Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Getting Old Isn's an Excuse to Give Up

Tales of “the older athlete” — Part 1

80 yr old completes 21st iron man. Defying laws of aging? Or does he just has the right attitude?

This weekend I witnessed 80 yr old scientist, Lew Hollander, from Bend Oregon, power through the finish line to complete his 16th ironman at Kona Hawaii, in a time of 15hrs 48mins, beating his time from last year by 34 minutes. Interestingly he completed his first ironman 25 years ago, at the ripe old age of 55 in a time of 15hrs 47 mins, only 1 minute faster. Hasn’t slowed down too much. What’s his secret…

“while you do lose some quickness, agility and range of motion, you NEVER lose your competitive spirit”

While most 55+ yr olds I treat couldn’t imagine doing even a part of an Ironman, when it comes to active goal setting, they’re often capable of setting the bar a little higher than they think. It’s our job as PT’s to facilitate and motivate them. When they suffer an injury, they become discouraged that “they’re getting older and slowing down”, and they will not be able to do the things they enjoy doing. The body is more than capable of building muscle and maintaining a good level of cardiovascular fitness as we get older.
Interestingly on the plane coming home, I was talking with the girl next to me and asked her how she did in the Ironman. She replied that she was here to watch her 60 yr mother complete her third Ironman. According to her daughter, she was never much of an athlete but picked up triathlons at age 50, joining a triathlon group in California. Over the past 10 years she has trained her way to be in “the best shape of her life”.
Why are triathlons good for “the mature athlete”?

Triathlons offer a good form of cross training, and often if training for a specific event, require athletes to train 6 times/week. It may sound intense, however 1-2 hrs of exercise a day can really help improve cardiovascular fitness (improving blood flow to the brain), joint nutrition and flexibility, and help slow the diminutive effects of aging. Training with a group or team provides structure, discipline and help bring out their competitive spirit, driving them to speed up and not slow down as they get older. Also the older athlete becomes more aware of their overall health, including diet and learning how to use their bodies more efficiently (part of our role is an educative one when working with them). Also structured exercise has been shown to help alleviate the symptoms of depression.

Lew Hollander demonstrates that the right attitude, focus and commitment to a goal, helps the body and mind keep going. Our role is to facilitate our patients to achieve these goals!

Check out his website:  http://www.lewhollander.com/pages/athlete.html
Luke Bongiorno

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