Increase the 4S's of Fitness strength, stamina, suppleness and skill
When the word fitness is used people usually think of younger people, sometimes in lycra or leotards, or they picture athletes and fitness is obviously very important to these groups, but fitness is relevant at every age and actually becomes more important and more relevant the older you are.
The concept of fitness has two dimensions.
Risk reduction and coping with disease will be discussed separately but we do need to focus on what some might see as the narrow definition of fitness, the way we think of fitness with young people without taking disease into account and it is helpful to think of four dimensions of fitness – strength, stamina, suppleness and skill. Suppleness is probably the most commonly neglected of these four but each needs attention.
Stamina can be increased easily, by brisk walking, if people are able to walk briskly out of the house. The three other ‘S’s, strength, skill and suppleness, are perhaps best supported by joining a gym or going to a local wellness hub (the Optimal Ageing Programme is trying to ban the use of the word ‘leisure’ in these centres) or finding a personal trainer but ten minutes a day properly balanced and supported by a trainer or teacher of Pilates, Tai Chi, Yoga or the Alexander Technique plays an important part in maintaining, and indeed increasing strength, suppleness and skill and age by itself is no value to significant increases in all four ‘S’s.
Good reports on fitness and activity have been produced by ukactive and AgeUK so the evidence is strong
HOW COULD YOU USE THIS KNOWLEDGE TO ACHIEVE YOUR OWN OBJECTIVES?
HOW COULD YOU USE THIS KNOWLEDGE IF YOU ARE SUPPORTING SOMEONE ELSE?
Many people, particularly people with long term conditions feel that exercise or physical activity is not for them so they need to be informed of the vital importance of increasing activity
FIND A TRAINER
There are specialist trainers , particularly those working with Later Life Training , start by looking at the website of this evidence based organisation.
When the word fitness is used people usually think of younger people, sometimes in lycra or leotards, or they picture athletes and fitness is obviously very important to these groups, but fitness is relevant at every age and actually becomes more important and more relevant the older you are.
The concept of fitness has two dimensions.
- Firstly a person’s fitness determines their maximum level of ability, how fast can they run, or can they touch their toes for example.
- The second aspect of fitness is at least as important and it is the reserve that the individual has, the reserve on which they can call when asked to increase activity levels. If you took fifty people aged seventy and looked at them you might be able to guess their level of fitness but if you asked them to run half a mile you would have a much clearer idea after that challenge. Some, the least fit, would not return at all and those that returned would show varying degrees of distress and take varying levels of time to recover.
Risk reduction and coping with disease will be discussed separately but we do need to focus on what some might see as the narrow definition of fitness, the way we think of fitness with young people without taking disease into account and it is helpful to think of four dimensions of fitness – strength, stamina, suppleness and skill. Suppleness is probably the most commonly neglected of these four but each needs attention.
Stamina can be increased easily, by brisk walking, if people are able to walk briskly out of the house. The three other ‘S’s, strength, skill and suppleness, are perhaps best supported by joining a gym or going to a local wellness hub (the Optimal Ageing Programme is trying to ban the use of the word ‘leisure’ in these centres) or finding a personal trainer but ten minutes a day properly balanced and supported by a trainer or teacher of Pilates, Tai Chi, Yoga or the Alexander Technique plays an important part in maintaining, and indeed increasing strength, suppleness and skill and age by itself is no value to significant increases in all four ‘S’s.
Good reports on fitness and activity have been produced by ukactive and AgeUK so the evidence is strong
HOW COULD YOU USE THIS KNOWLEDGE TO ACHIEVE YOUR OWN OBJECTIVES?
- Focus on the need to improve all 4 S's
- Ask yourself how often you take exercise, that is activity more than walking to carry out daily tasks
- Decide that you are going to do more activity by following our links
HOW COULD YOU USE THIS KNOWLEDGE IF YOU ARE SUPPORTING SOMEONE ELSE?
Many people, particularly people with long term conditions feel that exercise or physical activity is not for them so they need to be informed of the vital importance of increasing activity
FIND A TRAINER
There are specialist trainers , particularly those working with Later Life Training , start by looking at the website of this evidence based organisation.