Special Report: Fit Over 50 – Six Key Secrets You Need to Know About

Posted on May 23, 2007 and filed under Fitness

Download “Special Report: Fit Over 50″

I’d like to start by asking you a few questions…

• Do you feel like you’re not standing as straight and tall as you once did?
• Is walking up stairs a strain at times?
• Are you getting up from your chair more slowly than you did? Is it more difficult getting up out of a chair?
• Do you find it’s more difficult looking to the left or right over your shoulder while you’re back up your car?
• Do you get stiff sitting through long movies?
• Is standing on one leg to put your shoe on difficult or impossible?
• Do you trip or lose your balance more easily?
• Does walking or jogging take longer than it used to?

If you answered “yes” to any one of these questions, this report is for you.
You see, there are definite physical changes that occur as we age. All of the questions above reveal clues about age-related changes that affect most people – and might be affecting you, too.

These age-related changes can be grouped into five categories. I like to call them “domains” of fitness. Our physical well-being can be measured through these five domains of fitness:

1. Posture
2. Strength
3. Balance
4. Flexibility
5. Endurance

All five of these domains are affected as we age. The changes may be subtle at first. However, they all are affected to one degree or another. If left untreated, these five domains may lead to major complications in your physical performance: you’ll feel older, have less energy, get stiffer and speed up the aging process. The flip side is that – with the right intervention – you can actually reverse the aging process and improve all of these five domains of fitness. It works both ways.

So, let’s take a closer look at how each of these five domains. We’re going to explore how each one, in turn, affects your health and aging…and finally what you can do to “turn back the clock” and actually reverse the aging process!

Let’s start with…

Secret #1: How Posture Changes as You Age

Believe it or not, posture starts to change as early as the teen years. For example: When you’re young and your parents tell you to sit up tall, they may have noticed that your posture was poor. Things that have an impact on your posture include:

1. Prolonged sitting
2. Using the computer
3. Carrying a heavy purse
4. Inactivity
5. Obesity
6. Weakening of the neck and trunk muscles

All of these can adversely affect your posture over time.

How do you know if you have poor posture? It’s easy to tell: the hallmarks of poor posture include:

• A more forward head and shoulders
• An increase (or decrease) in the spinal curvature of the lower back.
• An increased bending in the hips and knees due to soft tissue contraction.

Here’s what happens over time:

As you get older, the disks in your back of lose water content and become less spongy. As they grow more rigid, they become narrower and that exaggerates poor posture and creates stiffness.

In addition, hips and knees become more bent as you age. This is due to muscle tightness and leads to walking pattern alteration. It’s also possible to develop conditions such as osteoporosis, spinal stenosis and scoliosis that affect posture and require consultation with health professional.

However, many limitations people associate with the aging process are actually due to inactivity.

This is why poor posture is now becoming an epidemic with younger people. While it’s true that you see a lot of older people with a forward ahead, shoulders that are rounded, etc, we’re also starting to see much younger people (students particularly) with poor posture. This is due primarily to inactivity (much less active than previous generations) and time spent at their desk hunched over a computer.

It’s amazing how early we are starting to see poor posture in people’s lives.

Bottom line: Poor posture is affected by the aging process, but can also happen much earlier than in the past. The good news, however, is that poor posture can be reversed, turning back the clock (as I’ll reveal in Secret #6).

Let’s now move on to Secret #2…

Secret #2: Strength Is Another Domain of Fitness That Declines With Age.

Muscle contraction allows action to take place. Whether it’s swinging a golf club, blinking your eyes or standing still, there’s always some type of muscle contraction happening.

But as you age, your muscles tend to lose their ability to contract to a strong and efficient level. This is called “atrophy”. Atrophy is a reduction of muscle size. This loss of muscle bulk leads to decreased range of motion.

Why does a loss of strength occur? This decline is thought to be a combination of decrease in muscle fiber size as well as the amount of muscle fibers. Add to that a decrease in nerve supply to the muscle and an overall decrease in energy supply to the muscles and you’re looking at a dramatic decrease in strength as you age.

Loss of muscle strength normally goes unnoticed until an everyday movement becomes more difficult. Examples of this include picking up a small grandchild, walking up stairs, lifting groceries and other routine activities. That’s when people say to themselves, “Hmm. I’m not as strong as I once was. This used to be easy”.

When these movements become difficult, what do people usually do? Usually, the exact opposite of what they should do: they tend to avoid these activities and perform them less.

This results in their muscles being used less and their body adjusts to a lower level of activity.

Again, avoiding these everyday activities doesn’t help. In fact, it actually exacerbates muscle loss. Most people notice a decline in physical strength of about 30 percent between the ages of 30 and 80.

I know I’m painting a pretty grim picture. But is there a way to reverse this loss in muscle mass, size and strength? Is it possible for someone over 50 to actually gain strength? Yes! The good news is that with training, your muscles can continue to maintain it fits their strength and improve, regardless of age. The bottom line is that everybody has to do more to maintain strength as they get older.

Here’s how effective strength training is at fighting muscle atrophy. A recent study conducted on men and women over 90 years old revealed that after six weeks on a specific exercise plan, the participants achieved an almost 200 percent increase in strength. That’s a dramatic difference and it proves it’s never too late to reverse the aging process!

Now let’s talk about the third domain of fitness, balance.

Secret #3: Balance Is A Key Domain Of Fitness That Suffers From the Aging Process.

Balance can be another casualty of the aging process. The tightening and weakness of muscles combined with a decrease in range of motion can alter your body’s ability to respond to a balance challenge.

Also, a decrease in blood circulation to the brain can affect the body’s ability to help you stay balanced. This area of the brain responsible for balance is called the “vestibular system”. If this area has a lack of proper circulation year after year, this part of your brain can actually atrophy as you age. This has a direct effect on your balance.

In addition, a loss of nerve input also causes a slowing of your body’s reflexes.

Your reflexes get slow, and this slowing of your body’s reflexes makes it difficult to “correct” imbalances as you walk, sit down or stand. All these changes make you increasingly at risk for falls.

We all know a senior who has lost their balance, fallen and broken a bone (often it’s the hip). However, most of us don’t realize that balance, too, can be improved quite easily. It’s one of the most important domains of fitness for seniors to work on. I’ll reveal how you do that in Chapter 6.

Secret #4: Why Flexibility Declines With Age.

It probably comes as no surprise that flexibility also declines as we age. This is one of the first domains of fitness that we actually notice going downhill. When you get up from a chair or walk up stairs, it’s easy to tell that your flexibility just isn’t’ what it used to be.

Why does flexibility decline with age? Primarily, it’s due to a loss in the body’s collagen structure. You see, collagen is a fibrous, connective tissue that makes up about 30% of all protein in your body tissues. This includes skin, muscle, bone, tendons, ligaments and cartilage. The gradual loss in the collagen fibers causes the connective tissue to become less elastic. As a result, your muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and other connective tissue also become stiffer.

This loss of flexibility decreases range of motion dramatically, making otherwise simple tasks a struggle. Plus, stiff knees, hips, arms and legs can be uncomfortable…and in some cases, downright painful.

The flip side, however, is that flexibility can bounce back quickly, even after years of inactivity.

I’ve seen 50+ year olds enroll in Tae Kwon Do classes that could barely kick over their waists…and a few months later they’re kicking up to their head! I’ve also seen 80-plus year old men doing martial arts competitively – after years of working at a desk job.

One of the most wonderful things about the human body is how resilient it is. It can rise to the challenge put on it quickly and effectively. And the results can be dramatic.

Now, obviously you don’t have to enroll in martial arts to improve your flexibility. There are simpler, easier ways to improve your flexiblity and get rid of the stiffness in your muscles and joints. In Secret 6, I’ll discuss how.

Secret #5: How Aging Affects Your Endurance

If you’ve found yourself getting tired more quickly as you’ve aged, you know how much the aging process decreases your endurance.

Reduced endurance makes your body’s ability to perform activities like walking and running for prolonged periods of time a real challenge. This is especially true if you’re also less flexible and you have weak muscles. It simply takes more energy to remain physically active. You get tired more quickly than you did when you were younger.

How does the aging process sap your endurance? Well, first of all, you lose elasticity in your lungs. Also, a slight stiffening in the air passages makes breathing more difficult during exercise. This reduction in oxygen to your lungs means your muscles get tired sooner.

Combine that with changes in blood vessel elasticity and a decrease in the maximum heart rate and you have a prescription for a dramatic loss of endurance.

All five domains of fitness – balance, endurance, flexibility, posture and strength – decline with age.

Also, all five key domains of fitness are interdependent. Loss in strength affects balance. Endurance affects strength. Flexibility affects balance. And so on.

The good news, however, is that all five areas can also be improved (sometimes dramatically), reversing the aging process and turning back the clock.

The secret is to work on each five areas simultaneously, improving each one at the same time. Remember: if you’re not flexible, your strength will suffer. If your muscles are weak, you’ll have poor posture. Etc.

Secret #6 – The Only Known Antidote to Aging

Is it possible to reverse the ravages of the aging process? Can you really “turn back the clock” and get healthier, stronger, more flexible, feel better and improve all the five domains of fitness?

Yes. The secret is physical activity. That’s the solution. It’s truly the closest we have to a “fountain of youth”.

No matter what your age is, no matter how inactive you’ve been, it’s possible to increase your fitness with physical activity.

Yes, you can improve all these five domains in your life. You can improve your posture, you can improve your endurance, you can increase your flexibility, you can improve your balance, you can boost your strength. It’s never too late.

But here is the problem.

Most people just don’t know what to do. They know they need to exercise, but they don’t know where to start. They want to make the right decision but simply don’t know what to do.

Others don’t approach exercise the right way. Almost everyone jumps in, joins a gym and starts a new routine blindly. Not only is this ineffective, it can also be dangerous.

To illustrate, let me share a quick story about someone (like you) that is over 50 and experiencing age-related issues and wants to get back in shape:

Anthony is a 52 year old man who is the vice-president of operations for a large chemical company. He likes to think of himself as fairly active. In high school, he was the star running back for his football team and played on the varsity tennis team. In college, he was still athletic, but sports started to take a backseat to his studies.

Anthony graduated with college with honors and quickly landed a job with a large chemical firm. As the years wore on, Tony (as his friends call him) worked his way up the corporate ladder, some weeks spending as much as 70 hours at his job. As a result of his inactivity, his fitness declined year by year.

He found himself huffing while walking up flights of stairs and the pounds started to accumulate around his waist.

At his 30th high school reunion a few years back, Tony’s old classmates were shocked to see him so heavy (he was voted “best athlete” in the high school yearbook). But Tony laughed off the jokes about his weight and jokingly referred to his flabby waistline as his “table muscle”. But over the next few weeks, his classmates’ comments gnawed at him.

One morning, Tony woke up and decided that NOW was finally the time to get back in shape. “It won’t be too difficult”, he thought to himself, “Because I’ve always been such a great athlete”.

Although he has never liked health clubs, he decided to join a local “health club” and start exercising.

In his first aerobics class, Tony got a rude awakening: he was no longer the athlete he used to be. In fact, the simple “starter” class was so exhausting, he had to leave the class 15 minutes early.

Always driven, Tony jumped back in the class full-bore the next day. He made it to the end of class this time, but just barely. It almost killed him. He just wasn’t ready to accept the fact that he couldn’t do the things he could when he was younger (”How quickly the years pass”).

The next morning when Tony woke up, his legs felt like they were on fire. They were also so stiff he could barely bend his knees to put his shoes on. He decided to “lay off a few days” to rest his painful body. Three weeks later, Tony decided to cancel his membership. He just wasn’t ready to accept the fact that he was so out of shape.

The reason Tony experienced so much frustration is simple: He had no idea what his limits were because he had aged!

This is typical of many people over 50. They simply don’t know what their capabilities are, what their current level of deconditioning is or what their body’s true potential is. They don’t know where their body is NOW.

Inactivity magnifies age-related changes.

If you are 45 or older, you should consult with a physical therapist to help you get started with an exercise program. This is especially true if you’ve laid off for a long time or are in a “de-conditioned” state.

How can a physical therapist help? Because we have specialized knowledge that will help you develop an effective and safe plan to use throughout your life.

You cannot attempt a new fitness program without first knowing what your current capabilities are. And there is no way of knowing this without seeing a physical therapist. The more you know about your personal five domains of fitness, the better.

Special “Fit Over 50″ Offer:
As a reader of this special report, I’ve arranged for you to receive a free, no-obligation “Fit Over 50″ evaluation here at Physical Therapy Specialists.

Here’s what you get in this free consultation:

First, we will assess your physical performance. It’s important to establish baseline measurements. So what we’ll do is discover your baseline measurements for flexibility, strength, balance, endurance and posture.

All of your five key domains of fitness.

These quick and easy tests will give you specific, immediate, usable information for determining your current level of physical fitness. You’ll have a “fitness roadmap” so you know what YOU need to concentrate on for improvement.

Everybody is different. Some need to work on their flexibility, some need to work on strength, others on balance. Each individual has unique needs and these can only be uncovered by this evaluation.

This means we give you the tools to develop an individualized program. This is not a cookie-cutter approach. It will be just for YOU.

Then once we have these measurements, we’ll present you with the results and map out a specific exercise program appropriate for your level of fitness.

This is something no health club can (or will) do for you. Health clubs are a “one-size-fits-all” approach and can actually be dangerous. They are more interested in selling gym memberships than in addressing your specific needs.

That’s how Physical Therapy Specialists is different.

Your “Fit Over 50″ evaluation can only be performed by a trained, licensed physical therapist and is only offered here at Physical Therapy Specialists.

Best of all, it’s quick, easy and costs you nothing. There are no strings attached.

All of this adds up better balance, greater flexibility and less pain, increased strength, improved endurance and better posture for YOU.

Don’t put this off. Call me NOW at: (714) 528-9400. Tell the person who answers that you want the FREE “Fit Over 50″ evaluation.

It’s critical to your health. Find time to do this. You deserve it. Don’t make the mistake of waiting until you receive a shocking “wake up call” to finally take action.

I’ll leave you with this. One of my favorite sayings is:
“If you don’t find time when you’re healthy, you’ll find time when you’re sick”

Do it now.

Here’s to your health!