Test your balance

Test Your Balance

Try these three moves to see how well, you can balance.

On both feet: Stand with feet together, anklebones touching, and arms folded across chest; then close your eyes. Have someone time you: Though it's normal to sway a little, you should be able to stand for 60 seconds without moving your feet. Next, place one foot directly in front of the other and close your eyes. You should be able to stand for at least 38 seconds on both sides.

On one foot: Stand on one foot and bend your other knee, lifting non-supporting foot off floor without letting it touch the standing leg. (Do this in a doorway so you can grab the sides if you start to fall.) Repeat with eyes closed. People age 60 and younger can typically hold the pose for about 29 seconds with their eyes open, 21 seconds with their eyes closed. People age 61 and older: 22 seconds with eyes open, 10 seconds with eyes closed.

On the ball of your foot: Stand on one foot with hands-on-hips, and place the non-supporting foot against the inside knee of the standing leg. Raise heel off the floor and hold the pose—you should be able to do so for 25 seconds.

How old guys stay in shape

On this beautiful day in August, here is how one old guy stays in shape. I only wish I had his skills.

You Either Grow or Regress

In the spring we plant and watch our garden grow over the summer, in the fall we take out the plants that have died and prepare the soil for the next year. Life’s a cycle of growth and decline. Exercise is the chief signaller to make growth outweigh decline. Laziness hastens deterioration and stifles growth.

Exercise and mood share corresponding chemistry. Our lifestyle choices and exercise choices send billions of messages to and from your brain to make you smarter, stronger and sexier, even as we age.  We know that 30 minutes a day of exercise is needed for seniors to maintain a healthy life, so instead of considering it as exercise, think of that 30 minutes a day as food for growth, agility, independence, looks and youthfulness.

Inactivity may feel good at first, but it makes me feel tired all day, every day. I know that exercise can seem tiring for a short time if done properly. But then I think it energizes you the rest of the day. Activity is in harmony with nature. Activity and exercise promote growth. Inactivity runs counter to nature. You can be lazy, tired and simply surviving—or active, energetic, and alive. It’s your choice.

And the best news? It takes much less effort to keep your gains than it did to achieve them. The brain can’t always accept that, but it’s the truth!

Genetically speaking, we are still cavepeople, that means we are hard-wired to move seven days a week and to be fit enough to cope with our environment. We are not used to having a lot of food and doing nothing for long periods of time. Abundance and idleness are foreign to our makeup. No matter what you think of exercise, we were still designed to hunt and gather. It’s embedded in makeup, but our ancestors rested more than you probably think.

To keep exercise fun and interesting, and to maximize results, do a variety of different exercises and intensities. And when activity is fun, it becomes addictive. Besides, not exercising is simply not an option if you want to be independent, well, pain-free, energetic and good looking.

If you have not been exercising always check with your medical provider before starting any program. Here is an idea, train like a caveman. Emulate hunting and gathering. Hunting was essentially high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It builds muscle and alertness.

Do HIIT 1-3 days a week, depending on your intensity. If you train to muscle failure, you may only need to do one set per week of each weight training exercise, because it takes a week or even more for your muscles to fully recover. And you may only need to do five exercises in each session; chest press, leg press, overhead press, seated row and pulldowns.

The secret is long, slow reps, each taking a MINIMUM of ten seconds. Five or more seconds on the positive and the same on the negative for 5-10 reps. This avoids injury and maximizes muscle and strength growth. Keep it up until you can’t push or pull anymore.

Total muscle failure on each set with as little time as possible between sets. It’s not easy, but the trade-off is maximum muscle growth in 12 minutes a week. For more detailed information, get a copy of Body by Science written by Doug McGuff and John Little.

The other half of the equation is gathering simulated activity or long, slow exercise which also burns fat and builds endurance. This could be anything that has you breathing hard while still being able to carry on a conversation for 45 minutes or so.

If you’re at 60-65% of your maximum heart rate, you’re in a good zone. This best life-extending range may be vigorous exercise, but not exhausting for most of your training sessions. Make sure you break a sweat and breathe hard. If not, you’re missing the biggest benefits.

We need to exercise 30 minutes a day as we get older because we start to break down. Some think the older you get, the harder it is to exercise. It really isn’t, and the rewards are over the top.

Exercise

Exercise is important for seniors. In our workshops on Health and Wellness, I talk about the need for seniors to be physically active at least 30 minutes a day for a minimum of 5 days a week. What I don't do is talk about what type of exercise is best. As seniors, many of us have all sorts of physical conditions that don't allow us to the same exercises as those younger than us. If you have not been active it is important that you always check with your healthcare provider to ensure the exercise regime you are about to start is the best one for you. 

Three articles on the best exercise at any age caught my eye. One is from US News Today and the other from Pure Health Research and the final one is from Oprah. They are similar in their advice.  

Age 50s - Protect your heart and core. Being active is not an assurance to realize that, aches and pains will start to crop up now. This is the time to battle your body's tendency to curve forward in your 50s, which can cause chronic back pain, don't slouch while you're walking—extend your body. This simple change can make a big difference in your spinal alignment. It is best and recommended for 30 minutes of aerobic activity five times per week to preserve heart health as you age. In your 50s, exercising with mild to moderate exertion instead is effective, and you and you can do it every day of the week because you won't be sidelined by extreme fatigue or muscle soreness.

Protect your heart and core. No matter how active you've been, aches and pains will start to crop up now, 

You'll also have to fight your body's tendency to curve forward in your 50s, which can cause chronic back pain and give you a "dowager's hump." They recommend yoga and pilates for strengthening your abs and back, or "core." And don't slouch while you're walking—extend your body. This simple change can make a big difference in your spinal alignment.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends 30 minutes of aerobic activity five times per week to preserve heart health as you age. Since you'll start to need more recovery time from vigorous workouts in your 50s, the experts suggest exercising with mild to moderate exertion instead. It's just as effective, and you can do it every day of the week because you won't be sidelined by extreme fatigue or muscle soreness.

Age 60 and above - Physical activity includes leisure time physical activity like walking, dancing, gardening, swimming. For occupational exercise, you can do household chores, play, games, sports or planned exercise in the context of daily, family, and community activities. Senior citizens should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week or do at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.

Focus on prevention. Are you exercising regularly? Good—you are less likely to die prematurely from a chronic condition such as diabetes or heart disease, the AHA says. Staying strong through your 60s will also improve your odds of surviving a fall, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pegs as a high risk once you hit 65. Recent research found that women in their 60s and 70s face as much as five times the risk of death within a year of suffering a hip fracture. Strong muscles and bones and good balance can help you avoid taking a tumble.

For the 60 plus age group
What to do: Regular strength training 
Why: Not for the reason you think: You'll give your brain a lift. Women in their 60s and 70s who lifted weights twice a week had fewer white matter lesions on their brains, a warning sign of cognitive decline that is also connected to a higher risk of dangerous falls, according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. Those who strength-trained only once a week didn't see the same benefits. 

The Plan: Using medium-heavy weights (you should be able to do 10 reps of each move before you need a break), do a variety of moves that work your whole body for 40 minutes, twice a week. Here are a few exercises to get you started: this move that works your arms and abs at the same time; a great shoulder toner; and this combo exercise that strengthens your entire lower body. 

What to do: Light activity like walking and gardening 
Why: Weight gain after menopause—especially extra weight around your midsection—can increase your risk for health problems like diabetes, heart disease, and even certain cancers. It's easier to gain weight after menopause, but there is a silver lining: It's also easier to lose it. Even light physical activity, like walking and gardening, has a bigger impact on the weight and belly fat of post-menopausal women than younger women (per new research presented at the annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society.) 
The Plan: Find an activity that gets you up and moving regularly and try to commit to 30 minutes of it every day.


The amount of physical activity you need to do each week depends on your age.  Regardless of what type of activities you choose, physicians and other experts suggest choosing something you enjoy to stay on the path to optimum health and wellbeing through exercise.

Walking as a creative exercise

Walking for exercise is something I try to do on a now semi-regular basis. I enjoy the solitude that walking allows and the opportunity to think, but I never considered walking as a creative enterprise. Maria Popova at Brain Pickings (is “her one-woman labor of love — a subjective lens on what matters in the world and why. Mostly, it’s a record of my own becoming as a person — intellectually, creatively, spiritually — and an inquiry into how to live and what it means to lead a good life. Founded in 2006 as a weekly email that went out to seven friends and eventually brought online, the site was included in the Library of Congress permanent web archive in 2012”) did and a post talks about the creativity of walking. I can do no better than to quote her writing about walking.

“Every walk is a sort of crusade,” Thoreau wrote in his manifesto for the spirit of sauntering. And who hasn’t walked — in the silence of a winter forest, amid the orchestra of birds and insects in a summer field, across the urban jungle of a bustling city — to conquer some territory of their interior world?

Artist Maira Kalman sees walking as indispensable inspiration: “I walk everywhere in the city. Any city. You see everything you need to see for a lifetime. Every emotion. Every condition. Every fashion. Every glory.” For Rebecca Solnit, walking “wanders so readily into religion, philosophy, landscape, urban policy, anatomy, allegory, and heartbreak.”

Five years after publishing The Wind in the Willows, Grahame penned a beautiful short essay for a commemorative issue of his old boarding school magazine. Titled “The Fellow that Goes Alone” and only ever published in Peter Green’s 1959 biography Kenneth Grahame (public library), it serenades “the country of the mind” we visit whenever we take long solitary walks in nature.

With an eye to “all those who of set purpose choose to walk alone, who know the special grace attaching to it,” Grahame writes:

Nature’s particular gift to the walker, through the semi-mechanical act of walking — a gift no other form of exercise seems to transmit in the same high degree — is to set the mind jogging, to make it garrulous, exalted, a little mad maybe — certainly creative and suprasensitive, until at last it really seems to be outside of you and as if it were talking to you whilst you are talking back to it. Then everything gradually seems to join in, sun and the wind, the white road and the dusty hedges, the spirit of the season, whichever that may be, the friendly old earth that is pushing life firth of every sort under your feet or spell-bound in a death-like winter trance, till you walk in the midst of a blessed company, immersed in a dream-talk far transcending any possible human conversation. Time enough, later, for that…; here and now, the mind has shaken off its harness, is snorting and kicking up heels like a colt in a meadow.

In a sentiment which, today, radiates a gentle admonition against the self-defeating impulse to evacuate the moment in order to capture it — in a status update, in an Instagram photo — Grahame observes: Not a fiftieth part of all your happy imaginings will you ever, later, recapture, note down, reduce to dull inadequate words; but meantime the mind has stretched itself and had its holiday

I highly recommend Maria Popova at Brain Pickings her writing is always fun to read and challenging for the mind and the soul.

Staying Fit

In a workshop, I give on Staying Fit we talk about the benefits of exercise for seniors. I have talked about these before but I need to emphasize the points again. Many of us don't exercise enough, which is defined as 30 minutes a day.
However, before starting an exercise regime, you should always talk to your doctor. To help you decide to see your doctor, take the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire.

• Has your doctor ever said that you have a heart condition and that you should only do physical activity recommended by your doctor?  Y/N
• Do you feel pain in your chest when you do physical activity?  Y/N
• In the past month have you had chest pain when you were not doing a physical activity?  Y/N
• Do you lose your balance because of dizziness or do you ever lose consciousness?  Y/N
• Do you have a bone or joint problem (e.g., back, knee, or hip) that could be made worse by a change in your physical activity?  Y/N
• Is your doctor currently prescribing drugs (e.g. water pills) for your blood pressure or heart condition?  Y/N
• Do you know of any other reason why you should not do physical activity?  Y/N

If you answer “Yes” to any of the above questions, see a doctor or your physiotherapist before you start an exercise program

If you answer “No” to all the questions, start slowly and build up gradually, consider a fitness appraisal to determine the best program for you and have your blood pressure checked.  If it is over 144/94, see your physician before starting an exercise program.

A fitness appraisal would determine your strength and weaknesses so that you have an exercise program that will offer the greatest benefit.These can be arranged through almost any fitness facility, community centre, or YM/YWCA. 

I recommend becoming involved in a community program.  

Ideally, you would access a class that would suit your needs and be at the appropriate level. There are a number of advantages to doing this

• Social engagement
• Healthy competition
• Professional advice to ensure that you are using good form and technique
• Less likely to procrastinate

Check out Recreation or Senior centres for the following types of programs for seniors

• Gentle Fit or Armchair Fitness programs
• Zumba Gold
• Water aerobics (regular or deep-water)
• Osteofit (designed for people with osteoporosis)
• Chair Yoga or Gentle Yoga
• Palates
• Beginners Line Dancing 
• Tai Chi

Just a reminder of what exercise can do for you. Exercise helps you

• Manage depression
• Maintain independence
• Have more energy
• Reduce your risk of dementia
• Reduce the risk of falling
• Reduce risk of chronic degenerative diseases
• Have a little fun.  

Being in good shape and in good health, as you age, helps you enjoy doing the things you love to do (playing with grandchildren, gardening), protects you against loss of bone mass, may boost your immune system and improves gastrointestinal function

In retirement exercise regime drops off

Major life transitions such as retirement may lead to changes in physical activity levels. Remaining physically active after retirement can help promote physical health and wellness and help prevent chronic disease. Remaining healthy is a priority for most of us when we retire, however a study found that retirees are not that good at keeping up our exercise regime after about a year of retirement.

The review included 21 randomized controlled trials with 10, 519 participants aged 55-70 years, and 15 of the trials were combined statistically. Interventions involved group education and a standard goal of 150 min of physical activity per week, with some interventions being tailored to the participants. Physical activity was measured either by self-report or devices such as pedometers. Those exposed to physical activity interventions were compared to those who received either no intervention or minimal intervention, and activity levels were measured from 12 months to up to 24 months after the intervention.

When measured using a pedometer, step counts were significantly higher at 12 months, among those who received the intervention compared to those not exposed. When measured by self-report, physical activity levels were significantly higher at 12 months among those who received the intervention compared to those not exposed. In the longer term however (18-24 months) these positive effects were not maintained. The optimal number of intervention sessions appeared to be 11.

In adults of retirement age, physical activity interventions are effective at increasing step count and physical activity levels at 12 months but not 24 months after the intervention. The number of contacts beyond 11 does not result in ongoing increases in physical activity levels.

Exercise is good for you

At the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in July 2015, scientists report some encouraging news about the benefits of exercise. In the first studies to look at physical activity among people already diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s, researchers reported that:

• People who participated in the exercise program had far fewer neuropsychiatric symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, and depression). Those in the control group had deteriorated on measures of psychiatric symptoms, while the intervention group improved slightly. This lead to a statistically significant difference between the two groups.
• People in a subgroup of the exercise group who attended more than 80% of the classes and exercised vigorously (raising their heart rate to more than 70% of their maximal rate) had statistically significant (p=0.03) improvements on mental speed and attention, as measured by the SDMT.
• In addition, people who participated in the exercise program improved in physical fitness, physical function, dual-task performance and exercise self-efficacy.

Participants in the study were randomly assigned to either supervised aerobic training or a stretching group for 45-60 minutes four times per week for six months, using community facilities. The aerobic group exercised at 70-80% of their maximum heart rate, while the stretching group exercised at below 35 percent. The researchers tested participant’s cognitive skills (verbal recall, tests of executive function) and examined blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples at the beginning and end of the study. Forty participants also received MRI brain scans. Participants completed their assigned exercise activities 92 percent of the time.

The researchers found that:

• Participants who completed aerobic exercise (most commonly using a treadmill) saw a statistically significant (p<0.05) reduction in tau levels in CSF. The effect was most pronounced in adults over the age of 70.
• Aerobic exercise significantly (p<0.05) increased blood flow in the memory and processing centers of participant’s brains, with a corresponding improvement in attention, planning, and organizing abilities referred to as “executive function” (p<0.05).

“These findings are important because they strongly suggest a potent lifestyle intervention such as aerobic exercise can impact Alzheimer’s-related changes in the brain,” Baker said. “No currently approved medication can rival these effects.”

Exercise and you could live longer

In a study called Leisure Time Physical Activity and Mortality: A Detailed Pooled Analysis of the Dose-Response Relationship, found that by meeting the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans minimum by either moderate- or vigorous-intensity activities was associated with nearly the maximum longevity benefit. 

The study authors observed a benefit threshold at approximately 3 to 5 times the recommended leisure time physical activity minimum and no excess risk at 10 or more times the minimum. In regard to mortality, health care professionals should encourage inactive adults to perform leisure time physical activity and do not need to discourage adults who already participate in high-activity levels

 Researchers pooled data from 6 studies in the National Cancer Institute Cohort Consortium (baseline 1992-2003). Population-based prospective cohorts in the United States and Europe with self-reported physical activity were analyzed in 2014.

A total of 661,137 men and women (median age, 62 years; range, 21-98 years) and 116 686 deaths were included. Median follow-up time was 14.2 years

Using this data, the researchers stratified the adults by their weekly exercise time, from those who did not exercise at all to those who worked out for 10 times the current recommendations or more (meaning that they exercised moderately for 25 hours per week or more).

They found that, unsurprisingly, the people who did not exercise at all were at the highest risk of early death.

But those who exercised a little, not meeting the recommendations but doing something, lowered their risk of premature death by 20 percent.

Those who met the guidelines precisely, completing 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise, enjoyed greater longevity benefits and 31 percent less risk of dying during the 14-year period compared with those who never exercised.

The sweet spot for exercise benefits, however, came among those who tripled the recommended level of exercise, working out moderately, mostly by walking, for 450 minutes per week, or a little more than an hour per day. Those people were 39 percent less likely to die prematurely than people who never exercised.

At that point, the benefits plateaued, the researchers found, but they never significantly declined. Those few individuals engaging in 10 times or more the recommended exercise dose gained about the same reduction in mortality risk as people who simply met the guidelines. They did not gain significantly more health bang for all of those additional hours spent sweating. But they also did not increase their risk of dying young.

The other new study Effect of Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity on All-Cause Mortality in Middle-aged and Older Australians. reached a somewhat similar conclusion about intensity. While a few recent studies have intimated that frequent, strenuous exercise might contribute to early mortality, the new study found the reverse.

For this study, Australian researchers closely examined health survey data for more than 200,000 Australian adults, determining how much time each person spent exercising and how much of that exercise qualified as vigorous, such as running instead of walking, or playing competitive singles tennis versus a sociable doubles game.

The researchers concluded that among people reporting any activity, there was an inverse dose-response relationship between proportion of vigorous activity and mortality. The findings suggest that vigorous activities should be endorsed in clinical and public health activity guidelines to maximize the population benefits of physical activity.

They found that meeting the exercise guidelines substantially reduced the risk of early death, even if someone’s exercise was moderate, such as walking.

However if someone engaged in even occasional vigorous exercise, he or she gained a small but not unimportant additional reduction in mortality. Those who spent up to 30 percent of their weekly exercise time in vigorous activities were 9 percent less likely to die prematurely than people who exercised for the same amount of time but always moderately. Those people who spent more than 30 percent of their exercise time in strenuous activities gained an extra 13 percent reduction in early mortality, compared with people who never broke much of a sweat. The researchers did not note any increase in mortality, even among those few people completing the largest amounts of intense exercise.

The bottom line is that anyone who is physically capable (always check with your doctor before starting) of activity should try to reach at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week. Of those minutes around 20 to 30 minutes of that should be vigorous activity.

Yoga mat for sale. Used once.

 

Date: 2011-09-13, 10:32PM

Yoga mat for sale. Used once at lunch hour class in December 2009. Usage timeline as follows:

11:45a

Register for hot yoga class. Infinite wisdom tells me to commit to 5 class package and purchase a yoga mat. I pay $89.74. Money well spent, I smugly confirm to myself.

11:55a

Open door to yoga room. A gush of hot dry air rushes through and past me. It smells of breath, sweat and hot. Take spot on floor in back of room next to cute blonde. We will date.

11:57a

I feel the need to be as near to her as possible. This is a problem because of the hot blonde to my left and our pending courtship. She will not be pleased to learn that I need to lose 30 pounds before I propose to her.

11:58a

The shirt and sweats have to come off. I throw caution to the wind and decide to rely on my wit and conditioning to overcome any weight issues my fiance may take issue with. This will take a lot of wit and conditioning.

11:59a

Begin small talk with my bride to be. She pretends to ignore me, but I know how she can be. I allow her to concentrate and stare straight ahead and continue to pretend that I don't exist. As we finish sharing our special moment, I am suddenly aware of a sweat moustache that has formed below my nose. This must be from the all the whispering between us.

12:00p

Instructor enters the room and ascends her special podium at the front of the room. She is a slight, agitated Asian woman. She introduces me to the class and everyone turns around to greet me just as I decide to aggressively adjust my self. My bride is notably unfazed.

12:02p

Since I do have experience with Hot Yoga (4 sessions just 5 short years ago) I fully consider that I may be so outstanding and skilled that my instructor may call me out and ask me to guide the class. My wife will look on with a sparkle in her eye. After class we will get together for the rest of our lives.

12:10p

It is now up to 95 degrees in the room. We have been practicing deep breathing exercises for the last 8 minutes. This would not be a problem if we were all breathing actual, you know, oxygen. Instead, we are breathing each other's body odor, expelled carbon dioxide and other unmentionables. (Don't worry, I'll mention them later.)

12:26p

It is now 100 degrees and I take notice of the humidity, which is hovering at about 90%. I feel the familiar adorning stare of my bride and decide to look back at her. She appears to be nauseated. I then realize that I forgot to brush my teeth prior to attending this class. We bond.

12:33p

It is now 110 degrees and 95% humidity. I am now balancing on one leg with the other leg crossed over the other. My arms are intertwined and I am squatting. The last time I was in this position was 44 years ago in the womb, but I'm in this for the long haul. My wife looks slightly weathered dripping sweat and her eyeliner is streaming down her face. Well, "for better or worse" is what we committed to so we press on.

12:40p

The overweight Hispanic man two spots over has sweat running down his legs. At least I think its sweat. He is holding every position and has not had a sip of water since we walked in. He is making me look bad and I hate him.

12:44p

I consider that if anyone in this room farted that we would all certainly perish.

12:52p

It is now 140 degrees and 100% humidity. I am covered from head to toe in sweat. There is not a square millimeter on my body that is not slippery and sweaty. I am so slimy that I feel like a sea lion or a maybe sea eel. Not even a bear trap could hold me. The sweat is stinging my eyeballs and I can no longer see.

12:55p

This room stinks of asparagus, cloves, tuna and tacos. There is no food in the room. I realize that this is an amalgamation of the body odors of 30 people in a 140 degree room for the last 55 minutes. Seriously, enough with the asparagus, ok?

1:01p

140 degrees and 130% humidity. Look, witch, I need my space here so don't get all mad with me if I accidentally sprayed you with sweat as I flipped over. Seriously, is that where this relationship is going? Get over yourself. We need counseling and she needs to be medicated. Stat!

1:09p

150 degrees and cloudy. And hot. I can no longer move my limbs on my own. I have given up on attempting any of the commands this Asian lady is yelling out at us. I will lay sedentary until the aid unit arrives. I will buy this building and then have it destroyed. I lose consciousness.

1:15p

I have a headache and my wife is being a selfish witch. I can't really breathe. All I can think about is holding a cup worth of hot sand in my mouth. I cannot remember what an ice cube is and cannot remember what snow looks like. I consider that my only escape might be a crab walk across 15 bodies and then out of the room. I am paralyzed, and may never walk again so the whole crab walk thing is pretty much out.

1:17p

I cannot move at all and cannot reach my water. Is breathing voluntary or involuntary? If it's voluntary, I am screwed. I stopped participating in the class 20 minutes ago. Hey, lady! I paid for this frickin class, ok?! You work for me! Stop yelling at everyone and just tell us a story or something. It's like juice and cracker time, ok?

1:20p

It is now 165 degrees and moisture is dripping from the ceiling. The towel that I am laying on is no longer providing any wicking or drying properties. It is actually placing additional sweat on me as I touch it. My towel reeks. I cannot identify the smell, but no way can it be from me. Did someone spray some offensive smell on my towel or something?

1:30p

Torture session is over. I wish hateful things upon the instructor. She graciously allows us to stay and 'cool down' in the room. It is 175 degrees. Who cools down in 175 degrees? A Komodo Dragon? My wife has left the room. Probably to throw up.

1:34p

My opportunity to escape has arrived. I roll over to my stomach and press up to my knees. It is warmer as I rise up from ground level - probably by 15 degrees. So let's conservatively say it's 190. I muster my final energy and slowly rise. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. Towards the door. Towards the door.

1:37p

The temperature in the lobby is 72 degrees. Both of my nipples stiffen to diamond strength from the 100 degree temp swing. I can once again breathe though so I am pleased. I spot my future ex wife in the lobby. We had such a good thing going but I know that no measure of counseling will be able to unravel the day's turmoil and mental scaring.

1:47p

Arrive at Emerald City Smoothie and proceed to order a 32 oz beverage. 402 calories, 0 fat and 14 grams of protein -- effectively negating any caloric burn or benefit from the last 90 minutes. I finish it in 3 minutes and spend the next 2 hours writing this memoir.

3:47p

Create Craigslist ad while burning final 2 grams of protein from Smoothie and before the "shakes" consume my body.

4:29p

Note to self - check car for missing wet yoga towel in am.

Location: Bellevue

it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Exercise is important to long life

As we age we sometimes forget that we need to keep active at all ages for our health. The following article by Terry Sutherland, called Exercise is good health at any age was posted on August 17th, and contains good advice. Her article was posted at the SturgisJournal.com

A sedentary lifestyle is now recognized as a leading preventable cause of death.

Participation in a regular exercise program is vital to maintaining good health. Many people do not understand the importance of making exercise an integral part of their health routine. It should become a way of life.

In fact, according to the American Heart Association and the U.S. government's guidelines on physical activity, a sedentary lifestyle is one of the leading preventable causes of death. There is strong evidence that participation in regular exercise improves cardio respiratory and muscle fitness, bone health and cardiovascular and metabolic health biomarkers.

Regular exercise also improves body composition in children and adolescents. There is evidence that suggests adults and seniors who exercise can lower the risk of early death, coronary heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, elevated lipid profiles, type 2 diabetes and colon and breast cancers.
This same evidence suggests regular exercise will help prevent falls, reduce depression and improve cognitive function in older adults. There is moderate evidence that regular exercise lowers the risk of hip fractures, lung cancer, endometrial cancer and improves bone density and sleep quality.
For children and adolescents, the recommendation is to participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise daily, with at least three days per week being vigorous exercise

Moderate exercise is exercise that elevates the heart rate and makes breathing increase, like when taking a brisk walk. Vigorous exercise is when breathing is rapid and there is a noticeable increase in heart rate, like in running or jogging.

For adults age 18 and older, 20 minutes of vigorous, intense exercise or 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity at least three to five days per week are recommended in order to promote and maintain health. Muscle strengthening should be performed three days per week and should include weight-bearing activities.

For older adults who are unable to exercise because of chronic conditions, the recommendation is to be as active as possible for at least 150 minutes per week.

Determine the level of activity that relates to your fitness level. Include exercises that maintain or improve balance. Have a good understanding how the chronic condition affects your ability to exercise. For example, a 70-year-old woman with osteoarthritis of the knee who uses a cane to get around should walk with her cane in a safe environment where there is even terrain free of obstacles.
For a sedentary person, it is often beneficial to start with just a few minutes of activity and gradually build up to the recommended amount of time. Or split the activities up into multiple smaller segments throughout the day.
The following tips can be helpful to make the most of your exercise program:

• Be consistent.Make exercise part of your daily routine, just like bushing your teeth or eating a meal.
• Set realistic goals. For example, set a goal of building your walks from 15 to 30 minutes per day. Use a pedometer to count your steps or distance, and try increasing by 10 percent per week.
• Use the buddy system.It is always more fun to exercise with a friend or relative and to motivate each other.
• Find a plan that fits your lifestyle.You do not have to join a gym to meet your exercise needs. Many exercises can be done at home without equipment, such as squats, lunges and wall push-ups.
• Find a physical activity that you enjoy.You will be more successful. Some examples include running, jogging, dancing, swimming, biking and walking.

As obesity rates in children and adults continue to increase and diabetes becomes more prevalent, a lifestyle that includes regular physical activity is necessary for people of all ages.

The most important message is to avoid inactivity. Understand that some exercise is better than none at all. It is a prescription for good health and prevents many health problems.

So, now is the time. Make it part of your day. Walk to your car, take the stairs to the office or take a walk at lunchtime. Whenever starting an exercise program, seek approval from your doctor, or see a physical therapist who can get you started on the road to optimal health.

Physical Therapist Terry Sutherland is the assistant site manager at Spaulding Outpatient Center Framingham. She is a graduate of Boston University.