Tom Toothaker, DPT, PT
Do you need to use your arms to get out of a chair? Having trouble carrying a laundry basket or grocery bags? Are you out of breath just walking around your block? You used to have the ability to perform these tasks easily. Now all of a sudden, even the simplest of chores seem difficult. You used to be in shape and enjoyed working out. You walked everywhere and rode your bike every day. Now, the thought of working out, much less playing pickleball with your friends makes you cringe. What happened to your once fit and active body? When did this thing, called aging, happen to you?
First, let’s deal with some cold hard facts. After the age of 40, we lose roughly 1% of muscle size, 2-4% of strength, and 8-10% of power on average for every year we age. Strength is the ability to create force across a muscle, muscle group, or movement. You need this to lift, push, pull, and carry. Power has the same definition as strength with the addition of a speed component-how fast can you move a given weight. This doesn’t always mean an external weight. This could be your body weight, for example, reacting quickly after tripping to prevent a fall. There is a strong correlation between muscle size, strength, and power. Though we don’t have control over the process of decline in aging, we do have significant control over the amount and rate at which the decline occurs.
You may be saying at this point “Tom, I’m in my sixties (seventies, eighties…) and there’s no hope for me at this point to turn it around…I can’t build more muscle at this age.” Now, that is where you’d be wrong! Multiple studies have shown increases in muscle size along with improvements in strength, power, walking speed, sit-to-stand performance, and other functional tasks in populations well into their 90’s.
There is so much research about the senior body’s amazing response to exercise that we’re offering a program specifically designed for their needs – called Modern Management of the Older Adult (MMOA) and we’re delighted to bring it to the Hampton Roads community! All OSC Physical Therapists are MMOA-certified and ready to get area seniors back to living and THRIVING, not just existing, and going from walker to wheelchair to being bedridden. Aging was not meant to be that way.
Do you need to have joint or muscle pain along with weakness to be treated by a physical therapist? Absolutely not! Physical therapists are trained to treat a wide variety of musculoskeletal disorders independent of pain as a symptom. For physical therapists wanting to specialize in this area, Modern Management of the Older Adult (MMOA) is a certification course designed to train therapists how to appropriately load and progress strength, power, muscle endurance, and cardiovascular health in the older population who may have other medical conditions.
If you think you could benefit from this program and would like to learn more, we’ll be holding a Community Lecture soon where I’ll be presenting more information on how you can increase your muscle strength, improve your balance, flexibility and power. Learn how you can live fully, with health and vitality during your senior years.