How Physical Therapy Helps Retirees Keep Dreams Alive During the Golden Years
Are you among the millions of Americans who have high aspirations for how you’ll spend the extra time during your post-retirement years? Whether you plan to travel the world, pick up fly fishing, spend more time woodworking or sign up for a golf league, your physical fitness level will be a factor.
A 2010 study suggests that the fitness declines we typically attribute to advancing age are largely caused by living sedentary lifestyles—which are on the rise due to the prominence of desk jobs in the workplace and activity-limiting personal technologies including smart phones and voice-activated remote controls in the home. Still, this runs contrary to the widely held belief that any declines in our physical abilities are caused solely by biological aging. Do we really have control over how active we’ll be in our “golden years”?
In a word, absolutely. The study—which examined 900,000 running times of marathon and half-marathon participants aged 20 to 79—found no significant age-related performance declines in those younger than 55 years old, and only moderate declines among the older cohorts. In fact, more than one-quarter of runners aged 65 to 69 were faster than half of the runners aged 20 to 54.
And for those thinking that these runners must have been lifelong enthusiasts of the sport, the study revealed that 25% of runners aged 50 to 69 were relative newcomers—and had started marathon training within the previous 5 years. The researchers concluded that even at an advanced age, people in the “non-athlete” category who engage in regular training can reach high performance levels.
If this revelation is intriguing, then perhaps it’s time for you to get moving! If you aren’t currently active, then you likely have questions and concerns about where to start. And if you regularly engage in physical activities, then you’ve probably set goals that you’d like to achieve. Either way, there’s no shortage of tools and resources to help you live a more active lifestyle but one reliable place to start is with a physical therapist.
The benefits of beginning with a physical therapist consultation are many: PTs are trained to assess your abilities and limitations, consider your health concerns, demonstrate safe exercises and build a plan to increase strength, function and mobility. Whatever your passion is, physical therapy will help you be fit and injury-free so you may enjoy life’s many pursuits.
"Thanks so much - from the front desk, to my therapist Danny, to the owners. I felt supported by caring professionals while I recovered from my work related injuries. I felt encouraged to work hard to fully recover, and I feel like I have. Negotiating health care services can be overwhelming, but A2 made getting the care I needed straight forward. Thanks again for everything."
− David
"It was very helpful to be taught exercises I could do at home to alleviate the pain in my back and to make my stomach/diaphragm stronger. It was a great experience and I took away a lot of knowledge to help myself."
− T. Docherty
"Dan was great to work with, as was the whole staff at A2 PT. I have been through PT on my shoulders twice before with different places and by far this has been my best experience. As a fit person, who wanted to remain active during my recovery- I felt like my PT program covered that. Dan knew what my preferred activities were and tailored my treatment to be able to do those things. The treatment plan was more like a workout and I loved it. I felt like each week I was getting stronger. I also appreciated that I was asked for constant feedback about how I was feeling/doing. If I ever need PT again (fingers crossed I don’t) I’ll be back!"
− Tracey