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Senior Living Articles
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Keeping Fit body, Sharp Mind Helps Seniors Age in a Healthy Manner
By Dr. Kevin O'Neil
The importance of fitness and its relation to overall health at any age is no secret – nor can it be overstated. Health gurus have long touted the benefits of keeping one’s body in the best physical condition possible.
More than adding years to your life, maintaining a fit body and a sharp mind can add life to your years. But experts are now quick to caution that aging is not just a physical process; it is a mental process, too. In fact, the benefit of working to keep a sharp mind in older years has assumed added importance of late. And recently, the linkage between them has closed the loop on how to maintain good health as we age.
But, whether it’s their body power, or their brain power, the more knowledge and information seniors can gain and retain about either, the better equipped they will be to cope with the challenges they may face as they continue to age.
Stay Mentally Engaged
Keeping one’s mind sharp may, in fact, be the more difficult challenge. For example, amyloid, a protein related to nerve cell breakdown, accumulates in the brain, blocking some of its functional ability. At the same time, the brain loses neurons, which result in reduction of the brain’s size. This also means that messages travel within the brain at reduced speed. Despite this revelation, much of the mental decline in older adults can be inked to lifestyle changes as opposed to general breakdown of the brain’s structural integrity.
“With physical exercise, it’s much easier to notice and document improvements in strength and stamina,” notes Kevin O’Neil, M.D., a geriatrician and President of The Institute for Optimal Aging, a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to wellness research for older adults. “Measuring long-term mental gains resulting from intellectual pursuits or mental exercise is much more difficult.”
In fact, according to O’Neil, any kind of mental stimulation that requires us to consciously think constitutes a viable exercise for promoting intellectual wellness. From working puzzles, to working math problems, pursuing higher education and reading, there are many ways to build one’s mental capacity and keep the mind sharp.
Playing a musical instrument requires one to concentrate on written notes and chord progressions, and to translate those simultaneously into coordinated physical movements. But, particularly surprising is the number one activity for improving all-around wellness, according to O’Neil.
“Ballroom dancing is one of the best means of improving wellness all the way around,” he says. “It incorporates, physical exercise, mental engagement as one thinks about the next steps and social interaction, which is also a key dimension of wellness. Altogether, it provides an optimal way to coordinate the workings of body and mind at the same time.”
The Importance of Being Physical
Research has proven that the human body never loses the ability to benefit from exercise, and that personal fitness is a critical factor in maintaining independence and fostering longevity at any age. In fact, restoring and maintaining fitness is even more important for seniors than it is for those who are younger and less susceptible to age-related limitations.
Indeed, in an exercise study group of seniors 87 years and older, those who exercised more than three times per week increased their strength by 115 percent, improved their stair-climbing power by 28 percent and increased their walking speed by 12 percent.
“It is never too late. Folks in their 90s can double their strength and endurance.” That quote is attributed to Jack LaLanne, perhaps the consummate fitness guru who is himself now over 90 years old and looking as fit and as alert as ever. But, there’s no need to become obsessed with spending time at the local gym. Recent studies have shown that even moderate exercise plays a role, not just in physical health, but in mental health as well. Of particular significance is that a healthy body helps prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s which attack the mind.
Sustained walking at a reasonable pace remains one of the best exercises for both body and mind. When supplemented with regular mental exercise it provides an important preventive mechanism for promoting total health in older adults. “There’s no getting around it,” says O’Neil. “We’re all mortal and have a limited lifespan here on earth. But, the quality of that lifespan can be measurably affected and improved by the effort we put forth to keep our bodies and our minds health and in sync with one another.”
Tips for remaining healthy
Mental
• Playing a musical instrument
• Reading books and magazines
• Playing board games such as Monopoly, Chess or Trivial Pursuit
• Learning a foreign language
• Working crossword puzzles and word jumbles
• Acquiring new hobbies that require you to concentrate
• Attending seminars or courses at a university
Physical
• Brisk, sustained walking
• Weight lifting /strength training
• Ballroom dancing
• Swimming and low-impact aerobic exercise
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