily fifllowed in
the conffort of one's home.
This doesn't prevent any of
the group's older or physically
at-risk melnhers from keeping a
chair handy during sessions to
provide occasionally-needed sup-
port an&'or a place of solace. Of
the group's estimated 15 regu-
lars, about tbur are over the age
of 60: the rest are between the
ages of 35 and 60.
"This program is definitely
some'thing that an older person
can do, as long as'the person has
no mobility limits," Wittgen
said.
Holy Redeemer parish nurse
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cise, generally speaking, helps
the elderly as well as those
under 50. "Exercise is definitely
beneficial to the elderly. After
retirement, instead of meeting
tbr coffee and doughnuts in the
morning, the 3" (:an meet tbr'a
walk.'"
Sariore suggests that would-
be exercisers find both a favorite
activity and a partner or to
to share the activity with Using
the buddy system serves a dual
purpose: it "serves as a motiva-
tor" and "gives a person some-
one else to be held accountable
to, and is also advisable for
safety reasons."
According to Sartore, the main
concern some older people might
have about regular exercise is
the worry that increased activ-
ity could raise one's blood pres-
sure. Actually, eonfirmed Sar-
tore, exercise decreases blood
pressure by strengthening one's
heart muscle. "When your heart
rate goes up, your blood pressure
goes down," she said.
A very real concern to watch
out for, Wittgen notes, is that of
persistent pain after exercising.
"The 'No pain, no gain' theory is
just a myth," she stated. I rec-
ommend checking with a doctor
if you experience this. Persistent
pain indicates that something's
wrong somewhere."
Initial stiffness or soreness,
however, doesn't necessarily in-
dicate a serious problem -- or
any problem at all, for that mat-
ter. "I'm 50," says Wittgen, "and
I walk daily and ride an exercise
bike two or three times per
week. But ifI sit in a chair for 30
minutes and then try to get up,
my legs will still be stiffF
Wittgen stresses that St.
Joseph's program has no age
boundaries. One woman once
bfm/ght" hr"d£Sghtd÷ Erhily
Mitchell, a second-grader, while ,
other parents succeed in coax-
ing teenagers to join them in St.
Joseph's gym. Sartore terms
this action "preventive medicine
-- the younger they get started,
the better."
After almost six months, re-
actions to St. Joseph's pr(Nram
have been predominantly posi-
tive. When the possibility of
renting the gym to Resurrec-
tion students threatened to cur-
tail the program, "its members
became particularly irate,"
Wittgen said. "Father (Englert)
had said that we (the members!
wouldn't still be doing this in
the fall. Well, we squeezed in
after Resurrection." Beginning
in September, the program will
meet at 7:30, a half-hour later
than before.
Information concerning St.
Joseph's low-impact aerobics
program will be available at a
fall health fair, which will be
held in St. Joseph's gym on Sun-
day, Oct. 13, from 9 a.m. to
noon: Other services provided
there include cholesterol/blood
pressure screenings; hearing/-i-
sion tests, and depression
screenings. A special health risk
appraisal booth will be present
as well.
Wittgen sees expanding St.
Joseph's sessions to three days
per week as a future option --
but not an option attainable in
the near future, because of con-
flicting schedules and an over-
booked gymnasium.
So the members of the pro-
gram continue to flex their Dyn-
ahands and increase their heart
rates twice a week, even those
members who are advanced in
age.
For, as Sartore says, "You
don't nt- to stop exercising,..
(at a certain age}. You need to
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