By: CPR Partner and Physical Therapist Julie Ellis PT, dipACLM, Certified Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner, Certified Tai Chi instructor, Yoga, Pilates and Weight Training Instructor.
Would you like to improve your aging experience? If so, let’s talk about strength and agility!
Agility is defined as “the ability to move the body quickly and easily, characterized by nimbleness, coordination and rapid changes in speed or direction in response to a stimulus.” Age related physiological changes can contribute to us becoming less agile as we get older. The good news is that we can slow the process down by training our agility during our daily activities. This blog will outline several fun and effective ways to improve agility.
Agility involves several components.
- Physical: fast and coordinated movements
- Mental: ability to think and understand quickly
- Reactive: responding to a stimulus such as an unexpected obstacle or object coming toward you
Training for agility requires improving four skills.
- Balance
- Coordination
- Speed
- Strength
These skills can be trained throughout the day and research has indicated that you can improve these skills with practice over time.
- Balance Training
-stand on one leg with a goal of 30 seconds and do this on right and left leg
-now while standing on one leg turn your head right and left
-stand on one leg and put your arms out like an airplane and lean forward to touch your foot
-walk heel to toe while looking up and down with your eyes
-walk on your tiptoes for 30 seconds
-lift your toes up while balancing on your heels and walk forward and backwards
- Coordination: Note that music is good for coordination training as the beat of the music can help you keep up a pace while you work on directional movements. Recommended music should be 124-126 beats per minute.
-step up and down on a bench while alternating the lead leg
-step side to side
-dance moves are great for coordination
-skipping is a great way to build coordination
-note that when working on coordination you will also gain aerobic and cardiovascular endurance
-upper extremity coordination can be trained by bouncing a ball on the floor, against a wall or tossing it up and down
3. Speed: Start slow and steady while building speed. If you overtrain you can cause injury to muscles and tendons. Work on speed in small increments of 30-60 seconds and start with 3-5 sets. Practice speed drills 2x per week if you have not regularly worked on speed. Do speed training in a safe environment to avoid trips or slips. As you become familiar with speed training you can add longer duration, more repetitions and more frequent sessions. For more information on speed training read the
Blog by Dr. Sutherland Wyatt in the CPR March newsletter.
-walk or run as quickly as you can
-jump up to a 4-6 -inch surface such as a curb
-use an agility ladder to practice speed and agility
-put sticks on the ground and hop over them while running
4. Strength: Strength training is complicated and CPR Physical Therapy and Performance has DPTs
and personal trainers available to help you learn correct principals of strength training. Strength training includes but is not limited to performing basic functional moves.
Functional movements include:
-squats
-deadlifts
-lunges
-pushing (bench press)
-pulling (rows and pull downs)
-carrying
-core training
-step ups
Strength gains can be made by starting with using your body weight only, then light weights and gradually with guidance work for heavy weights. Proper form and technique will be crucial when training for strength so get professional help if you are just beginning your strength journey.
Principles of Strength Training:
Slow and controlled
Work for full available range of motion
Joints need to be in proper alignment
Spine needs to be stabilized during the lift
Breathing should match “exhale on the hardest part of the lift”
Benefits of Strength Training:
-stronger muscles
-bone density increases
-improved posture with correct training
-improved oxygen uptake in mitochondria cells
-improved tolerance to daily functions
It is never too late to begin strength training. But you cannot do it alone as a beginner. Contact the team at CPR to help you or find a qualified trainer or coach.
Now let’s talk about mental agility. It is possible to improve your thinking and memory skills and here are some fun facts and games to get you on your way to building your brain power.
Research states that playing a brain game after 15 minutes of low to moderate physical activity can stimulate the neurons in the brain to become more efficient.
Low to moderate intensity physical activity includes walking, biking, jogging, dancing or anything that gets your heartrate to increase slightly.
As an example:
-walk or jog for 15 minutes and then have fun with a brain game
Brain games can be done alone or with a friend or in a group. Ideas for a “brain game:”
-Starting with the letter A go through the alphabet while naming a vegetable that begins with A, then B, then C and all the way to Z. (arugula, broccoli, carrot, etc.)
-Starting with the letter A go through the alphabet while alternating names of cities and names of animals.
(Akron, Bear, Cincinnati, Dog, Erie, Fox, Georgetown, Hyena)
What?? That second brain game was challenging. The aim is to think quickly and talk out loud going as fast as you can through the alphabet. If you get stuck just laugh and say anything that comes to mind and move on to the next letter. You can also do a brain game with numbers.
-2 plus 2 is four, four plus four is 8, 8 plus 8 is 16, and so on as far as you can go!
Suduko, crosswords, wordle are also brain games but they are difficult to do if you are not sitting down with a tablet, pencil, phone and the idea is to do a brain game while you are engaged in a physical activity.
Lifestyle Medicine Practitioners advise us to practice lifestyle behaviors for healthy aging. Not to live longer, but to live better.
Physical and mental health are key components to healthy ageing. Other components include restorative sleep, a whole food plant-based eating plan and perhaps the most important -community.
Choose something you enjoy doing. Reading, music, cooking, sewing, singing, playing cards or bird watching. Choose anything that you love to do and do it! But don’t do it alone! Find a group or a few other people who share your passion and do it together. If you cannot find a group start one. The world is full of people who need each other and when you reach out you may find a whole new group people who also enjoy the hobbies you enjoy.
So be agile, be strong, and go for it!