Health

“Athlete” is defined in the dictionary as a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.  Let’s think about some of the ways all of us are athletes:

• If grandparents are going to play with the grandchildren, they need to have physical agility, stamina and strength.
• If Dad is going to throw the football (or baseball, or kick a soccer ball) with his son, he, too, needs to have physical agility, stamina and strength.  
• Running from peril or walking with friends or family may also require stamina and strength. 
• In other words, we are all athletes, and need to develop the agility, stamina and strength to keep up with the demands of life—laundry, going up and down stairs, yard work, gardening, walking to concerts and games.

So, what can we do to develop the athlete within?

1. Learn to stretch your muscles.  Calves, hamstrings and quadriceps, gluteus medius (upper buttocks muscles), low back, chest.  Each of those muscles can tighten up and cause joint pain, muscle pain, and loss of strength.  I find that almost 80% of all joint pain is because of tight muscles that are out of balance.  Consult the internet or trainer manuals for illustrations and instructions on how to stretch.  Some of the tight muscles will require a massage therapist to relax them; to take the stress off the body.

2.  Strengthen muscle groups, especially the muscles needed to take the strain off the joints, like the knees or low back.  Muscles also burn energy at rest, so the more the muscle, the easier it is to lose weight.  Gradually ease into more and more weights, but be sure you can do at least 5 to 15 repetitions and hopefully more than one set of those.  If you aggressively lift weights, you will need to rotate your muscle groups so you do the same muscle group every 2 to 3 days.  If you want to get the maximal benefit from weights, you may want to get involved with a trainer to help you do them correctly.  This will reduce your chance of getting injured.

3. Cardiovascular endurance with aerobic exercise, at low intensity or high, is the next part of a complete exercise program.  I recommend you find something you enjoy doing, and not just exercising ‘for your health.’  This may include an exercise class with friends, bicycling, walking or running, playing sports (table tennis is safe), dancing.  There are many options to have fun at home with a Wii or XBox360.  If you get aggressive with this, be sure to warm-up and cool-down 5 to 10 minutes before and after exercise.  This would be a good time to stretch. 

If you have not been involved with these activities, you may want to ease into them.  An early injury to a muscle or ligament can set you back for days or weeks.

Endurance is measured by a strenuous endurance test, called VO2 max, that measures oxygen uptake, CO2 build-up and heart rate.  An athlete’s ventilatory threshold[i] is the time it takes an athlete to hit the ‘runner’s wall.’ 

Whatever the level of athleticism you presently have, take the time to evaluate if it is time to step up your present program.  If not for you, then for your loved ones that value their time with you.  Start easy, and have fun!