The Bad & Good News About Aging

Mariah, I have some good news, and some bad news.

First the bad news. Aging IS about losses and decline. There is no getting around it, so that’s the bad news.

The good news is that aging and functional losses don’t begin at 59 or 65. The fact of the matter is that we ALL begin the slow road downhill, but that slow decline actually begins somewhere between birth and puberty (depending on who you want to listen to), not when we retire. (Now that I have effectively rained on everyone’s parade, allow me to try and explain.)

On average, we notice:

- a decrease in power and strength around age 40
- a decrease in speed around 28-30
- a decrease in quickness around 25
- a decrease in flexibility around 10-12

But the secret to life is understanding that it is never too late to train those areas where we all will eventually show some deficits.

And the best news is that research has shown that individuals who:
- stretch and improve flexibility,
- do cardiovascular exercise,
- strength and resistance train,
- work on balance, and
- stabilize their core

Will ALWAYS do better than those who don’t. And the most important thing to remember is it is never too late to start.

Consult with a personal trainer, physical therapist, chiropractor or athletic trainer who can help prescribe recommendations in these areas.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 14th, 2010 at 3:23 am and is filed under seniors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.