If you want to keep your bones healthy, then get moving, researchers advise. Why? Because as your hair starts to gray and the skin starts to wrinkle, your bones start losing mass. Osteoporosis is a major cause of disability in older people, resulting in the density and quality of bones being reduced, which in turn leads to weakness of the skeleton and increased risk of fracture. As many as one-third of women and one in five men over 50 suffer from the condition.

In an International Osteoporosis Foundation report entitled "Move it or Lose it," experts contend that in laying down the bone foundation which serves for a lifetime, exercise is just as important as diet. Bone is living tissue that responds to exercise by becoming stronger. Just as a muscle gets stronger and bigger the more you use it, a bone becomes stronger and denser when you place demands on it (University of Arizona College of Public Health, 2005).

The more bone mass you build before age 25 or 30, the better protected you will be against fractures during the years of gradual bone loss. So for those who have been actively involved in an exercise regimen for some time, you’ll be well protected.

Sure, you say, that's great for those already exercising for decades, but what about me? My muscles are soft like a month old pastry and my bones keep singing a painful symphony. So I don’t see myself hoisting weights like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Don’t sweat it. It's never too late to start exercising even when the pace of bone loss really picks up. Exercise increases your muscle strength, improves your balance and helps you avoid falls. And crucially, later on in life it still aids in maintaining bone density.

Choosing the right form of exercise

Three types of activities are often recommended for people with osteoporosis:

Strength training, which includes free weights, weight machines, body-weight training, resistance bands or water exercises.

Weight-bearing aerobic activities, which include walking, dancing, and low-impact aerobics.

Flexibility exercises, which help increase the mobility of joints, prevent muscle injury and improve posture.

Swimming and water aerobics don't have the impact your bones need to slow mineral loss. However, they are useful in cases of extreme osteoporosis or during rehabilitation following a fracture.

If you have osteoporosis, avoid high-impact exercises, such as jumping, running or jogging, and any which cause you to bend forward and twist your waist, such as touching your toes, doing sit-ups or using a rowing machine. This may also include golf, tennis, bowling and some yoga poses, as they increase compression in the spine and lower extremities and can lead to fractures in weakened bones.

But don’t let fear of fractures keep you from having fun and being active. Exercise in a slow and controlled manner, and always consult your doctor, a professional trainer or physiotherapist before starting any exercise program for osteoporosis. You may need a bone density test and a fitness assessment first.

Pain and aging - it seems that we see these two words together more and more these days. And for good reason. The health benefits of an appropriate fitness program are well documented - but on the face of it all – largely ignored with seniors.

Well, what happened? Are you so different than you were in your younger years? Ah yes, that was a time so unique, so special. You were strong then, and full of promise thinking you would live forever. Well, forever sure ain't what you thought it would be. Along came college, marriage, kids, jobs, more kids, grandchildren and the inevitable wow-what-happened-to-the-time reflection.

Remember when you used to look at your parents and marvel how age was creeping up on them? Well guess what – you’re now in their place and no longer the person you used to be. It seems everything works begrudgingly, if at all. Perhaps a little bit more unsteady, weaker on the stairs and less energy. And the brain now seems to have a mind of its own, often telling the body to walk into a room only to let it wonder why it’s there.
So does it all have to be that way? Is the body designed to give out and give pain? Does your brain really need to take inventory of every new creak, twinge, ache, and strain that now assaults your body? Not at all! It’s just that many seniors think, “Well, if I had known I was to live so long, I'd have taken better care of myself.”

And that’s the crux of the matter. Our body becomes frail because we have not used it properly, the way it was designed to be used. And interestingly, those who need it most partake of it least. There’s enough information available for seniors today to understand that exercise and nutrition go hand in hand to build strong bones and muscles. Together they help reduce blood pressure and that nasty gunk that tends to build up in the arteries. It’s that stuff your doctor keeps hollering at you about – called plaque. Yechh.

Anyways, it’s been said (by your doctor – remember?) that exercise is good for you in many ways. But I’m willing to bet that many seniors already know every reason why they should avoid it.

Well, let me also give you a few reasons why you should partake of it. When you carry a sack of groceries up a flight of stairs, your heart will not feel like it’s pounding a mile a minute. Your leg and hip muscles will be strong enough to actually propel you up the stairs without having to hang on to the railing. And when you come down again, you won’t have to worry about doing a nose plant down the first five steps because your strength gave out.

So now you’re ready to get going? No more beating around the bush, right? You’re going to lift yourself up by the bootstraps and get all fired up? I can see you pushing it to the limit and pulling out all the stops get the ball rolling and let it all hang out.

What’s that, right after your morning paper? C’mon now, you’ve already had your coffee, took your pills and feigned a couple of squats and stretches. If you’re waiting for something to fit your lifestyle, then you should have done that 30 years ago. Your concern now is to lose a few pounds and get moving in order to avoid shortness of breath, weak knees, painful arthritis and high pharmaceutical bills.

Ok, so we’re mobile, now what’s in the exercise plan? There’s lots to do out there that fits into the category of fun. You can walk or take a daily swim, bike a blue streak, or yoga and Tai Chi till you’re wobbly with serenity. Ask at your local YMCA or Parks & Recreation Society about available programs for seniors. These places might even have qualified instructor who will teach you to become one with your “Inner Arnold.”
If that doesn’t sound like fun, then you can accept chronic pain and get cranky to the point of curmudgeonism. But I pity the next salesman that rings your doorbell.

A U.S study published in the January issue of Arthritis Care & Research, again proved that exercise programs can help ease arthritis symptoms. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill evaluated the effects of an Arthritis Foundation regimen consisting of basic and advanced exercise classes twice a week for an hour a week for eight weeks. Others were put in a control group that did not take part in the exercise program. The 346 people, with an average age of 70 all had self-reported arthritis.

Even though twice a week is not a lot of exercise, the outcome was striking. After eight weeks, people in the exercise group showed significant improvements in pain, fatigue and managing arthritis. But that was not the only momentous achievement. Such is the power of proper movement upon the human body, that the pain and fatigue improvements were still evident six months after completing the exercise program.

The Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program emphasizes range-of-motion and low-resistance exercises, but the researchers found that people who completed the program also had increased strength in their upper and lower extremities. This suggested that strength training - a minor component of the program - is effective. No increase in exercise endurance was noted.

One of the researchers concluded: "Our findings indicate that the basic 8-week PACE (Arthritis Foundation Exercise) Program is a safe program for sedentary older individuals with arthritis to start exercising without exacerbating their symptoms."

Here’s the catch. Researchers now want to determine if further studies should be conducted to understand if offering the program more than twice a week and for longer periods offers additional benefits.

Are such studies the best, or most cost efficient way to determine such simple health outcomes? Not in my opinion. None of this information is news to competent Personal Trainers, who have practical experience with hundreds, or sometimes thousands of clients. I would not hesitate to say that the PACE (Arthritis Foundation Exercise) Program can be improved upon, and the results can be magnified substantially.

Study funding is a continuous process, taking incremental steps to maximize every finding and every incoming dollar, which restricts information getting out to the public in a timely manner. We are now living in 2008, and I have probably known about such outcomes for two decades. The conclusion is still relevant as a teaching aid, but as far as being news worthy, it is stale to those who make their living in the exercise field. Trainers have known all along that exercise is a good way to stay fit, keep muscles strong, and control arthritis symptoms. Daily range-of-motion, strength and endurance exercises help keep joints moving, lessens pain, and makes muscles around the joints stronger.

I was at the local Wal-Mart last summer when I ran into a good friend of Uncle Johnnie’s. Edie Karbunkle had been his lifelong friend, but the two had not seen each other in years.

“How’s your Uncle Johnnie doing?” he asked.

“Not well Eddie,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s got colon cancer. He’s dying.”

“Get outta town,” shouted Eddie. “I thought nothing but his own spit and venom would ever kill him.”

Well, that just about summed it up. Uncle Johnnie, you see, was a gloriously aggressive killjoy – a real cantankerous curmudgeon, in an obstreperous sort of way. Don’t get me wrong, he was nice as long as he wasn’t around crowds, children, politicians, loud music or those who possessed an opinion. Friends were few and far between, and tolerated only when he had his daily antacid, Beano, and shot of Drambuie.

The thing is, Uncle Johnnie had a temper. When he wasn’t opening his child proof aspirin caps with a hammer, he was usually out-shouting someone about the business of the day. He didn’t lose too many arguments because shouting was a skill he honed with lots of practice. His daily foul moods could leave people with a glaze over the eyes that would make a ham proud. It’s not hard to understand why having friends was not a priority in his life.
Not too many fancied his seasoned opinion on subjects either – whether food, fashion, wine or misdirected youth. Anyone younger than 50 was a scruffy headed young punk - viewed with a suspicion akin to a Russian border guard. Not a few girl guides were grilled on the suspicion of selling tainted sugar cookies at his door.

I’m not sure what made him so belligerent, but I do know what made him happy. You see, Uncle Johnnie was fond of saying he supported all movements . . . of the bowels. Colon health was an obsession with him and every day at 8 a.m., he would down a half litre of Wal-Mart’s finest prune juice (or nature’s turbo laxative as he called it) and wait for the inevitable battle of bowelsburg to start.

“Nothing better for you,” he would holler with sweaty anticipation. “Cleans out the pipes lickety-split like Roto-Rooter.” By 8:30 came the inevitable, “Incoming,” and woe to anyone who dared occupy the family throne at that particular time. Gaseous and half-mad with cramps, he would pound the bathroom door, hopping on one leg and cursing up a blue storm neither fit for sailor nor biker. The next 45 minutes were definitely bathroom downtime, and unless you knew a neighbour real well, you could end up looking like a beached blue whale - bloated and swollen.

It’s not known how Aunt Emma, his wife of 45 years could endure him so long, but she was definitely “the gentle wind that quenched the fire in the gullet of a real pain in the rear,” as a good friend of mine used to say. Beleaguered and frazzled are the only words that come to mind when I think of her, yet she endured all with a constant smile.

Still, they had love, in a wind whipped and strangled sort of way. It’s hard to see how she endured his freestyle, angry-at-the-world grouchiness all those years. Coupled with his back aches, foggy sight and sex drive of a week old doughnut, he was a real wet blanket to be around. I’m still not sure how Aunt Emma wasn’t nominated for sainthood.

The other person who stuck around was Eddie. But you’ve got to wonder why even he hadn’t been around for a few years. Did the passing years bring on a case of cantankorization extreme even for Uncle Johnnie? We’ll never know, because Eddie’s not talking and Uncle Johnnie is dead and buried.

Aunt Emma is fond of saying that on stormy nights you can hear the bellowing voice of Uncle Johnnie shouting, “Incoming.” I could never figure that one out until she told me years later that she had him buried with a bottle of his favourite prune juice.