Power of being active

Just ordered Anatomy of Exercising for Longevity from my beloved One Spirit Book Club - on sale for $4.99.  ( One of Wall Street Journal's "Best Books of 2015 for Retirement Living," earned 4.5 stars on Amazon!)  

Fascinated to come across it this a.m., after thinking so much about the contrast in fitness between an 84-year old friend whose health took a nosedive after her daily activity was significantly deduced due to circumstances (rather than medical condition) ~and~ a 94-year old buddy who's slipping deeper into dementia, but retains a lively social schedule due to her family's determination to keep her active every day, moving from this place to that, even if only within her senior residence buildings, & interacting with a variety of people every day.  

The first, who was in fairly good shape a year ago, is now in rehab after a series of ER visits & a couple hospital stays.  While the second is fraying at the seams mentally, she's remarkably physically & (even more important) emotionally fit for her age & level of dementia!

It broke my heart, seeing the younger of the two more or less grounded after moving from her longtime (50+ years) home up to her daughter's.  John & I had expected to be working with her on an almost daily basis, taking her out on rambles, to lunches, meeting other writers we knew, kicking up her heels.  When it was clear that being professionally connected wasn't in the cards (her daughter required all care partners do light housekeeping & walk/clean up after the dogs, including a LARGE Bernese Mountain pooch - a separate skill set from mine), we hoped to do much of the same with her, friend to friend, but weren't given the opportunity for much more than a rare lunch, when it suited the daughter's needs.  

Yes, her daughter encouraged her to take walks around the neighborhood, but that only reinforced her homesickness for a life that is no more.  In addition, we tend to walk longer & at a steadier rate with friends than by ourselves.  Maybe slower, but steadier.  

Did you know that studies show there's a direct relationship between levels of regular physical activity and increased longevity?  That walking briskly for just 11 minutes a day can add over a year of life expectancy?  

Exercises & daily activities that boost our whole body health have incredibly more impact on our well-being & general level of fitness than muscle-targeted exercising.  If more of us hit the walking track & the tennis courts, swimming pools & yoga mats, we'd be fitter, happier, and aging better. 

There's a heap of difference between going to a sports medicine center for multiple weekly exercise sessions & taking walks down the Pennypack Trail, visiting an art gallery in Lambertville, or reveling in the joys of Longwood Gardens.  
  

Yesterday, John & I tracked all the physical activities our 94-year old friend experienced on our regular Saturday night "in & out" ~ dinner in our favorite dining spot in her senior residence, out for a ramble & dessert at the York Diner.  

Let's see...  She:

• Navigated under her own power, using her walker ("Remember, Anne - it's your side kick;  don't push it ahead but keep it at your sides."), from the 4th floor down to the Club Room, which included getting into & out of the elevator with four other people.

• Set herself down & got herself up from the table.

• Ordered a bacon cheeseburger & cole slaw; didn't get in a huff when it was suggested she skip the ice berg lettuce she was focusing on & dig into the burger & bacon.

• Enjoyed the socializing - talking with us, greeting people as they came in & left, had a grand old time.

• Navigated her way to & from the ladies room.

• Hoisted herself down onto the passenger's side front seat of our stout-hearted & true Concorde.  (John took the walker back into the senior residence, the concierge tucked it behind her desk.)

• LOVED seeing all the flowering trees, driving through a lot of areas she didn't remember & the very few she still does.

• Made her way, on John's arm, from the car into the York Diner & to "our" table.

• Treated like royalty by the staff, who knew to bring her decaf & vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce (no whipped cream).

• Stood up on her own from the table, walked - on John's arm - out to the car.

• Didn't recognize Hatboro as we entered it, then broke into a BIG smiles whenever she spotted something familiar - the jaunty neon hats that line Old York Road, the HUGE tree wrapped with clear lights in front of Victorian Village ("an active adult community") at the far end of town, the "big kitty" at the Jaguar dealership, the stop at Terwood & Edge Hill, the "roller coaster" ride up past what was Raytharn Farms (is now the Pennypack Trust), in the distance atop a meadow that was once a wheat field a single tree silhouetted against the deep bluish night sky (how she loves that tree, never fails to point it out), then the final turn back to her current digs.

• Back at her senior residence, she hoisted herself up from the car, with John's assistance.  ("Let's do the Lisa Lift - you put your hands here & here, I put mine under your lower arms & we LIFT.")

• Made it under her own steam from our car, through the large lobby, into the elevator & down the hall to her apartment.

To me, that sort of physical activity packs the most power - whole body motions, whole heart emotions!