THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 20, 1995 TAG: 9507200038
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: FITNESS QUEST
SOURCE: BY CLAUDINE R. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
LILLIAN MCGONEGAL is ready for a little adventure.
She tugs on a pair of rugged climbing shoes, harnesses herself in rope and eyes the 32-foot-high wall at the Virginia Beach Indoor Rock Climbing Gym.
She's ready to climb. Slowly McGonegal locates footholes and hand placements, and begins to hoist her not-quite-5-foot frame up the wall's side.
McGonegal is 86.
``You can't sit in a chair and just deteriorate and die,'' the silver-haired dynamo says. ``Life is what you make it.''
Experts say McGonegal has the right idea. Exercise is vitally important for older people.
It can decrease seniors' arthritic pain and improve their flexibility and bone density. It can decrease fat and prevent muscles from atrophying. And it can reduce cardiovascular stress that causes many heart attacks.
``Most of what we consider to be the result of aging is really just de-conditioning,'' says Gary Hunter, an exercise physiologist at the University of Alabama. ``A 60-year-old who exercises may be more fit than a typical 20-year-old who doesn't.''
With nine months of training, a sedentary person between 60 and 72 can improve his heart condition by 25 percent, according to a study by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Here are some other examples of how exercise can help older people:
Those who suffer from arthritis can work out in the water, says Barbara Waldon, a spokesperson for the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Information Clearinghouse in Bethesda, Md. Water's resistance improves joint flexibility and strength.
Every year 30 percent of people over 65 will have serious injuries after falling, says Dr. Michael Province of Washington University.
Exercises such as tai chi, which focuses on balance, can reduce the hazard of falls by 13 to 25 percent, according to an American Institute on Aging study.
Using weights and other muscle-building equipment helps reduce fat, says Erik Wijtmans, director of Ghent Physical Therapy in Norfolk. However, a caution: Improper use of exercise equipment can injure the back, knees and other joints. Older people should see a doctor before starting a weight-training program.
Ready to exercise? Here are a few options.
Tai chi
Inside an activity room at the Norfolk Senior Center, there's an exercise program with a slow pace. The movements are slow and subtle. The program teaches tai chi.
Tai chi consists of a series of fluid, deliberate motions and postures that helps balance and coordination, says instructor Lawrence Mann. Chinese hospitals use tai chi for physical therapy.
One member of Mann's class is 73-year-old Jayne Turet. She took the class to help ease her arthritic pain and lose weight.
``I got heavy, I got arthritic, I got worried,'' Turet says. ``The worst thing is when you can't move around as well as you used to. That worries you.''
Since she began taking tai chi classes, Turet says, her arthritis pain has eased.
Cross-training
The Senior Center also offers a six-week fitness class. There, older adults set fitness goals and have exercises tailored to their needs.
During classes, they can pump weights, ride a stationary bicycle or jog on a treadmill under the watchful eye of an exercise physiologist.
By the course's end, seniors will have learned to use the exercise equipment on their own.
Aquacize
At the Chesapeake YMCA, seniors take their exercise under water. Three days a week, a group of about 10 dons bathing suits and trunks for a workout in the shallow end of the pool.
They lift their legs and twist their waists. They jog and they dance.
Underwater exercise reduces back and knee strain, says Ghent Physical Therapy's Wijtmans.
At 57, Allen Porter could barely walk down stairs. He felt searing pains in his joints when he tried to reach into his back pocket. His wife, Leigh, 68, convinced him to sign up for the water aerobics class at the Y.
``After about two months I started to feel results,'' says Porter, now 59. ``It (aquacize) keeps your body toned up and loose to where the arthritis does not hurt as much.''
More than physical
Though the immediate goal of exercise is to improve the body, seniors say there are other benefits. Classes provide a meeting ground for people with similar interests.
``We have met people that we enjoy being with,'' Porter says. ``You get a lot more out of it than just the exercise.'' MEMO: Ask your doctor before beginning an exercise program. ILLUSTRATION: PAUL AIKEN/Staff color photos
``You can't sit in a chair and just deteriorate and die,'' says
McGonegal.
Still fit at the age of 86, not-quite-5-foot Lillian McGonegal takes
on the 32-foot-high wall at the Virginia Beach Indoor Rock Climbing
Gym.
Tai chi helps seniors like Victor Proulx of Norfolk strengthen their
balance and coordination.
Photo
PAUL AIKEN/Staff
``Life is what you make it,'' says Lillian McGonegal, 86, here
finishing a climb at the indoor rock climbing gym in Virginia
Beach.
Graphic
WHERE TO EXERCISE
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB