Beyond Strength, Flexibility and Cardio Endurance

How many of us over the age of fifty, utilize and work on our Agility, Balance, Power, Accuracy, Coordination or Speed?

While most fitness programs focus on the big three attributes of Strength, Flexibility and Cardiovascular Endurance, it is important that we not neglect these often ignored and supposedly “minor” attributes.

If, for example, we neglect any one of these attributes for thirty years or more after we've reached the age of fifty, we'll be at a tremendous risk for physical injury or even disability when we're eighty or ninety. It's an undeniable reality; you either use it, or you lose it! For many of us, our only true use of speed, power and agility is when we jockey for position at the lunch table after a long and tedious, all morning meeting or seminar. Lets face it, after a certain age, these attributes are seldom engaged and tend to quickly degrade.

A great example that perfectly illustrates this point is when we look at what is often considered the bane of senior living, the topic of falls and falling. "Falls are the leading cause of death, injury and hospital admissions among the elderly population. Not only are seniors more prone to falling, but they are also more susceptible to fall-related injuries such as a broken hips or head trauma."*** While the attribute of “Balance” is usually credited with the cause of most seniors who fall, we have to ask ourselves if it wasn't instead because:

• A step was missed due to lack of Accuracy?
• A collision could not be avoided due to a lack of Agility?
• Something occurred simultaneously that targeted a deficit in Coordination?
• Climbing a step was thwarted do to a lack of Power, to propel one up?
• Or was as it indeed a matter of Balance? (The over-simplified usual scapegoat)

While we could never quantify and identify exactly how each of these deficits impact our ability to safely perform those physical activities that we’d like, I think you can see and agree that each of these scenarios have most certainly been influential at one time or another, in relegating many a senior to hospital or an assisted living facility.

It is also important to mention that we shouldn’t wait till we’re 70+ to start re-visiting these attributes. An ounce of prevention is indeed worth a pound of cure. For anyone over fifty, being agile, quick and accurate in our movements can have significant benefits towards quality of life. With some pretty simple steps and the time it takes to mow a lawn each week, anyone even near the age of 60 can assure their best chance possibly of reaching their 90th birthday with speed, agility and the ability to safely perform whatever activities we deem worthwhile.

Bear in mind, Strength, Flexibility and Cardiovascular Endurance are indeed worth their weight in gold, and will remain a regular focus of the Methuselah Fitness Project. The inclusion of these other important elements of human development are however, certainly what set us apart!

*** By Marlo Sollitto , AgingCare.com