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Why Our Senior Population Should Train Fast and Why Training Them Not To Is Killing Them!!!

By Randy Gruezo

As more Baby Boomers are becoming seniors every year, the rise of injury related falls are going to skyrocket. One of the best preventative measures against falls, according to the CDC, is a sound exercise program. However, it is this Coach's contention that current senior fitness programs are contributing to the problem because they fail to address the necessary components of fitness that are vital to the quality of life of our senior population.

[Sidebar] As a foreword, this is a topic I get highly emotional about because my parents are seniors as well. I will probably sound very critical at certain times, even sarcastic. It is because I'm frustrated with all the garbage that is spewed out there by so called "professionals" who never trained or coached a senior citizen before. It is my hope that I will open your eyes to the current state of senior fitness. Maybe you take something out of this for yourself if this article pertains to you or for someone you love and care about that are seniors.

Most health care professionals, actually people in general, look at our seniors as frail individuals that need to be coddled. Unfortunately, this is not the case. More of our senior population are joining gyms and partaking in recreational activities more than ever before. This is one of the fastest growing sectors of the fitness and recreation industry.

However, although more seniors are staying physically activity a view of the statistics from the CDC will lend some perspective:

Startling statistics, huh.

The current senior fitness model doesn't do anything to combat those statistics. The one major misconception out there is that seniors should perform all their movements slow and controlled. If this silly advice doesn't work to increase performance for the rest of the healthy population out there why is this crap being given to the senior population as good advice. Like Forrest Gump said "Stupid is as Stupid Does."

[Sidebar] I'm not implying slow and controlled are not necessary. In fact they are necessary especially if you're a beginner. However, when is the last time you saw someone fall in a slow but controlled manner? Never right? A fall takes a split second and training in the opposite manner will not give you a fighting chance for a positive outcome. That is why I said, if you're not training them to deal with fast movements they are more than likely to fall, which may lead to premature death or a very low quality of life. I didn't say it, the CDC did.

As we get older the first thing to go is strength and power. This is so because of the body's selective atrophy of fast twitch muscle fibers and neural conduction velocity (how fast signal gets to its destination) slows down as we age. Selective atrophy, simply put is the body kills off the muscles that are responsible for quick, powerful, and fast movements. These are the primary reasons why seniors can't prevent a fall.

You're probably asking why the body would do this?

The major reason is because of the Use It of Lose It Principle. If you're not giving your body a reason to keep it, it will get rid of it. You're body's only goal is survival, unfortunately by keeping something that it is not using (fast twitch fibers) it puts a burden on the system. The body being smart as it is notices that and will get rid of the fast twitch fibers especially since there are other muscles that can perform the same task. Most current senior fitness programs are teaching exactly what we don't want the body to do. Great program, right?

Have you ever seen a senior citizen walk? The ones I see drag their foot on the ground, shuffle walking for lack of a better term. They don't have the power or strength to just pick up their foot and put one in front of the other. Their accomplishing the goal of mobility, but it is very inefficient. That is not the way to live. It takes more time to perform a simple task.

The only way to keep power and maintain these muscles is by training fast. I'm not saying go out there and start jumping on top of boxes now. You still need to progress to that level of training. However, I am saying that you can incorporate speed in low level, low impact activities.

One of my favorite exercises for senior citizens is to stand up on your toes as fast as you can for multiple reps. That is a great exercise, but yet very safe, to keep the fast twitch fibers in your lower extremities particularly in the calf region. One for the upper body is to face a wall and lean against it. Putting your hands right beside your armpits push off the wall as hard as you can and repeat. This helps teach the upper body how to move fast just in case you slip and you need to grab something very fast to prevent the fall from occurring. There are many others, but use your imagination and more importantly common sense.

I hope I have shed some light on the current models of senior fitness programs and their inability to address the needs of the seniors participating in the programs. Remember exercising just to exercise and move (current exercise model) is a waste of time and energy. However, training with an intended outcome or purpose (maintaining strength and power) serves you much better in the long run.

About the Author:

Randy Gruezo helps dedicated and busy individuals achieve, at once unbelievable, elite levels of fitness in Miramar, Florida and surrounding neighborhoods. His unconventional, yet highly effective and time efficient fitness solutions are all backed by a 100% money back guarantee. Get his Free Report "5 Deadly Mistakes That Will Stop Your Fat Loss Attempt Dead In It's Track, and What To Do About It!" and more by going to his website www.randygruezo.com