Celebrate National Physical Therapy Month with Activity

Celebrate National Physical Therapy Month with Activity

By Erik Bassett, DPT
AZOPT Physical Therapist

This October, we celebrate National Physical Therapy Month (NPTM)!  NPTM is an awareness celebration held each October by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) to recognize the important roles physical therapists play in restoring and improving motion in people’s lives.  Nobody understands this more than the “Active Adult” community.  Also known as Baby Boomers, the active adult community is one of the largest and most powerful generations in the United States. They have redefined aging and are more educated, wealthy, and tech savvy than their parents or any generation preceding them.

However, a Harvard study has found that too many boomers are overweight or obese, increasing the risk for chronic health conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.  Further, as we age we may lose flexibility, strength, and balance, which makes staying fit after 50 challenging for even the most determined baby boomers.

Working with a physical therapist can help boomers address these challenges, maintain fitness, and avoid injury – in many cases without expensive surgery or long-term use of prescription medications.  Physical therapy is no longer simply just about rehabilitation.  Physical therapists can help restore and improve motion to achieve long-term quality of life.  Physical therapists significantly improve mobility, and ability to perform daily activities. 

Physical activity may be the closest thing we have to the ‘fountain of youth.’  Yet it’s a fact of life that health and mobility concerns often arise as we grow older. The good news is that we can keep many of these concerns at bay through regular physical activity.

Being active plays a crucial role in improving and preserving health and quality of life.  Regular physical activity can improve bone density, posture, heart and lung function, muscle strength, joint function, sleep, and memory, among many other benefits.  By sticking with a physical activity plan, Baby Boomers can lower their risk of health conditions such as fractures, falls, depression, certain cancers, stroke, hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes.

As experts in restoring and improving motion in people’s lives, physical therapists define physical fitness as having good aerobic capacity, muscle strength and endurance, and flexibility. We encourage adults to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of the 2, each week. In addition, we recommend working all major muscle groups — arms, shoulders, chest, abdomen, hips, back, and legs at least 2 times per week and incorporate flexibility activities such as stretching, dancing, and yoga, into a physical activity regimen.

Physical therapists are uniquely qualified to help boomers stay fit and mobile.  To learn more about how we can help you at AZOPT, please call us at 623.242.6908 or email fitafter50@azopt.net.

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is an individual membership professional organization representing more than 85,000 member physical therapists. APTA seeks to improve the health and quality of life of individuals in society by advancing physical therapist practice, education, and research, and by increasing the awareness and understanding of physical therapy's role in the nation's health care system.

Attention Baby Boomers: Stay Healthy While Staying Fit

Attention Baby Boomers: Stay Healthy While Staying Fit

Mitch Kaye, PT,

PTPN Director of Quality Assurance

“Sixty is the new 40,” say many early baby boomers celebrating their 60th birthday this year.

This generation of 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964, determined to ward off aging, has focused more on exercise and wellness than did their parents. They were at the forefront of the aerobics and fitness movement that began in the 1970s and are now flocking to health clubs in even greater numbers.

But, as a result, increasing numbers are suffering from “Boomeritis” — the phenomenon of boomers becoming injured while exercising and playing sports at a level often too intense for their aging bodies.

Sound familiar?

It’s not just about soreness or stiffness. As boomers refuse to let injuries get in the way of their exercise routines, they’re undergoing complex knee and hip replacements and surgical repairs to the shoulder, ankle and elbow. Orthopedic surgeons say they are performing such surgeries more often on patients in their 40s and 50s than in the past.

Physical therapists are also treating more boomer patients than ever, not only for rehab after injuries and surgeries, but also for customized fitness training geared to their musculoskeletal limitations.

Staying healthy and avoiding injuries

If you’re a boomer, regular exercise is key to preventing or improving chronic conditions that come with increasing age. But you may need to make some modifications to avoid injuries.

Here are some tips for staying healthy and avoiding injury — at any age.

• Moderate cardiovascular exercise will improve the quality of your life, but be sure to get screened by a physician first.
• Exercise at a pace appropriate for your age. Adjust your activities and know that you have limitations: You may only be able to get your heart rate up so high, you may have joints that are not as flexible, or you may have arthritis.
• Seek the advice of physical therapists to work on your flexibility, strength, endurance and posture. You need to know what posture to have while sitting at a computer, as well as how to set your computer station ergonomically to reduce the risk of neck, shoulder and hand injuries.
• Stretch on a daily basis. Try to incorporate gentle stretches for your neck, back, arms and legs. Hold each stretch 15-30 seconds and do 3 repetitions each.
• Perform gradual strengthening exercises. Begin with light weights, 10 repetitions with 2-3 sets, and gradually increase the resistance.
• Eat well-balanced meals with protein at each meal, including plenty of fruits and vegetables. Drink eight glasses of water daily.
• A loss of mobility following injury, hospitalization, or even sustained sitting positions at work can speed the deterioration of muscles, joints and bone. A physical therapist can help you regain mobility and improve quality of movement.
• Exercise mentally, not just physically, by doing crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, sudoku, Scrabble and other mind games.