Making Ames the healthiest community in Iowa
One hour of television per day may increase
obesity risk in kids.
Newsweek (4/27) reports that research presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting indicated “that kindergartners and first graders who watched as little as one hour of television per day were at least 50 percent more likely to be overweight, compared to tykes who watched less than an hour.” For a link to the entire article, please click here
Fitness for the Aging
For 90-somethings it's not too late. If your get-up-and-go feels like it's got-up-and-left...the answer lies in a trilogy of activities and a minimal time investment.
Twice a week half the participants in a 12 week study performed strength training exercises, balance activity and gait-enhancing exercises.
The other half remained fairly sedentary, not changing their usual activity level.
After 12 weeks there was significant reduction in fall risk, improvement in gait speed, and muscle mass - all which contributed to reduced incidence of falls. The inactive control group on the other hand lost significant amount of strength and functional ability.
What would a good program look like? In a 60 minute format for instance, you would include 30 minutes of upper and lower body exercises that allowed fatigue at 8-10 repetitions, 15 minutes of balance-enhancing exercises and 15 minutes of gait retraining.
A buzz exists about functional exercise, that which includes multi-planes of movement and may or may not include traditional strength training. Most of the research related to older adults however continues to emphasize the importance of being able to create fatigue in 8-10 repetitions. Machine weight exercises if available are your best tool for reaching that level of strength training. Additional balance enhancing and reaction skill development should also be included. Focus should be on major muscle groups however.
Biceps and triceps - small muscles of the upper body will not have a great effect on either body composition or gait and balance. These muscles are best exercised while performing balance exercise and using free weights to optimize time and results.
Source of study: AGE
Exercise for optimal living at every age is not a choice...it's the only choice.
For questions about your exercise program simply respond to this email and we attempt to answer personally every question as quickly as possible.
Debra Atkinson, MS, CSCS
Founder & Barely Boomer @ Voice for Fitness
debra@voiceforfitness.com
Additional links:
ACTIVE AGING for over 50
Health and Fitness Tips (for all ages)
