Fit at any age—‘Getting Back On Your Feet’

(An excerpt from an interview with Michele McCord in The Beverly Hills Courier)

Legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham’s advice was, “Begin Anywhere!” For baby boomers and seniors, staying limber, active and strong is the best medicine for staying healthy.

Anyone at any age can get started and improve the quality of their lives by safely improving their physical health. Studies show that people with arthritis, heart disease or diabetes, and Alzheimer’s benefit from regular exercise. Exercise also helps people with high blood pressure, balance problems, or difficulty walking. Ten minutes or more a day on a treadmill or recumbent bike are also crucial for cardiovascular health.

One of my client’s is an 80-year-old retired orthopedic surgeon. He had spent a lifetime helping others while neglecting his own fitness during years of 80-hour workweeks.

During one of our sessions, he shared a story about an incident when he went to the pet cemetery to put fresh flowers on his dog’s grave. He knelt down by the grave, and after he had paid his respects, he found that he couldn’t stand back up. His wife finally found a stranger who offered assistance.

Right away, we began to focus specifically on leg and core strength twice a week, for four months:

• As a warm-up, we started with walking on the treadmill for 10 minutes.

• For strengthening the quadriceps and gluteus muscles, we began with15 repetitions of 60-degree squats against the wall with a stability ball for two sets, working our way up in reps and sets and eventually adding lightweights.

• We also added baby “steps ups” on a sturdy surface, such as stairs with a handrail, to improve leg strength.

• For the opposing large muscle groups, we did supine hamstring rolls with the stability ball, with hips lifted.

• For core strength, we did a series of bridge poses, floor Pilates, and crunches on the stability ball.

• From there, we added prone low back strengtheners such as superman and bird-dog.

• For balance, we did a series of basic standing yoga poses.

• We ended each session with a supine passive round of physical therapy stretches for the hamstrings, hips, inner thighs, and lower back.

All his hard work paid off when I asked him to get in a kneeling position, and then stand up on his own, without assistance. He did it.”

Michele McCord is a certified personal trainer and yoga instructor. She has worked with all age groups with a focus on working with people 50-65 whose goals are to build muscle strength, improve balance, gain endurance and lose weight, and seniors who need muscle strength for functional movement and overall flexibility. Send questions to me@michelemccordmethod.com