Prime Time

POSTED: Sunday, May. 11, 2008

Exercise excels as path to preserving mobility

Iris Dietmann, half of the "Galloping Grandmas of Raspberry Ridge," is a super example of a senior who hasn't let age get in the way of getting out.

Dietmann, 85, and close friend Cornelia "Corky" Vanderwall, 84, play golf five days a week whenever weather permits on Raspberry's nine-hole course in Lynden.

Since they don't believe in slow play, they've been tagged as the Galloping Grandmas. Dietmann even scored a hole in one on Raspberry's third hole just a few days after her 85th birthday last September.

Dietmann, a great-grandmother who came to the United States from Sweden when she was 30, also bowls once a week and takes brisk four-mile walks when possible on non-golfing days.

"I'm not going to quit golf. I love it. Doctors tell seniors to walk, and I agree," says Dietmann, who did not take up golf until she was 73. "I've been active all my life. I still drive, but I don't drive at night."

'AS INDEPENDENT AS POSSIBLE'

Seniors such as Dietmann inspire physical therapist Laurel Floyd, who works for Walgreens Option Care.

"I work primarily with the geriatric population," she says. "Our goal is to get people to … be as independent as possible.

"One of our biggest issues is falls," she notes. "If someone has a history of falling, we especially work on balancing and leg-strengthening exercises."

Floyd says "just being totally aware of your surroundings" is a key to preventing falls.

"If your phone rings, don't feel you have to rush to answer it," she says. "They'll call back if it's important."

As for staying mobile, "it really is just keeping active, the more the better," Floyd says. "Running can be hard on the joints for seniors, but brisk walking is also highly effective."

Floyd shows seniors how they can incorporate fitness routines in their lives in many small ways.

"I tell people if they're watching TV and a commercial comes on, get going and do a small exercise," she says. "We have what we call ‘therabands,' big rubber resistance exercisers, and they're great for home exercising any time."

'EVERY DAY'

Amanda Ho, an occupational therapist with Lynden Therapy Specialists, says she tries to educate seniors about exercise misconceptions .

"It's never too late for seniors to begin a fitness program," Ho says. "You should get a doctor's advice about what kind of program to begin. A doctor can comment about any contraindications."

Ho works to persuade seniors to take precautions to eliminate falls.

"A fall can be a turning point in someone's life," she says. "I teach special fall-prevention programs."

Floyd also says the test used by police to check sobriety and balance can be an effective tool for seniors.

"Just stand with one foot in front of the other," she says. "It's a great balancing exercise."

Floyd says that something as simple as just walking around the block — or even just around the yard — can do wonders to sustain mobility.

"Keep moving," she says. "Just keep moving every day."

'DIFFERENT TOOLS'

Paul Mulholland, a personal fitness trainer, group exercise instructor and tai chi instructor, works with seniors at the Bellingham Athletic Club. He has five years of experience and underwent YMCA-certified training.

"I teach a class for active adults at the BAC called ‘Strong and Stable,'" he says. "We use a lot of different tools."

"I encourage people to maintain better balance by walking on unstable platforms, such as those we have at the gym," he says. "We have something called a bosu ball. It's tippy, creating a lot of micro-movements and adjustments to strengthen feet and ankles.

"You have to consistently work at it," he says of the need to retain balance. "You shouldn't have to be fearful of falling if you maintain exercise."

He encourages seniors to sign up with a personal trainer, if possible, to maximize their physical fitness potential and opportunities. The Internet is loaded with fitness routines and suggestions for seniors.

"None of this has to be expensive," he says. "The library, the senior center, they all have lots of resources and lots of options to help stay fit."

"Some seniors are worried they're going to be pushed too hard," he notes. "There are different formats and classes to handle everything from low-intensity workouts to high-intensity workouts." He especially recommends tai chi as a good example of low-intensity exercise.

'A LIFETIME OF HABITS'

Mulholland stresses that seniors should not be discouraged by health problems. They don't have to mean the end of mobility, providing seniors are willing to work toward improvement.

"This community is very sports-minded, and many of these opportunities are open to seniors," he says.

Ho says more seniors are becoming aware they can maintain mobility if they're willing to put forth the effort.

"It's getting better as seniors are becoming aware of the benefits of exercise," she says.

Ho hopes seniors will get past misconceptions that seniors with issues such as diabetes or Parkinson's disease can't maintain mobility.

"Seniors are afraid to start a fitness program, or they feel they might not be suitable for one," she says. "Or it's not part of their lifestyle. I feel we can overcome those fears through education."

Ho says many seniors may not have thought much about exercise 50 or 60 years earlier, when fitness routines and standards were much different. After all, how many senior neighborhood runners did you see in the 1950s or 1960s?

"You have to realize you can't change a lifetime of habits in one day, but you can start," Ho says. "There are so many conceptions of lifestyles now that seniors may never have had when they were younger."