Vincent Bossley - Fitness and Exercise Fun for Baby Boomers and Seniors

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The Great Exercise Body Ball

Breathing and Core Muscle Activation

Miscellaneous Exercises

Nutrition, Fluids and Diet

Well Being, Games and Other Interests andActivities

The Finish (and Beginning for You)

You know, when you are still in your mid tolate fifties you are feeling pretty good with yourself. If you haveled a reasonably active life and followed a moderately healthydiet, your physical being will still be in good shape and you areprobably looking forward to enjoying your life for many years intothe future. This is as it should be and fortunately for most of usthis is how it works out. Statistics tell us that we are livinglonger than ever before and supposedly more healthily. The onlyproblem with statistics is that they never tell you the full storyand I wonder how much of that longer life is propped up by theenormous amounts of drugs and medications that are consumed by allof us these days. Having said that, I believe that if we take a fewprecautions and exercise on a regular basis there is no reason thatwe cannot meet these criteria and have a happy, healthy andfulfilling life well into our senior years. This of course includesa healthy regime of a balanced diet, hydration and nutrition. Thesethree areas are a completely full subject of their own and it isnot within the purpose of this book to delve into them. We areinterested in exercise and fitness.

All of this sounds sensible and perfectlyachievable, which it is, but what if something happens to disruptthis plan? Here again medical statistics show us that once we haveturned sixty a serious motor accident or heavy fall canexponentially affect our whole body system resulting in recoverytimes much, much longer compared to a younger person in theirtwenties for example. This is what happened to me. Five years agoon an overseas trip I fell and fractured my left hip. I consideredmyself to be reasonably fit and had followed a good diet withregular exercise for many years. I was appalled at the effect thisaccident had on my system. Following the operation (pin and plate)whilst away, on my return home I went in to hydrotherapy treatmenttwice weekly. I cannot tell you how painful this was initially, butit was the best because the nurses forced me into doing theexercises in the water, which I am sure if left up to me, I wouldnever have done at home! It also brought me in contact with otherfolks who had similar or even worse injuries than I had. As in allthings it became easier and less painful as time went by and I wasable to finish the hydrotherapy treatment after three months.

Crutches are of great assistance during thistime but after a month or two you are desperate to get rid of them.They get caught up in all sorts of the wrong things and can be asmuch a liability as an asset. However, one cannot be without themduring that initial period until such time as walking is possibleagain. Your main concern during this time is to get strong enoughso that you can get back to and carry on your normal life again.Having reached that point you consider that everything from here onwill be fine and apart from limping there would be none or verylittle after effects. Wrong! It transpires that your whole systemis affected in many ways which then emerge to catch you unawaresand proceed to take their toll and additional time to come backinto balance again. Without going into details, in my case mysystem was so far out of whack, it took pretty much all of twoyears to get it back into what I considered to be a reasonablebalance again. This is when I began to look at various forms ofexercise to strengthen parts of your body so that in the event of aserious accident the body is better equipped to handle the trauma.What I have written here is very much garnered from my ownexperience in rehabilitation and observation of other folks as theygo about their daily lives. I trust that you find it useful andhelpful in keeping you trim and healthy

Tennyson's famous line: 'In the spring ayoung man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love' kindles in usall that indefinable feeling of lightness of being, joy, upliftingand rebirthing that suddenly makes us feel alive again after awinter of numbness. In a moment, the sky seems bluer, the puffyclouds more white and the green of the trees take on a depth ofcolour not noticed seconds before. The fresh new spring airbreathed to the bottom of our lungs explodes inside our systemlifting us almost off the ground, and you wonder how you could beso blind as not to have noticed this earlier.

Here, in the Southern hemisphere, spring inall its glory is upon us, bringing with it once more that sense ofwonder at all things suddenly bursting forth with the new seasons'unfettered and ebullient energy. The spring you suddenly find inyour step is a direct result of this energy. The spring of waterwelling up from the ground is another definition and closelyrelated. Yet another is a coiled steel spring which is used in amultitude of products manufactured by man. This simple six letteredword covers a broad range of emotions, meanings and practical usesaffecting our everyday lives.

Can you imagine how it would be if you couldexperience that uplifting and joyous feeling all year long? Wellyou can. It is quite simple and once learned will never leave you.Let me explain. It is largely a question of how you walk. Most ofus fall into the habit over time of throwing one leg and then theother out in front of us and projecting ourselves along the walkwayin this manner. Our legs are rigid, muscles taut and the heels ofour feet then tend to come down hard on the pavement. This sets upa jarring action which then reverberates upward all the way throughour spine. Looking around and studying how other people walk willhighlight this immediately. In fact, the longer you look the morewalking styles you will notice and if you look longer again many ofthem appear more and more exaggerated and finally rather comical.If you have ever seen the Monty Python skit 'Department of funnywalks' you will understand what I am talking about.

The problem is that all this works in favourof the pull of gravity. We spend our whole lives fighting thisgreat and relentless downward pulling weight on our bodies and iteventually wins out by having us prostrate at the end of our time.You will notice in folks as they grow older that most tend tobecome more round shouldered. The head droops forward puttingfurther strain on the neck vertebrates and they become morestooped. As this progresses, their walk slows and heads in thedirection of a shuffle. This is a result of a lifetime of gravitydoing its work and the person not being aware of how to counteractthis effect. In the meantime however, we can fight it and keep ourbodies more healthy and supple as we go through life, and thereforeassisting the extension of the life of a robust and healthy body agood while longer.

This is where we come to the action of a'spring in our step'. Instead of clumping along in that familiarbone jarring fashion (think of the long term effects) that most ofus have become used to, mainly because we have been walking thisway for most of our lives and it is so deeply rooted into oursubconscious it has become automatic and performed unthinkingly.This must be rooted out, exposed for what it is and replaced with asmooth action allowing you to walk unfettered and free, glidingrather than stumping along. When studying other peoples walkinghabits you will notice that some do in fact appear to be glidingsmoothly along. All actors and models are taught this and it isimmediately visible when they walk by.