Articles
The Journal on Active Aging brings articles of value to professionals dedicated to older-adult quality of life. Content sweeps across the active-aging landscape to focus on education and practice. Find articles of interest by searching the article archives in three ways: Enter a keyword in the articles search bar; click on search by topic; or type a keyword or phrase in the general search bar at the top of the page.
Topic- Exercise
Protect the spine through exercise by Karen Kemmis, PT, DPT
Osteoporosis is a disease in which bones become fragile and more likely to fracture. In the US today, approximately 10 million individuals already have the disease, and an estimated 34 million more have low bone density, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis and fractures. Of the 10 million Americans estimated to have osteoporosis, eight million (80%)
are women and two million (20%) are men.
Bone loss and osteoporosis most often occur in individuals ages 50 and older. As age increases, fracture risk also increases. Women can lose up to 20% of bone density during the five to seven years following menopause. Bone loss tends to progress at a slower rate in men, and it usually occurs at a later age than in women.
Exercise
Strength training past 50 for cyclists by Wayne L. Westcott, PhD, CSCS and Thomas R. Baechle, EdD, CSCS
Bicycling is a truly amazing aerobic activity that can be performed and enjoyed by a large percentage of older adults. The wheels provide exponential advantages over ambulatory exercise on level surfaces and down hills. However, the additional weight of the cycle renders uphill riding much more physically demanding than uphill walking or running.
This is one reason why all cyclists, and especially older cyclists, should perform strength training.
Exercise
Riding a bicycle: help learning and returning adults by W. Preston Tyree
If you think of what bicycling offers children, you begin to understand why it’s also valuable for older adults. When instructors for the League of American Bicyclists teach Smart Cycling® classes, we frequently ask people about their first experiences with a bicycle. When students come up with one word that describes their early experiences, it is usually "freedom." But the list generally has lots of great words like: independence, adventure, friends, fun and money.
Bicycling is all of those things—and more even—for mature cyclists. Going to the local coffee shop to meet with friends provides exercise, camaraderie and a chance to catch up with what is going on in the neighborhood. Older cyclists can use a bicycle to shop for groceries, visit the library, ride in the park with their grandchildren and even visit the doctor.
Exercise
Exercise modifications for older adults by Gay Elliott
“The less you do, the worse you feel, and the less you get out of life,” states Michael Gordon, a physician and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. Exercise—especially for the older adult—is more about quality of life, remaining independent and feeling better than it is about having a flat stomach or the abdominal ‘six pack.’
How, then, do we as practitioners conduct our group-exercise or personal training sessions to make each and every older adult feel included, successful and safe? How do we as program directors insure that we have matched the right trainer or instructor with the clients? Do we know the modifications to equipment that we can make? Have we adjusted the program itself to fit the older client?
Exercise
Improve function before knee replacement surgery by Robert Topp, RN, PhD and Phil Page, MS, PT; Ann M. Swank, PhD; Peter M. Quesada, PhD; John Nyland, EdD, PT and Arthur Malkani, MD
Osteoarthritis is a common chronic health condition. Among the estimated 27 million adults in the United States who had osteoarthritis in 2005, 33.6% were ages 65 and older (Lawrence, Felson, et al., 2008). One in 10 Canadians has osteoarthritis, and approximately 85% are ages 70 or older (Public Health Agency Canada).
moreExercise
Express~O workouts: creating quick dips for clients by Mary E. Sanders, PhD, FACSM
As health and wellness professionals, we know that people of all ages lead busy lives and many individuals consider time a barrier to exercise. Fortunately, water is a time-efficient exercise modality because cardio and muscular power training occur together. But you have to know how to squeeze the overload out of the water to maximize training time for improvement.
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