In this heartwarming video, three centenarians share invaluable insights from their life lessons. While Clifford Crozier (born 1915), likes to bake his own bread, John Denerley (born 1914) places online orders for groceries, looking quite comfortable using his tablet. Emelia Tereza Harper (born 1913) declares that she has no regrets whatsoever in her life.

The seniors offer a glimpse into their long life and offer solid advice on health, relationships and living a full life.

“Time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted; Be as independent as you can but don’t be reluctant to ask for help when you need it,” says Clifford.

“It seems to me that if you’re happy—happily married and happily living—that is the finest remedy for all illness,” says Emelia.

“You’ve got to keep up with the times; what was good 80/90 years ago doesn’t work these days,” says John Denerley.

Once you hear these young-at-heart centenarians speak from their heart, you will realise that age matters only if you believe it does; otherwise, it is just a number.

The post These centenarians prove that age is only a number appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

How can these special individuals build and maintain their muscle mass, increase range of motion, and improve coordination? How can they keep their independence, enjoy their hobbies, and be a positive influence for others? The answer is exercise

Exercise Is Best for All Ages

According to the National Institute on Aging, one of the best interventions for improving health at all ages, including old age, is exercise.

Without exercise, physical impairments will lead to greater functional limitations in everyday life. These limitations can include difficulty getting out of a chair, climbing stairs, lifting and reaching.

Fortunately, much of the decline we see in these individuals is reversible. Exercise not only improves their overall health, but also positively affects their everyday life too.

Exercise creates stronger muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments. It improves mobility, coordination, range of motion, and creates better posture. This increased activity will improve functional mobility and delay the onset of physical frailty.

Fortunately, much of the decline we see in these individuals is reversible

Work on Your Major Muscle Groups

You will need to first strengthen your ankles, knees and hips. These muscles are used for walking, standing and getting up from a chair. Strengthening the abdominals will increase your core stability, posture, balance and general mobility.

Working on your chest, back, arms and shoulders will assist with pushing and carrying things, walking when swinging arms, spinal posture, pulling motions, and will help reduce the impact of a fall.

Exercise for Persons With Limited Mobility: How to Begin

Before you begin to exercise, talk to your physician and let them know you would like to start a strengthening programme. Then start with a simple workout of stretching and strengthening exercises. Begin with 2 – 3 workouts a week.

Gradually progress your programme to 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily. Your exercise session can be spread out over the course of the day in 10 minute sessions. Make sure you perform strengthening exercises at least two days per week.

For your strength workout, start with a single set of 8 – 12 repetitions. You can use either free weights, your own body weight, or a resistance band. Work your large muscle groups before your small muscle groups. Make sure to rest for a minute between sets.

Strengthening the abdominals will increase your core stability, posture, balance and general mobility

3 Important Exercise Principles

Seniors and others with limited mobility resulting from a chronic health condition should follow these three simple exercise principles.

1. First, the exercise should be functionally related to your daily life. If you have stairs at home, then work on your leg strength. If you have high cupboards, work on your shoulder range of motion.

2. Second, your exercise should be challenging. This will allow you to make the type of gains in mobility and strength that will truly make a difference in your life. For example, uses ankle weights when performing leg exercises to increase the benefit of the exercise, and effectively improve your leg strength.

3. Lastly, you should allow for fluctuation in your health. Some days you will be sick and unable to exercise. You may have an exacerbation of a health condition like arthritis or asthma. You may feel increased pain in your joints or have trouble breathing. Exercise to the best of your ability for that day. Listen to your body and don’t overexert.

Exercising With Health Conditions

Coronary heart disease

Avoid high intensity exercise which can cause a coronary event and know the warning signs for stopping exercise. Strength training is most important for this population because seniors with heart disease can grow increasingly sedentary. This results in decreased muscle mass and strength, loss of physical function, and the inability to perform daily activities.

Hypertension

Resting blood pressure increases with age. Monitor your blood pressure and make sure that exercising is not causing abnormal fluctuations, especially during the early stages of your programme.

Safety First

Make sure you warm up your muscles with a few minutes of limbering exercises for the neck, arms and legs. Begin strengthening with a light weight at first. Then gradually add more repetitions to your exercise, then more weight, then more sets.

Only work in a pain free range of motion. Discontinue an exercise if it is painful, or reduce the repetitions. When lifting a weight, never hold your breath. Breathe out on the effort part of an exercise, and breathe in during the relaxing part of the exercise. Avoid hyperextending or locking joints. Allow 48 hours between exercise workouts.

Strength training is most important for this population because seniors with heart disease can grow increasingly sedentary

Yoga and T’ai Chi

Mind-body practices like yoga and T’ai Chi Chuan can greatly benefit those with limited mobility. The movements in these practices integrate the mind or the awareness of your body movement with the exercise, and is coordinated with your breathing. In other words, the movements are done in a meditative state. Many older adults find these types of exercise beneficial in managing their fitness and health concerns.

Aquatic Training

Many children and adults use aquatic training as their preferred means of exercise. The benefits of aquatic exercise include increased oxygen uptake, lowered blood lipid levels, increased muscle strength and endurance, and improved flexibility. Exercisers are more able to move through a complete range of motion in water.

Seniors love the playful and social benefits along with the physical improvements with aquatic exercise. The hydrostatic pressure is like a support stocking. It aids venous return and increased range of motion. It also reduces swelling, particularly in the feet.

The buoyancy and viscosity of water decreases the weight bearing impact of exercise, and reduces the compressive forces on the joints. It also decreases the fear of falling, especially in stroke patients and improves stability especially with limbs that are more flaccid.

It’s Never Too Late to Begin Exercising

Recent research and studies show that exercise is safe and effective for women and men with physical disabilities, chronic health conditions, and age related changes, regardless of abilities. Muscle strengthening improves your ability to perform activities of daily living, which in turn, improves your overall health and sense of wellbeing.

It is never too late to start an exercise programme if you are a person with limited mobility.

Four essential exercises for those with limited mobility

1. Sit to stand

Begin seated on the edge of the chair, bring your toes under your knees, lean over and stand up 10 times.

2. Triceps press

Begin seated on the chair with your hands placed on the arm rests. Extend your elbows and lift your bottom off the chair 10 times.

3. Seated row

Place an elastic band on the chair in front, raise your elbows and pull straight back while pinching shoulder blades together 10 times.

4. Back extension

Be seated on the edge of the chair with an elastic band held firmly on the chest. Lean back with the elastic band on the chest. Repeat 10 times.

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I took a deep breath and tried to figure out what I had done wrong. I thought I had inserted the correct PIN number into the machine, even taking care to cover the keypad so as to hide the number. While I was pondering over my possible error, the girl at the counter shoved the card reader towards me again. Her irritation was clear on her face as well as in her voice.

“Could something be wrong with your machine?” I asked, smiling sweetly.

She probably wanted to say, “Perhaps with your memory, you fossil”. Instead, she shot back, “Please, insert the correct PIN.”

I could sense the fidgeting of the people impatiently standing in the queue behind me. Not wanting to prolong my embarrassment, I said, rather fibbed, loudly, “Ah, I see, I’m using the blue card. Unfortunately, the PIN I entered was for my other card, the green one, you see.” All the while I wracked my brains to try and recall that elusive four-digit number.

“What senior moment?” I said, panting a little. “I have brain cells in a thousand shades of grey, young man.”

Finally, the PIN number hit me like a bright light. I was so excited at my triumph that I mistakenly shouted out the number. “I got it! It’s 1464,” I exclaimed. The girl at the counter didn’t share my elation, choosing to roll her eyes instead.

Relieved to be done with the ordeal, I was waddling across the car park with my grocery bags when a young man came up to me.

“It’s alright Aunty, you were just having a senior moment,” he said smiling, obviously trying to make me feel less uncomfortable about what had happened inside.

“What senior moment?” I said, panting a little. “I have brain cells in a thousand shades of grey, young man.”

“Sure,” he said, still smiling. “But after announcing your PIN to the whole store, you might want to consider changing it,” he added and hurried off. Good thing he reminded me, for the thought had not even crossed my mind.

Forgetfulness is not equal to ageing

Although most people associate forgetfulness with ageing, it is not necessarily a “senior problem”. It is not that older people forget things. We just take a little longer to remember, that’s all. My son once said to me, “Mum, admit it, your memory is getting weaker. It happens to all old people.”

So I explained my point using an analogy that his generation would understand.

“What happens to a computer when the hard disc is almost full?” I asked trying to sound as erudite as a computer expert, though I was more in the league of a cat trying to pose as a tiger.

“It slows down,” my son said patiently, knowing full well the extent of my knowledge of computers.

“Exactly,” I said, happy I’d elicited the answer I wanted. “That’s exactly what happens with older people. We’ve got so much knowledge stashed away in every nook and cranny of our brains that, naturally, we take a little longer to find information when we need it.”

It is not that older people forget things. We just take a little longer to remember, that’s all

In fact, gerontologists, who study various aspects of ageing, state that it’s normal for people’s brains to work slower as they age. That struggling to remember stuff doesn’t mean we’re developing a mental disorder.

Calling memory lapses ‘senior moments’ is ageist

It is a common misconception to equate memory lapses with ageing. Anyone, at any point in their life, can experience moments of forgetfulness. It is ageist to think that only older people forget things.

Labelling an incident when someone has a hard time remembering something as a “senior moment” is therefore incorrect. If you ask me, it would be more appropriate to equate moments when people display a more mature understanding of people or events, or share their wisdom with others as ”senior moments.”

While I concede that not all seniors are wise, I refuse to accept the common belief that ageing is the transformation of capable people with sharp brains into morons who can’t remember simple things. I believe that there are many positive changes that come with growing old.

The Golden Years: the pleasures of old age

With age, comes the ability to make more sense of the world and to better appreciate life and all that it offers. Also, once your days of being a spring chicken are far behind you, you sensibly begin giving importance only to the things that matter.

Having witnessed, endured, and experienced many different life situations, seniors are in a position to mentor younger folk and act as their guides in life. Therefore, the world needs to look at us as the old brooms who know all the dusty corners and not as burned out old fogeys who belong in the past.

I believe that there are many positive changes that come with growing old

It’s frustrating to me when my children worry that because I’m a senior citizen, I need to be looked after by other, younger people. They have no idea of how resourceful I can be when caught in a difficult situation. For instance, the other day I was again facing a potentially embarrassing situation at a supermarket. I was at the checkout counter, waiting to pay my bill, when I suddenly remembered I had not memorised the PIN of my new debit card.

I had no option but to think on my feet, even if it meant coming up with a lame excuse.

I gave the girl at the counter my sweetest “helpless old bat” smile, wrung my hands, and said, “My dear, I just remembered that when I switched handbags this morning, I forgot to transfer my debit card into this bag.”

Although the girl at the counter scowled at me, she cancelled the bill. I quietly slunk out of the market, cool as a cucumber. I slipped into a nearby store, bought just essential items with the cash I had on me and went home, pleased as hell for wriggling out of an awkward situation.

While forgetfulness is often wrongfully labelled as a “senior problem,” it sure comes in handy in some situations. When you’re an oldie and spin a yarn about forgetting, they really believe you forgot.

Don’t panic

Forgetting things or taking longer to remember is not the same as suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s. So don’t press the panic button if you find yourself struggling to put a name to a face or find the exact word to express yourself or if you go to the fridge and forget why you went there. However, if you fail to recognise the fridge as yours, then that would be a matter of concern.

This was first published in the August 2015 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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