The Come Alive Project

Category: Aging

  • Energy bite 197 – My Wife Caught Me Slumping

    My wife caught me slumping the other day and told me to watch my posture. I’ve always been very aware of my posture. I have always made a conscious effort to maintain good posture. I’ve written and spoken about the importance of good posture for years. I used to get positive comments about my posture. Perhaps a stint in the Marine Corps helped.

    This is a three minute read but is worth it if you are getting older.

    Anyhow, I was noticing my posture in the mirror one morning recently, and discovered that I seemed to be bending slightly forward with my shoulders rounded and my head forward, signs of a deteriorating posture. I made a note in my notebook to watch my posture and to make a deliberate effort to stand up straighter. I didn’t think that it had actually become noticeable to anyone else, but just two days after I had made that note to myself, my wife approached be with a strict admonition about my posture and how it was starting to decline. That makes it a more serious problem. (And no, she doesn’t peek at my notebook).

    Why is my posture beginning to decline? First, I spend a lot of time at the computer — a couple of hours every day. That automatically invites the head forward, slumped over posture that my wife and I were seeing.

    Second, I do a lot of exercises for my abdominal muscles and not enough exercises for my back. If you are not conscious of it, that can result in a “pulling” forward and down of your entire upper body. If you do a lot of pushups or other exercises for your chest, that can add to the pulling forward of the shoulders. Unless you do offsetting exercises that will strengthen the “pulling” muscles of your back, the slumping will get worse. It’s a function of balancing the exercises.

    Ironically, part of the solution is consciously tightening your abdominal muscles as you are standing or sitting — not a forced tightening, just a conscious tensing.

    So what am I doing to correct my posture before it gets worse? First, I posted an index card on the lamp directly in front of my computer where I wrote in large letters: “Posture”. The reason? Simply to remind me and make me mentally and physically aware of my posture as I am writing or otherwise using the computer.

    Second, I started doing exercises for my upper and lower back to offset the emphasis I had been focusing on with exercises for my abdominals and chest. Most involve “scapular retraction” (pulling back my shoulder blades and upper back) and exercises where I am on my stomach while lifting shoulders and legs off the floor. In the fitness arena, the latter exercise is called a “Superman”.

    Finally, I am making sure I am mindful of when I lapse into poor posture by being extraordinary conscious of how I am sitting, standing, or moving at any given time. I am “visualizing” myself enjoying good posture — not only mentally, but physically. In his book Psycho-Cybernetics, author Maxwell Maltz said to picture your end result clearly and vividly and then capture the feeling of the successful result. He said:

    “Then your internal machinery is geared for success to guide you in making the correct muscular motions and adjustments . . . to make the goal an accomplished fact.”

    A little off the wall for you? Hey, visualization worked for Arnold Schwarzenegger, why not me? (NOTE: Arnold turned 70 two days ago on July 30th.)

    In the meantime, while I am making the conscious effort to regain excellent posture, my wife will be reminding me by punching me touching me gently in the middle of my back whenever she catches me letting poor posture get ahead of me.

    Being fully aware of the problem is the first step in resolving it. I’m glad I caught it early and that my wife reinforced it. My recommendation to you? Be aware and make a conscious effort to stand up straight. Your posture is one of the first things people see and use to make judgments about you. It is a vital factor in your health, energy level, and for your physical and emotional well-being.

    The takeaway? Keep an eye on your own posture. It doesn’t take long for it to deteriorate and it may not be noticeable at first. Don’t be in denial. It’s never too late to recover, but it’s best to catch it early and do something about it right away.

    Thank you for reading.

     

  • Energy Bite 183 – CorePower

    Can you get a “six pack” at age 50, 60, or even 70? The answer is a resounding — probably? If you are really out of shape, don’t count on finding that six pack anytime soon. So is it worth working your abdominal muscles, hips, torso, and lower back, if you aren’t going to see the results anytime soon.?

    Most seniors would have no use for “body builder” style abdominal muscles anyway. How many 60 year old men or women go strutting around the swimming pool or down the beach expecting people to marvel at your six pack? Actually, I have seen a few here and there.

    Six pack abs used to be a strictly male “thing”. But over the last fifteen years or so, strong “showy” abs have become a prime indicator of female health and fitness too. Programs like Crossfit, Boot Camps, Pilates and even the expansion of Yoga into the mainstream, have stressed the importance of fitness for everyone.  There are many  “Masters” athletic events for seniors, with more being added every year. All of these require a strong core.

    When you decide you want to get fitter and start an exercise program, where is a good place to start? My suggestion would be to start with the muscle group that gives you the most leverage with the rest of your body. That would be the lumbar-hip-abdominal complex, commonly known as “your core”. Why start there?

    Simply stated, your core area is critical to any form of physical movement. The core area is the “first mover” of just about any physical effort you make, no matter how slight. Here are some general thoughts on having a strong core:

    • A strong midsection makes all movement easier.
    • Ever wonder why the millitary shouts “Hoorah!” or “Oohrah!” ? Try shouting those words with power, energy and enthusiasm. Press your hand against your abdominal muscles as you say the words and as you powerfully expel the air from your lungs. You can feel the power they bring into your abdominal muscles and how that power radiates throughout your body. Martial artists do the same thing.
    • A strong midsection can help prevent falls.
    • “Feel good” chemicals are released into your body when work your core hard. You feel dramatically stronger both mentally and physically after a good session of “corepower” exercises. “Corepower”? Hey I like that term. I thought I just made it up but “corepower.com” and a “corepoweryoga.com” already exist online. Darn!
    • A strong core energizes you.
    • A strong core helps you maintain good posture as you get older.
    • It helps prevent back pain. Core exercises will not necessarily eliminate back pain, but they will help prevent it.
    • And on and on . . .

    When you begin a new exercise program, remember it will take a while to develop those six pack abs. If you are overweight, you’ll have to “free the fat” first. But if you continue with a sound exercise program for your core, that six pack will likely start to appear a few months down the road. In the meantime, you will build a strong core and begin to reap all the other benefits I mentioned above.

    So what core exercises should you do? You can find some good ones here:  Ebook-Core and Abs2.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 180 – Perceptions of “Ageism”

    I’ve been reading and hearing a lot about “ageism” lately. Does it exist? Probably. Age discrimination in the legal context does. It’s against the law to discriminate against a person in a hiring situation solely because of age. Except for athletes, of course. They get put out to pasture in their 30s, and it’s OK.

    But that’s the legal connotation. One of the definitions of Ageism in Webster’s New World Dictionary – Second College Edition is “prejudicial stereotyping of older people”. You know, holding the door for older people, helping older neighbors shovel snow, giving an older person a seat on the Metro, and similar courtesies.

    The AARP wants to categorize Seniors as a “Special interest”; and put a label on that category. And then they proceed to rail about ageism. They claim we are “stereotyped”.  I remember the old saying that when you label or categorize someone, you diminish them. I don’t want other people diminishing me.

    I prefer the term from the same dictionary: “Ageless”. Meaning “Seemingly not growing older. Eternal.” Hmm, much better!

    In many cases, ageism is a matter of perception, ours and others. If we perceive ourselves as aging, we have the ability to change our Mindset. If others perceive us as old, we can change their mindset. We can make a point to stand up straighter, move a little faster, lose or gain weight as needed, and tone up our muscles. We’ll look younger and act younger if we do.

    By the same token, if you perceive yourself to be old, and you don’t do anything about it, how can others not perceive you the same way, as old. Before we get upset about the way others treat us as we get older, maybe we should take a close look at the way we treat ourselves.

    The best thing we can do to prevent ageism is not to let ourselves fall into the stereotype that ageism seems to reflect.

    The reality is that as we get older, some are simply not able to do all the things that they were able to do at a younger age. But there’s another reality, and that is that many of us have more energy and a better attitude toward life than many of our younger brothers and sisters. Look around you and you’ll see what I mean.

    Personally, I like Senior discounts, Senior movies, Senior coffee, etc. I enjoy reading the “Pickles” cartoon in the newspaper, and I laugh at jokes about Seniors. But that’s “ageism” isn’t it?”

    Does ageism exist? Of course it does. Do you have to be a victim? Of course not. You can choose to perceive yourself to be a “victim” of ageism and be offended, or you can enjoy and laugh at the “ageist” Senior Jokes and cartoons. It’s a Mindset. It’s all in the way you’re thinking.

    Thank you for reading.