May Meeting, Riverview

While we munched our lunches, Sheila Turkel opened the meeting, emphasized (as always) the chapter’s need for help from active members, and introduced the speakers: Mark William Lasky, and Carmen Cacopardo from Universal Fitness. Mark spoke first, about exercise, after which Carmen talked about exercise equipment.

Mark is a professional fitness coach with over 30 years experience and impressive credentials. For the last dozen years, he said, he’s been working with older people - 50 to 90 - most of whom came to him because they had a scare: high blood pressure, borderline diabetes, obesity, heart attack, stroke. When that happens he follows their doctors’ guidelines. After a few weeks or months in the program their chief complaint seems to get better - and so do their minor complaints. Exercise affects a lot of different systems.

The first system Mike talked about was the skeletal system. Osteoporosis - loss of bone - affects tens of millions of people. As we age, we lose bone mass, the spine tends to compress, the ribs fall on the pelvic rim, and the abdomen protrudes. The neck bends forward, the body leans forward, and you’re more likely to fall. Spine fractures and hip fractures result. The mortality rate for hip fractures is 20 percent in the first year. Bone responds to training; progressive resistance - weight lifting - has been shown not merely to slow bone loss but to increase bone mass.

Another system, related to bone, is the central nervous system - the brain and spinal cord. As we age the speed of nerve signals down the spinal cord decreases, and we lose reaction time. If you fall, you can’t make a correction, and your brittle bones are more likely to break. In a study in a nursing home, 80 year olds improved their reaction time 20 to 35 percent after a 10 week training program. Active people at age 80 have the same reaction time as sedentary 20-year-olds.

As we age we lose dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for subconscious motor skills. Exercise slows the loss of dopamine and in some cases increases dopamine.

We also lose strength, losing lean muscle mass as we lose testosterone. Strength training and cardio conditioning can retard or reverse these changes.

The brain shrinks as we age. For unknown reasons, exercise helps the brain hold its volume and can actually lead to the brain growing new cells. Active people are less likely to get Alzheimer’s.

Exercise also alleviates depression. Ten minutes of exercise a day can be enough so that medication is no longer needed.

Most of us here are in cardiac rehab. When we leave we have several choices. The best is to continue at rehab, which is costly, and medical insurance won’t cover it, but Mike suggested measuring the cost per workout against the health benefits.

Another option is to join a gym. Before you join, visit it at the time you will train. The best times are mid-morning or mid-afternoon when the work crowd is at work. Don’t sign a long term contract until you’ve tried it out or you might quit after two weeks. Hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to learn the routine.

Monmouth County Park System has great fitness programs. The cost is low, mostly in group classes; you are not monitored, but it will keep you motivated and active the year round.

The last option is to buy home equipment. If you are not disciplined, if you can’t avoid distractions, the equipment will not be used and the treadmill will become a laundry rack.

There are three parts to a training program: the warm-up, the training itself, and the cool-down. The warm-up could be the cardio workout. Mike always includes weight lifting in the training - basically five exercises: back of the leg, front of the leg, stomach, chest, and back. The cool-down is flexibility training: five minutes, three stretches. The whole workout would take 20 to 35 minutes, two or three times a week.

It’s not complicated. You stress the body, let it rest, stress it again, it adapts, it improves, you increase the stress. It’s a cycle. That’s how you make yearly progress.

The best exercise, if you can only do one, is walking. We were made to walk. Our bodies have adapted to walking. It’s cheap, it can be social, and you can keep on doing it into your nineties.

Carmen talked about equipment for home use. He mentioned the Universal Fitness Store. You can get junk equipment on TV. Department stores and sporting goods stores have some but they don’t specialize in it or service it. Quality equipment lasts longer and works better. Try before you buy; if you don’t like it, you won’t use it.

Except for the questions and answers, that was it.