Personal Training for Older Adults
Enjoy your retirement. Invest in yourself!
Have fun and feel 10 or even 20 years younger.
Start today and ease those tiring aches and pains.
Regular exercise can significantly decrease your chances of life-threatening or debilitating disease, even once they take an unwelcome place in our lives.
We can improve or reverse them with regular exercise. 
These conditions include:
- Osteoporosis
-Heart Attack & Stroke
- High Cholesterol
- High Blood Pressure
- Arthritis
- Diabetes
- Depression
- Balance
"After turning 75 and having 2 hip replacements I was lethargic, overweight and had no muscle tone. A friend suggested I get in touch with Rose Parr a Certified Personal Trainer. She came into my life in February of 2008, I was using a walker most of the time. Now I am exercising regularly, feel younger and rarely bother with my walker. Rose even gave me the strength and ongoing support tohelp me quit smoking after 60 years. Kudos to Rose!!!!" Thanks, Barb
"Rose is an excellent trainer. She is patient and skilled in teaching techniques but also careful not to overdo any exercises. " Don
I have experience helping people who have many health conditions. I can provide a safe, personally designed training program to increase your flexibility and mobility, decrease body fat, improve your balance, decrease your risk of falling and increase your energy levels. I am fully insured and have up to date CPR certification through the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.
In addition to all of my other diplomas and certifications listed on the About Rose page I am a
fully certified OLDER ADULT SPECIALIST.
Most importantly - I make it FUN!
Call 519-821-3055
or email me at rose@roseparrpersonaltraining.ca
Strength Training:
The Best Anti-Aging Remedy Ever
Even if you have never exercised before, it is not too late to begin reaping the benefits that an active lifestyle has to offer.
Study after study shows that you can begin reversing the aging process no matter how old you are, or how inactive you may have been. A study of individuals who had reached the age of 100 with no significant health problems, showed that nearly every one of them reported engaging in regular physical activity.
As we age, we begin to lose flexibility, strength and cardiovascular fitness. Bone density decreases, as does balance, coordination and stamina. Conditions such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and obesity significantly increase as we get older.
Several factors determine the rate at which each of us age. Some of these are within our control while others cannot be influenced. For example, our genetic makeup cannot be controlled. Environmental factors and stress levels also affect aging and are to a certain degree controllable. Nutrition and exercise greatly influence how well you age, and they are totally in your control. Lack of sleep,smoking and alcohol consumption are other controllable factors that can have negative effects on how your body ages.
Because disease and signs of the aging process creep up slowly, we often take our health for granted, paying little attention to the consequences of negative lifestyle habits. Good health does not just happen; it is something that must be maintained on a daily basis. This requires a commitment to healthy eating, physical fitness and other health-promoting behaviors.
Exercise bestows numerous health benefits. For example, exercise has been shown to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure, making it an effective tool in the war against heart disease. For the diabetic, something as simple as taking a walk around the block has been shown to significantly lower blood sugar levels. Exercise is also a potent stimulator of bone growth, which helps lower the risk of osteoporosis. Studies even show that regular physical activity holds promise in reducing the risk of chronic diseases like cancer as well. Exercise reduces stress and enhances sleep.
Unfortunately, statistics show that the older we get, the less we exercise. Nowhere is this trend more evident than when it comes to strength training. For example, studies show that of those 65 to 74 years of age, only about 6 percent regularly engage in strength training. For people older than 75, this number drops to only 4 percent. For those older than 85, this number further plummets to less than 1 percent. These statistics are unfortunate, because studies also show that about half of those in nursing homes are older than 85. For many of these individuals, maintaining adequate strength might translate into a better ability to preserve their independence and quality of life.
It's a fact that as we grow older, we slowly and painlessly start to lose muscle," he says. "The muscles of your body basically come in two types, usually called slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle. Slow-twitch muscle is designed to work for long periods of time without fatiguing. This would be the muscle used during bicycling or walking. Fast-twitch muscle, on the other hand, is designed to function only when a task requires a lot of effort or strength. Activities where fast-twitch muscle comes into play include opening tightly sealed jars, carrying heavy groceries and pulling deeply seated roots out of the ground. For reasons that are still not understood, as we grow older, these strength-producing, fast-twitch muscle cells are selectively eliminated in the body. Technically, this process of age-related muscle loss is called sarcopenia.
"Those with significant muscle loss are at an increased risk of falling, have difficulty performing their normal daily activities and most importantly are at heightened risk of being placed in a nursing home. Sarcopenia is estimated to affect about 45 percent of the U.S. population. Because America is a nation that is getting older, this amount is expected to increase."
Strength training exercise cannot completely prevent sarcopenia, but its powerful impact in offsetting the ravages of muscle loss cannot be denied. And you don't have to lift heavy weights or spend hours in the gym.
"Fortunately, you do not need a lot of time, and even light weights are enough to improve strength and quality of life," Cannon says. "In one study, older adults who averaged 92 years of age increased their strength by about 175 percent after only one month of strength training a few minutes a day, three times a week. Even more amazing is that these individuals also doubled their walking speed and improved their balance so much that they didn't need their walkers or canes any longer. While not everyone may reap these amazing results, this study is a testament to the benefits of strength training for everyone."
If you are pondering whether strength training is right for you, consult with your doctor first. Once you get your doctor's blessing, have a personal trainer or physical therapist acquaint you with the proper way to lift weights safely. If using the services of a personal trainer or other professional, choose someone who has worked with older adults before and is knowledgeable of your specific needs.
Socializing May Keep Elderly Minds Sharp
Those who mingled the most showed the least cognitive decline, researchers report.
By Robert Preidt
Being sociable can help keep your brain healthy as you age, researchers report.
The team at Rush University Medical Center found that elderly people with the highest levels of social activity -- doing things such as visiting friends, going to parties or attending church -- showed much lower levels of cognitive decline than those who were the least socially active.
The study included 1,138 adults, average age 80, who are participants in the ongoing Rush Memory and Aging Project. At the start of the study, none of the participants had any signs of cognitive impairment. They were assessed annually and provided information about their social activities.
The study participants were tested for various types of cognitive function, including memory, perceptual speed (the ability to quickly and accurately compare things) and visuospatial ability (the capacity to visually perceive the spatial relationship between objects).
Over an average of five years, those who were the most socially active experienced only one-fourth the rate of cognitive decline as those with the lowest levels of social activity. The effect was independent of other factors that can play a role in cognitive decline, such as age, physical activity and general health.
The study was published online April 8 in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.
It's not clear how social activity may affect cognitive decline, but one possibility is that "social activity challenges older adults to participate in complex interpersonal exchanges, which could promote or maintain efficient neural networks in a case of 'use it or lose it,'" lead researcher Bryan James, a postdoctoral fellow in the epidemiology of aging and dementia at Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, said in a Rush news release.
Further research is needed to learn whether programs designed to increase older adults' social activity could delay or prevent cognitive decline, he added.
SOURCE: Rush University Medical Center, news release, April 25, 2011
