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Flexibility and Senior Fitness for Longevity

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A few weeks back, in the last edition of the Change Well newsletter and podcast (located at this link), I discussed my intent to focus on training for the Senior Fitness Test.  The Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department developed the program that I just started doing.  It is called Fitness Reaching Older Gen’s (FROG) and focuses on flexibility, which is critical to everyone, especially older ones like me with creaky joints.  But first, a few stories about how I realized I needed to focus on this program.

Entering my senior year has been an eye-opening experience regarding fitness. In my middle years, I focused on endurance, strength, and cycling. Increasingly, however, I’ve realized that flexibility and mobility are just as—if not more—essential for maintaining independence and longevity.

That realization didn’t come quickly. At 55, I was in complete denial of aging. In what I thought was a hilarious act of rebellion, I staged a ritualistic burning of my AARP card application on YouTube. Unfortunately, the part I cut from the video was even funnier—and almost fatal. The card caught fire rapidly, and when I rushed for water to douse the flames, the pan I grabbed had oil residue. Suddenly, I wasn’t just rejecting aging; I was nearly burning the house! Not great for my health, nor the well-being of those around me. (Although, let’s be honest, that video would have gone viral.)

The Importance of Senior Fitness

Aging doesn’t have to mean losing function or freedom. Staying active well into our later years can reduce the risk of falls, improve balance, and enhance our overall quality of life. However, I have found that I can no longer do the half marathons of my youth. Instead, I need to focus on flexibility and mobility.

Stretching and mobility exercises are key to keeping joints healthy and preventing stiffness.  Even though I do not like stretching, I have found that I need it.  I have a gimpy knee and want to stop being the little, lame middle-aged man this spring.  Here is a poem (with all due respect to e.e Cummings) I wrote a few Springs ago while running on Town Lake. Here is the link to the original blog post.

In Just-

Spring   , when the stiff

middle-aged man

shambles far and wee!

And the ground-beneath

is puddle-painful

From too much running too soon,

As the hobbled, Senior man

limps slow—ly far and wee!

Staying Functional with the Senior Fitness Test

So how will I avoid being the lame little senior man this year? I am starting this Saturday, March 1st, by taking the Senior Fitness test to gauge my fitness.  The Senior Fitness Test (also called the Fullerton Functional Test) is designed to gauge physical function in older adults and includes:

  • Chair Stand Test: Measures lower-body strength and endurance.
  • Arm Curl Test: Assesses upper-body strength.
  • Two-Minute Step Test: Evaluates aerobic endurance.
  • Chair Sit-and-Reach Test: Tests lower-body flexibility.
  • Back Scratch Test: Checks upper-body flexibility.
  • 8-Foot Up-and-Go Test: Measures agility and balance.

The link to the test and expected scores can be found at The Senior Fitness Test.  I will need to improve on the Chair Stand Test, chair sit-and-reach test, and the back scratch test.   I will let you know next week how much I need to improve. 

After getting my initial score, I will set up a weekly routine based on the Southwest Nebraska Public Health FROG manual exercises at the FROG Manual link. In two weeks, I will post my routine on my blog websites.

How I Finally Embraced My Age (Thanks, Boots!)

In addition to my FROG training, I intend to switch up my fitness routine this year by doing more Step Aerobics by Paul Eugene.  I accidentally ran across his engaging and fun fitness, low-impact exercises.   My dog, Boots, was howling at thunder like it was the apocalypse at 3 AM on a stormy night. I finally calmed him down, but I could not get back to sleep.  So, I did what any rational person would do at 3 AM: I did aerobics with Paul Eugene.

Wait, what? That doesn’t sound logical.  Well, I wasn’t about to compose an entire album of dog lullabies. Since I was up anyway, and it was a weigh-in day for WW, I figured I might as well move. But I wasn’t ready for high-intensity training, so I did something I swore I’d never do—I watched a senior fitness video by Paul on YouTube (check out his channel at this link).

And you know what? It was amazing! I had avoided senior-based workouts, thinking they’d be boring or ineffective. But Paul Eugene’s videos were energizing, fun, and at the right level for a great workout.

How to Improve Flexibility and Stay Active

Maintaining flexibility doesn’t require a drastic lifestyle change. A few small, consistent habits can make a big difference:

  1. Daily Stretching: Incorporate simple stretches for the hamstrings, shoulders, and back.  This recent blog post discussed the importance of stretching and sleeping.
  2. Low-impact aerobics: These low-impact exercises improve flexibility, balance, and mental clarity.
  3. Strength Training with a Focus on Range of Motion: Lifting weights through a full range of motion keeps joints mobile.
  4. Hydration and Nutrition: Staying hydrated and eating anti-inflammatory foods can help maintain joint health.

Final Thoughts

If you’re in your 50s, 60s, or beyond, don’t be like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.  Loosen your joints by stretching, and keep the muscles lubricated by drinking plenty of water.  And if you ever find yourself up at 3 AM with a panicked dog? Well, you know what to do.

7 Essential Books for Wellness and Personal Growth

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My Wellness blog today is a little bit different. I will discuss the importance of reading, writing, and arithmetic in keeping healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Reading

I am and have always been a voracious reader. I read everything from science fiction to poetry, historical fiction, wellness books, and the latest David Baldacci book. Reading has been key to my Wellness journey for two reasons.

First, audiobooks have helped entertain me as I worked out. It is called learning while burning.  I walked 10 miles while listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers. I was so enthralled with the book while learning to talk to unfamiliar groups that I didn’t mind the Texas heat.   The book improved my civility as I sweated off the pounds.

But I do not always listen to audiobooks. Sometimes, to retain more information, I relax and read a written book. This helps bring about wellness in a different way. In this case, I read for retention and relaxation. Some spiritual books even help me with the practice of mindfulness and prayer.

“Waiting on the Word” by Malcolm Guite is one book I am reading now. If you do not know Malcolm, I highly recommend him. He is an Anglican priest, poet, commentator, songwriter, and singer in a rock’n’roll band. Here is his blog page.

Waitning on the Word by Malcolm Guite helps my wellness
Waiting on the Word Malcolm Guite

“Waiting on the Word” is a series of poems with associated commentary and reflection for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. I am reading this Advent, which has helped me with my prayer life.

Seven Books for Wellness

I also read books to inform myself on different aspects of wellness. Here are seven books I’ve read in the last few years to help me grow in this area.

1. Bill Bryson’s “The Body” is essential for anybody trying to heal their body and improve their overall health. The book is excellent. It gives insight into the human body, from the brain down to the toes and everything in between.

2.  “From Strength to Strength” by Arthur C Brooks is perfect for those who are getting older and want to figure out their next mission. It talks about how you use the fluid intelligence of your earlier years differently as it becomes more crystallized into wisdom.

3.  “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown discusses simplifying your life by breaking it down to the essentials. In this way, you relieve anxiety and do not become as focused on the minutiae of life.

4.  “Think Again” by Adam Grant talks about how you can constantly improve by changing your mind. The book provides the best techniques to change direction and discern where to go.

5.  “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg and “Atomic Habits” by James Clear are essential to understanding how to use habits to improve yourself.

6. “Green Lights” by Matthew McConaughey is a surprising book about how Matthew accomplished his success in life by chasing the green lights instead of fretting about the stoplights.

7. “10% Happier” by Dan Harris gives insight into the simple tasks you can do day-to-day to feel more fulfilled and, in general, happier.

I could go on with many others. If you look at just my audiobooks, I’ve listened to over 250 books in the last five years.

What About Actual Reading

I read a lot less in physical form, but audiobooks are a good way to get an initial survey of a book that you may want to dive into deeper. And if you want to go on a long walk to lose weight, nothing beats “The Game of Thrones” in audiobook form while walking long distances.

Writing for Wellness

Enough about reading, so let’s move on to writing. Writing is excellent for wellness in three different ways.

Journaling can be an excellent way to relieve stress and anxiety while remembering what you are thankful for and the lessons you learned that day. I have kept a journal for the last 10 years and have somewhere along the lines of 40 fully completed journal books. The journaling book I am currently using is the Gratitude Journal, and I like it because it has both a day portion and an evening portion, so you can plan your day and see how you did during the day. It also provides a weekly challenge and a quote that inspires you daily.

A second form of writing that helps with wellness is blogging. It is helpful in several ways. First, it enables you to cement new ideas and concepts as you learn them. I find myself reading my older blogs to remember lessons I have learned and reinitiate those practices.

Second, it distracts you from the TV and other mind-numbing activities that don’t help you improve.

Lastly, it allows you to play it forward in part by sharing the lessons that you have learned so that others can succeed. I also find inspiration in writing, especially poetry. It takes my mind out of the day-to-day minutiae and lifts it to contemplate something larger than myself in my petty once it needs the hour.

Arithmetic and Wellness?

Most of you can determine why writing and reading are essential to wellness. But I may have questioned what arithmetic has to do with wellness.

I have not previously blogged about this, but I teach high school math part-time. I have found that preparing for my lessons has sharpened my mind and problem-solving abilities. Solving a math problem also gives you a sense of immediate satisfaction and accomplishment when you get it right. It also helps you exercise that most important muscle, the mind, as you struggle with an algebraic concept that you may have known forty years ago but had forgotten. It is also rewarding to pass on the love of math to another generation.

Your 8th Grade Teacher Was Right!

I also love studying the algorithms and math behind wellness applications such as WW and Noom.  Call me a geek,  but knowing how WW Smart points are calculated and how those calculations have changed over the years has made me more nutritionally aware.

So there you have it. Your 8th grade teacher was correct when they told you reading, writing, and arithmetic would make you a better person. So, grab a good book, write down your learning, and exercise your mind with math puzzles. I promise you you will improve and change well. You can hear this blog with some additional information on our Podcast Page.

Focus on Family, Not Food This Thanksgiving

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Family before Food this Thanksgiving to Keep on Track

Many people fear putting on a few pounds during the Thanksgiving Holiday.  The trick is to remove the focus on food and put it on family, friends, and fitness.  Here are five tips, a song, and a poem to make this a great, healthy Thanksgiving.

Think Friends and Family Before Food.

Change the focus of Thanksgiving from food to family and friends.  Thanksgiving is a time to catch up with people and tell them how much you love them.  Make memories instead of eating too many marshmallows with your sweet potato pie.  Indeed, you can’t eat if you’re talking with someone.  Focus on the fellowship, slow down, and eat more slowly.  It will allow your food to digest more. 

Here is a case in point. One of my most memorable Thanksgiving memories was the 1974 Dallas/Washington Football Game. We were sitting in our home in New Jersey after Thanksgiving Dinner. My Dad, Big D, a transplanted Texan from Dallas, was sitting in his easy chair distraught. I was pacing back and forth as I would do in a crucial game. In contrast, my great Uncle John, who recently turned 80, sat on the couch snoring after too much turkey.

My Dad and I were up in arms because the Cowboys were down 16-3 late in the third quarter, and Roger Staubach, the Hall of Fame Quarterback, was knocked out of the game. The Cowboys had to win the game to get in the playoffs. In walks the Cowboys’ untested rookie Clint Longley, who, from that date on, became known as the Mad Bomber.

He drove the Cowboys down the field twice and got them within 7 points with only 28 seconds remaining. But the Mad Bomber was not done. What happened next changed the course of the game and made for a memorable Thanksgiving.

Clint reared back and threw a 70-year pass to a wide-open Drew Pearson. He was so wide open because no one thought the Mad Bomber could throw 40 yards, let alone 70. The Touchdown changed the trajectory of the game and made for a hilarious and exciting Thanksgiving

Big D, a crazy Cowboy fan, jumped up in the air with his fist raised high and inadvertently smashed our Longhorn lamp hanging from the ceiling. This sent glass shattering and the Longhorn horns (yes, like Bevo) attached to the light crashing to the ground.

Of course, this promptly woke my Uncle John from his turkey-induced sleep and scared him so much that my Aunt Marie had to take him home. Next, my Dad grabbed me and lifted me in the air as we jumped up and down victoriously. What a memory! 

Exercise to Burn and Earn

One of my annual traditions for Thanksgiving is to work out before the Thanksgiving feast. In recent years, this has been doing the Peloton turkey burn ride that occurs about this year at 9:00 central on Peloton. In prior years, I have done similar things, but like the Cedar Park Turkey trot, the critical thing is to burn and earn the calories you will eat later. Now I’m the way Adam Sandler, but I decided to make a song about just this point, and it’s called Turkey Burn. I’m going to sing it to you here now, but I’ve also included a link to our podcast where you can hear this song performed live with all the lyrics, so here goes nothing;

Turkey burn, turkey burn,
All those calories you need to earn,

Ride your bike for about an hour,
Then hurry up and take a shower,
So you cleaned up and look like a winner,
When you eat your Thanksgiving Dinner.

Turkey burn, turkey burn,
All those calories you need to earn,

When you’re done, you can take a brief rest,
Sit around awhile and talk to your guest,
Then, it is time to get back on your feet,
Take a nice walk, don’t eat another treat.

Turkey burn, turkey burn,
All those calories you need to earn.

Now it is time to help others out,
So you don’t look like a lazy lout,
Wash the dishes before the big game,
With these tips, you won’t be lame.
This Thanksgiving Day!

Track Before You Attack

The best way to lose weight is to track what you eat.  By consciously tracking your food intake, you will better understand portion control and the trigger foods you need to avoid. Engaging in battle, whether in war, a project, or, in this case, Thanksgiving dinner, without a plan, is asking for trouble (and extra pounds. The best thing to do is plan and track what you eat beforehand.

Now, I use Weight Watchers as my tracking mechanism, but you can use something else. The key is to track what you eat and understand your portions.

You can stick to your planned portion size by building a proportion plate.   You can take a paper plate and draw the size of your portions.  You can also use something like a Bento Box with built-in portion sizes.

The rule is always to figure out what you will have before sitting down to Thanksgiving Dinner.  Like a good soldier, never eat without a good plan of attack. This preparation gives you a sense of control and confidence in your choices.

Hydrate and Take the Edge Off Of Your Hunger

Another way to keep your weight down during Thanksgiving is to ensure you’re grazing before the meal. This sounds counterintuitive, but in reality, it makes much sense. If you’re filling up on vegetables and hydrating yourself with water (not high-octane things like alcohol), you’ll have less room for the turkey, the stuffing, the sweet potato pie, the marshmallows, and all the other stuff.

This is an old trick that I’ve done many times. It doesn’t mean you should graze on candy and pie before dinner. It means eating celery without the cream cheese, carrots, and other things, like a relish tray, that will ensure you’ve filled up now but not bloated before dinner. Therefore, you’ll have less room, and you’ll have better portion control.

Be Thankful and Give to Others

The last rule is to focus on thanks and giving instead of eating and the peculiarities of others.  By thinking about others going without, you will be inclined not to overindulge.  Better yet, find a way to serve others through organizations like Mobile Loaves and Fishes.  Here are a few other ways to give and give thanks. 

1.  Show appreciation to your family and friends who help you daily. No person is an Island, and our loved ones help us accomplish the mission God has given us!

2. Be thankful for your vocation. Your vocation gives you exciting, engaging work that, quite frankly, puts Thanksgiving dinner on the table (of course, sometimes it prevents you from eating it).

3. Express thanks for the inheritance you received from those who have led the way. Remember those who have passed, and be thankful for the memories.

4.  Help with the dishes and clean-up.  Others will be thankful for another way to burn calories.

For the ultimate blog on thankfulness and Thanksgiving, read this blog: The Power of Gratitude-The Story of the Thanksgiving Calves

A Poem of Thanksgiving

I want to close with a short poem I wrote for Thanksgiving week.

Better attributes you’ll never find,
Then those of being loving and kind!
Showing God’s smile day by day,
Lightening the load along the way.

In this week of thanks and heart,
All of us must do our part,
To spread good thoughts everywhere,
To show all you really care!

3 out of 5 Ain’t Bad – What to Do When Eating Out!

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It’s 3 days after Thanksgiving, and you are tired of turkey and leftovers.  So, you decide to go out and eat or order on UberEATS.  What do you do to stop adding to the pounds?  Here are 5 proven methods to stop from overeating when eating or ordering out!

1. Track before you attack.  The first rule is always to figure out what you will have before departing.  Most restaurants now post nutritional values in menus on their website.  Read the menu, pick your menu items, and record the calories before departing.  Like a good soldier, never eat without a good plan of attack.

2.  Bring it to Boots! Portion control is the key to keeping your weight down and your friends happy.  In my case, my friend is a bear/dog named Boots shown below.

I always think of my buddy Boots when craving a big steak.  I then make a conscious choice.  I eat 5 oz. instead of 10 oz of a Porterhouse, cutting my calories in half and making my dog leap in delight!  This trick also works with humans, but it is more fun with dogs. Half your plate and make your friend feel great!

3.  Stop the cravings at the Concierge.  Rule 3 works best when traveling, but is easily modified during the current pandemic.  I had access to a concierge lounge back in BP (Before Pandemic) time, when I was traveling a lot for work.  I would hit the concierge lounge and load up on vegetables before going to a restaurant for dinner.  Many times, I would skip dinner and just eat in the concierge lounge.  I lost over 100 pounds following this trick.  I swear by it!  The approach still applies even with limited or no travel.  Eat some vegetables or small appetizers at home before ordering or eating out.  Fill up on veggies, instead of filling out on steak and burgers!

4. Eat like a Plebe.  The faster you eat the more you repeat (think Buffet).  When I eat out, I go back to my training and eat like a Plebe!  We learned to eat slow at West Pont, by squaring our meals, so we would not wolf down food. 

Here is how you square a meal.  You lift your fork straight, bend your fork at a 90 degree to your mouth, straighten your arm back out, and then bring you fork completely down.  You do not bring your fork back up until you completely chewed your food.  On top of this, you needed to take small bites to be able to recite knowledge to senior cadets without your mouth full.  All served to slow how fast we ate, and cut down on our food intake, while practicing good manners.  35 years later, I still eat like a Plebe.

5.  3 out of 5 Ain’t Bad.  I cannot claim this last rule, since I learned it from a colleague.   Every meal at a restaurant usually includes 5 options:  bread, appetizer, entrée, dessert, and alcohol.  The simple rule is to keep it to three!.  Either Bread, Drink and an Entrée or some other combination.  Remember scrap 2 and keep 3!  While I can’t claim this idea, I can confirm it works and claim the below song parody to emphasize.  Make like Meatloaf and remember. 

I want you,

But I don’t need you,

And there ain’t no way I am ever going to eat you,

Now don’t be sad,

Because 3 out of 5 ain’t bad!

Three Out of Five Ain’t Bad