Strength training urged to help elderly keep fit

The first call was from a 99-year-old woman — because it's never too late to begin exercising.

She wanted to know if there were exercises she could do to improve her balance, one of many questions on prevention and health maintenance fielded Saturday during the Deseret Morning News/Intermountain Healthcare Hotline.

Dr. Scott Hansen and Dr. Ted Adams of the Health and Fitness Institute at LDS Hospital answered calls about blood pressure, strength training, joint pain, walking difficulties and osteoporosis. Hansen and Adams are co-authors, along with Dr. Frank Yanowitz and Garth Fisher, of "Maintaining the Miracle: An Owner's Manual for the Human Body."

The fourth edition will be out this fall, with added emphasis on personal motivation and the kinds of exercises and other body maintenance people can do at home.

All but one of the steady stream of Hotline calls Saturday were from people 70 and over, although Hansen and Adams were ready to talk about "periodic health maintenance" at any age. It's important to start early to build up a reserve of muscle and bone strength, they note, and it's never too early to watch your weight and your waist circumference (a good indicator of future heart disease and diabetes if the girth is too big, Hansen says).

Many of the calls were about resistance training, from people in their 70s and 80s who want to learn how to use hand weights and exercise bands. According to fitness experts, the elderly especially need to do strength training to help keep them mobile and independent longer.

Adams cautioned against "charging ahead with too much enthusiasm. ... You need to approach it with gradual improvements." That's why exercise bands and exercises using a person's own body weight (wall push-ups, for example) are good, he said. "It's pretty hard to injure yourself that way." It's important to remember to breathe freely rather than holding the breath during these exercises, he said, because the strain of holding the breath can cause a rise in blood pressure.

For older exercisers, since the aim is not to build up bulk, it's better to do more repetitions with lighter weights, he said.

The Health and Fitness Institute has free brochures of strength, balance and aerobic exercises that can be done at home. Call 408-1396.

It's all about periodic maintenance, said Adams and Hansen — lifestyle choices people can make day in and day out that don't cost anything, plus "under the hood" screenings such as colonoscopy and cholesterol tests.

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E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com