Older and Stuck at Home? Expert Advice on Fitness
The New York Times • May 4, 2020
Experts who study exercise and aging offer tips for older adults during the coronavirus lockdown.
When we asked readers what they want to know about exercise and the coronavirus, many of you wrote that you were concerned about how to exercise and maintain fitness if you or someone you love is older or has functional limitations, such as arthritis or joint replacements. Experts who study exercise and aging had a lot to say.
Among their suggestions: Soup-can dumbbells and indoor gardening might help older people who are new to working out to weather the physical effects of a prolonged coronavirus lockdown. Access to a stairwell also is a boon, they say, but even a hallway can be a route to sustained fitness.
Past science suggests that any health impacts from prolonged home confinement are likely to be greatest among older people. In multiple studies, when adults of any age become more inactive because of illness, injury or requests from scientists, they rapidly lose strength and endurance and develop early signs of insulin resistance and molecular changes related to muscle loss. In younger people, such physiological weakening typically reverses as soon as they start moving and exercising normally again. But in older people, the effects can linger and accelerate the onset of frailty.
Some experts have begun to worry that this scenario is playing out among older people during the coronavirus stay-at-home orders. “I think we’re seeing a slow-motion version of the kind of declines that usually occur when older people are hospitalized or bedridden,” says Dr. Louise Aronson, a professor of geriatrics and health at the University of California, San Francisco, and author of “Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life.”
Dr. Aronson and other exercise scientists offered a variety of recommendations about the types and amounts of activities older people might try to complete in their buildings, homes, living rooms or even chairs during the lockdowns to stave off frailty and maintain their health. The expert responses proved to be uniformly reassuring, boiling down to the advice that all of us, regardless of age, move whenever and however we can, using whatever equipment we already have at hand.
More specifically, the experts suggest starting with a focus on aerobic conditioning, which, in practical terms, means walking, if at all possible, but not necessarily formal walks. Instead, Dr. Aronson says, try to build movement into ostensibly sedentary parts of your day.
“During a phone call,” she says, “walk around the room or up and down a hallway” (assuming you are not using a landline). When you watch television, get up during each commercial break and stroll from room to room. Or if you have access to a stairwell, she says, climb a flight or two of steps, which provides a brief but effective aerobic workout and some leg strengthening. Wear a mask and gloves if the stairs are public, of course, and hold tight to the banister.
Ideally, older people should aim to stroll from room to room or up and down a corridor at least three times a day, Dr. Aronson says. “It may be only two or three minutes of activity at a time, but it all counts and adds up.”
Look, too, for opportunities for simple, low-tech muscle workouts, the experts all say. Even skimpy, intermittent resistance training can help people avoid shedding muscle mass and strength during this lockdown.
Consider the wall squat, for instance, says Dr. James Gladstone, the chief of sports medicine at Mount Sinai Health Center in New York City. This exercise requires little expertise or equipment, apart from a wall, but robustly improves leg strength. Simply stand upright a foot or so from a wall, legs shoulder distance apart. Press your back against the wall and slide down until your thighs are almost parallel with the ground. (Stop earlier if your knees hurt.) Hold this simulated sit as long as you can. “If that means five seconds, fine,” Dr. Gladstone says. Slide back up the wall, rest a few seconds, and slide down to sit again.
For upper-body strengthening, raid the pantry, suggests Jennifer Copeland, a professor and director of the Active Healthy Aging lab at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. Cans of soup or fluid-filled water bottles provide sufficient resistance for arm curls, she says. Grip those objects with your arms by your side, palms forward, and slowly bend your elbows to curl the can or bottle upward. Lower and repeat.
To strengthen shoulders, she says, partially fill an empty gallon milk jug with water, hold it with both hands in front of you, arms straight, and slowly raise it to about face height. Lower gently and repeat. You can do this exercise seated.
Similarly, to improve overall arm strength, re-seat yourself a few times, she says. In other words, when you start to get up from a chair, purposely sit back down and partially rise several additional times, using your arms for support and leverage.
And any time you visit the kitchen, slip in a few countertop push-ups, suggests K. Aleisha Fetters, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and author of the new book “Fitness Hacks for Over 50.” Position yourself a few feet away from the counter and lean toward it, hinging from the ankles, back straight. Grasp the edge with straight arms and bend and straighten your elbows. Complete as many modified push-ups as you can, she says, coinciding, perhaps with the length of time needed to warm your soup or coffee in the microwave. The idea, she says, is to “make fitness mesh seamlessly into your regular 24 hours.”
Even ordering seeds and starting an indoor herb garden, undemanding as that activity might seem, can “get people out of their chairs and standing and moving,” Dr. Copeland says. “Anything like that is good.”
Finally, if you prefer group activities or exercise variety, the internet is overflowing now with free exercise classes and instructional videos, Dr. Aronson says, many of them oriented toward older or inexperienced exercisers. Try a dance video if you feel vigorous and coordinated, she says, or tai chi for something gentler. Or Zoom a yoga class with friends, to stretch and reach together across the miles.
YouTube offers a variety of free home exercise programs:
Source: The New York Times
The Area Agency on Aging of East Texas is partnering with First Christian Church in Jacksonville to offer a free Benefits & Estate Planning Presentation for Seniors and Caregivers. The informative workshop will be held Thursday, September 17, from 10 a.m. to noon at the First Christian Church Sanctuary, 1920 Beaumont Street in Jacksonville. Presented by Paul Zambie, Managing Attorney with Texas Legal Services Center, the session will help attendees better understand legal and planning issues that can affect older adults and their families. Topics will include wills and trusts, deeds, transfer-on-death deeds, long-term care Medicaid, Medicaid estate recovery, and senior services. This free presentation is designed to give seniors and caregivers practical information to help prepare for life’s challenges and make informed decisions about the future. For more information, contact the Area Agency on Aging of East Texas at 903-218-6500 or 1-800-442-8845.
This summer, ETCOG Director of Aging Programs Adrian Cornejo welcomed an extraordinary experience into his home through his volunteer work with Creating Friendships for Peace (CFP). For one month, Adrian hosted two students from Cyprus, Michael and Derin, who came to East Texas through the CFP program. During their stay, the students shared a room in Adrian’s home, experienced daily life in the region, shadowed Adrian at ETCOG, and attended an ETCOG Executive Committee meeting. Creating Friendships for Peace brings young people from communities affected by longstanding divisions together for cultural exchange, dialogue, and relationship-building. Cyprus has been divided for decades between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, with a history of conflict and mistrust that can shape how young people see those from the other side of the island. Adrian said the experience gave him a deeply personal view of how division can affect young people and how meaningful it can be when they have the opportunity to connect outside of those divisions. “What I witnessed through these young men was difficult to process,” Adrian said. “Each of their societies has, in different ways, instilled distrust, division, and even hatred toward people on the ‘other side.’ Perhaps the most heartbreaking part is hearing that this begins when they are children.” Through his involvement with CFP, Adrian also hosted two young men from Israel for a few days, one Jewish Israeli and one Arab Israeli, who similarly came from communities shaped by complex social and political divisions. “This is not a political story,” Adrian said. “It is a personal reflection on what has been one of the most emotional and humbling experiences of my life. Hearing the students’ experiences made me realize just how much we take for granted here in the United States,” he said. “We have the freedom to think, to question, and to decide for ourselves what we believe and how we treat others.” For Michael and Derin, their time in East Texas offered an opportunity to see a different community, to witness regional collaboration in action as our elected officials voted on ETCOG business, and to build friendships beyond the boundaries and assumptions they may encounter at home. “I think words are too little to describe the last four weeks,” said Michael. “This month we became a family. I was talking with Derin, and I told him it feels like we are packing to go to vacation, not home.” “I want to thank Mr. Adrian for hosting us and being part of our destiny in this trip,” said Darin. “You are very hard working and care about us. I am very grateful for you taking us to San Antonio trip, for your work, and giving us opportunities to meet wonderful people…I wish to mature up and become a person like you one day wh helps everyone like you do.” Adrian said the friendships formed through CFP demonstrate that meaningful change often starts on a personal level. “Peace doesn’t begin with governments or political agreements,” Adrian said. “Sometimes, it begins with a conversation, a friendship, and the willingness to see another person as a human being rather than as a representative of ‘the other side.’” He added that he is grateful for the friendships and perspectives the students brought into his life. “I will carry their stories, their friendship, and what I learned from them with me for a very long time,” Adrian said. ETCOG is proud to recognize Adrian’s commitment to service and his willingness to share both his home and workplace with students participating in this important exchange for peace.
