Exercises for Old People

Exercises for Old People


Russell Burton, an old person

There are three types of exercises that old people should always do several times each week.  The first is walking.  I used to jog but as I got older I decided walking was more fun and was probably better for me than killing my knees by pounding my feet on the pavement.  I was never much of a jogger anyway.  I had a measured three miles that toured my neighborhood city streets.  If I recall correctly, I once did it in 27 minutes which was called a PR (personal record). 

I hated every step of that exercise.  I know some people can’t wait to do it, but not me.  I have a friend that just couldn’t wait to do his six miles each day.  He entered several marathons and even qualified for the Boston Marathon which is quite an accomplishment, I guess.  He really enjoyed it and was ranked third in San Antonio of a couple of million people.  His knees finally gave out.  People are just not built to do this kind of crazy stuff.

One thing for sure my knees couldn’t be better. Well, a little arthritis in them does get my attention sometimes.

So, now I walk with a chum three times a week.  She comes over, sometimes with her dog and we begin our four-mile moderate paced walk.  It is not a power walk like some people we see doing.  I don’t understand why some people have to spoil everything.

Our walking tour is on city streets that start just outside my front door.  We walk down and up hills until we come to a city park where deer can be seen lying down or browsing.  My partner has to go to the outdoor toilet that is in the park.  Obviously, she did not have a father like mine.  When as a young boy we traveled by car and I needed to go to the toilet he would not stop right away.  He said I was building character.

In those days there were no rest stops so when he finally did stop, I had to try the restroom door of a gas station.  I dreaded that because usually it was locked so I had to ask the guy on duty for the key.  He would frown that we were not going to buy any gas as he handed me the key with a long chain on it.  Boy, I hated that.

Back to our walk, we continue on up and down hills.  Near the end we sometimes stop and chat with Victor, a skilled cabinets maker who works out of his garage.  We then move on past the park where we stop again – you know why.  She certainly lacks character.

Another thing about those walks is they get you outdoors and socializing so it’s worth doing several times a week for an old person.

Of course the second exercise is lifting weights.  I go to a gym in my neighborhood that is about a mile from my house.  It’s a big place with every conceivable type of weightlifting equipment.  You can play racket ball there too.  My walking chum and I used to play that game some.  I got my game up to about a ‘C’ level when she ripped her Achilles tendon loose.  She had to have surgery and be on crutches for several weeks.  Never did that sport again.  It seems that every sport has its injuries.  Now, you expect football and even basketball players to get hurt but racket ball?

Lifting weights is not fun.  I began doing this exercise when I retired about ten years ago.  I tried to go three times each week that is recommended.  But, I really only went twice a week so I always felt guilty.  Well, I fixed that by changing my regimen from three times each week to twice a week.  I don’t get pangs of guilt anymore.  I go anytime Mondays and Thursdays.

Most of my chums who work-out regularly go the same time each day.  Most of us are retired so times going or spent there are not important. They like to chat with each other and for long periods of time.  I never did understand that for I want to get in and out as quickly as possible.  So, I generally go in the afternoon when hardly anybody is there and I feel more important for I have my private gym at my disposal.

I use what are called stationary or stacked weights.  Easier to use than free weights and less chance of getting hurt.  Yes, hurt you know like racket ball.  As the name implies the weights are stacked so that I can select the weight I want.  I usually select the top four or five for most of my exercises.  Some young people with bulging muscles use the top ten or so.  I once saw the guy in front of me select all of the weights.  Wow…

There are probably twenty different stations to exercise different muscle groups.  I use eight of them and glad to be finished.  I also do my stretches on a special machine.  Stretching is important for old people – you know so that you can put your shoes on by yourself.  Remember when you helped little kids put on their shoes.  Now, they can help you!

I also do a standing thing on an unstable platform that helps me with my balance, I think.  At least that is what I’m telling myself.  It’s especially hard when you close your eyes.  No doubt vision is a big part of keeping one’s balance.  So, my less than optimum balance must be from something other than my vision for I can see really well – with my bifocals of course.

I leave the gym with my head held high for I have cheated for another day one of the pangs of old age, you know puny muscles.

The third and last exercise is directed at my brain.  And, I believe is the most important for the one and only thing humans have that other animals do not have is a wonderful brain.  The evolution of the brains still marvels scientists for it grew to such a gigantic size in such a short period of time – just a few hundred thousand years.

Now, unlike the other exercises I do not have any special time or place to do my brain workouts.  I do a Sudoku when I get a chance.  I’m pretty good at those things.  Sometimes those more difficult ones in the newspaper on weekends I can complete but that really doesn’t matter for it is the brain exercise that counts not completing the damn thing.

I took up doing Sudoku a couple of years ago.  I really surprised myself by doing so because I never was interested in any word games such as crossword puzzles. Of course Sudoku games are with numbers and not words but in many ways they are similar. I’ve tried doing a few crosswords but I don’t think I ever completed one because I guess I was too stupid.  A person doesn’t do thinks that make him/her stupid.  I supposed if I had worked as hard with crosswords as I do with Sudoku’s I might have completed at least one.

Another thing I like to do to exercise my brain is to write.  I guess that is one reason I am writing this essay.  I published an a-book in May 2012.  So far I’ve sold about ten - all of them to my friends.  I thought I had more friends than that but they have to have a Kindle, i-Pad, or i- Phone to buy one.  That makes me feel better, that is most of my friends don’t have those e-things (amps?).  If they did I’m sure my sales would be way up.

Writing and getting a novel publishable is not cheap.  I think I spent about $4000 in all, you know paying editors, trying to get an agent, etc.  I get $4.15 for each e-book I sell so if I sold 1,000 copies I would break even financially. By the way, selling 1.000 books would make be a ‘best seller’!  Somehow I don’t think I’m going to be a best selling author.

I used to paint watercolors and got pretty good at it.  I guess painting like that also exercises the brain. Then I started writing so I don’t paint anymore.  I found that it was a lot easier to paint pictures than sell them.  I have a closet full of my unsold masterpieces.  I was good enough to be able to join several art groups.  For one of them, I work at our gallery one day a month.  It’s a very long boring day but I do enjoy my friends that also work that day and that is important for an old person - almost as important as exercising my brain.

I guess my brain exercising is working.  My father at my age had some form of dementia that went undiagnosed – could have been Alzheimer’s.  He was still able to function until he died as he neared 90. 

My father was a very smart man but mentally very lazy. So, I think that exercising my brain is working for two reasons:  I think I do some good brain exercises that my father never did and my brain is working far better than his at the same age.  Well, at least I can think they are working.  Just thinking that exercises my brain a little bit – right?