Physical fitness for adults

M. G. Somadasa Kariyawasam (ex-Director of Sports SP)

BODY RESPONSE : Physical fitness of the adults also governed by the same principles of physiological factors that governs all other physical activities. In Ph; Ed there is a principle called ‘SAID’ principle. It is ‘Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand’.

That tells of the ability of the body to get adapted in respect of the demands placed on it irrespective of age factors. The body responds to a demand made on it in the form of exercises not respecting the age difference. So it becomes imperative to make demands from the body following the basic principle of physiology and Ph; Ed based on it.

The principle of Age Dependency is of utmost importance in putting into practice an exercise regimen at this critical age of adulthood and old age. The mode of exercises and their execution should vary in consideration not of the age only, but also the level of physical fitness.

Any execution of physical exercise program has to be followed after an evaluation of relevant physical parameters by a doctor to diagnose any risk factors as motility and morbidity rates are high at sport and exercise than at work.

Diagnosing risk factors - why?

At late adulthood and at an old age a person who wishes to pursue exercise regimen may not be aware that he suffers from an ailment where special risk is involved that needs specific attention in the pursuance of any field of exercise regimen. If by ignoring that factor he continues with his exercise regimen it is quite probable that he would do irreparable damage to his health.

Walking the best exercise

Doctor may advise if a person is in normal health to pursue a normal regimen of physical activity or if not would advise him in what sort of activity he should engage in. It can be safely said that for an adult or old age person to be fit in cardio-vascular and respiratory parameters with a bearing on the internal organs as well.

Running or Jogging may be risky

Running or jogging for person of the age group under review may be risky for it may develop physical parameters that are quite life threatening where there won’t be enough time to take remedial measures where as in walking the intensity (how fast an exercise is done) is most likely to remain at a steady state (i.e.; at a level physiologically sustainable to an unlimited amount of time) which if incapacitated would bring the activity to an abrupt halt possibly before any damage is done.

Speed time & distance

In walking except in persons trained for a long duration of time the pulse rate will remain around 100 per minute enhancing cadio-vascular and respiratory efficiency at an appropriate level to produce exercise effect.

A practitioner may increase either intensity or the duration (the time an activity made to bear on the body) one at a given time. The intensity (speed in walking) or duration (the amount of time or the distance) should not be increased simultaneously (in a single exercise session) It can be said that only one factor at a time either the speed or the distance is the safest to be increased in one walking session.

Keep this in mind

Age maybe a factor that every one should remember. A person in his enthusiasm or due to unawareness may be prone to increase intensity, duration or load all at once in heavy doses with the aim of getting maximum effects which is highly detrimental in effects. Little by little to do the trick is the golden advice that can be well remembered here.

Start it with a shorter duration

One who selects walking as an exercise regiment to be healthy and fit must start it with a shorter duration of time as 15 or 20 minutes initially and gradually increase it to reach an appropriate sustainable duration, in not less than three months.

In calculating the duration one may keep a tab on the watch, count the number of rounds walked or maintain an identification point on the walking course. If he intends to increase the load of activity he may do it either by increasing the distance or by striving to decrease the time taken in terms of the previous session.

That is if he walks for 4 km in 45 mts. he must never strive to do 5 km in 40 mts. He must either do 4 km in 44 mts. or 44 km and few hundred mtrs in his usual speed as one factor either intensity or load shoudl be increased in one attempt.

In consideration of the physiologic factors it is always better to increase gradually the distance first and then top up the speed (intensity) in longer number of session. If a participant experiences an unusual short of breath, he must ease off at once and stop the engagement.

Without much loss of time to consult physician, he must never fail, for that signal may be a symptom of a major ailment. It may be better also to understand that until the body is well warmed up one may feel some sort of uneasiness.

That is quite likely as the oxygen supply is not sufficient for the activity in engagement which is to be relieved when the oxygen loss is complemented as the activity is continued. It can well be said that the speed of walking is best be as started at a lower pace initially and gradually increase to sustainable level.

Why a time gap necessary

The number of sessions engaged in, for a week is best calculated as number of days as for fitness activist has no need of two sessions of training on a particular day, as to a competitive athlete.

For the body to get a training effect four or five days of walking will be sufficient. When exercises are done there must be a time gap for the body to recover.

If the activist is of old age or suffers from wearing out of the bone at the joints walking just to his health level will suffice as exercises over done bring with it the ailments of overuse syndrome that most athletes ultimately tend to suffer.

Intensity must never deviate

If walking is done as a remedial measure for hypertension, diabetes or weight reduction the number of sessions can even be increased to five or even six depending on the fitness level and the age of the person but he intensity must never deviate from the prescribed level. Exercise bears a certain amount of cost on the body.

Scientist goes up to the extent to declare that every ‘exercise enthusiast is self-selected for cardio-vascular disease’.

It is shown that certain beneficial changes in the physiologic functions that brings about by the exercises has the possibility of reacting adversely in susceptible persons. As an example the body in exercise in anticipation of an injury tends to increase the blood coagulation factor resulting deleterious consequences to those who suffer from cardio-vascular disease.

Flexibility at the joints

In addition to the benefits to the cardio-vascular and respiratory systems from exercise flexibility at the joints also can be achieved which is indispensable at the age groups under review. It cannot be said that all round flexibility benefits can be obtained only by walking.

It has to be obtained from a special regimen of activity as suppling exercises. It can best be done at the conclusion of the exercise regimen as warming down or separately leaving appropriate recovery gap if walking is done the same day. Flexibility regimen of activity better not be done immediately before, for it would be too exhaustive for walking to follow.

Supplementary exercises

Activity for the suppleness of the body strengthens ligaments and tenderns those are at practically very moderately used in limited activity. Walking activates joints of limbs but in limited sphere which asks for all-round exercises for efficiency.

Therefore supplementary exercises of body and limb bending and stretching will have to be done in addition to walking. If the flexibility activity is done at the end of walking it may be done less than half the maximum repetitions at the optimum capacity, It can be assumed that a person is fatigued at the end of the walking session.

Yoga exercises beneficial

Whether flexibility exercises are done or not, it is imperative that some walking is done at reduced intensity for at least ten minutes which should be necessarily followed by stretching activity. Yoga exercises would be quite beneficial for the speedy venous return and force lactic acid removal.

By doing so the heart is made to act as a pump to suck up the blood with lactic waste and get them purified through lungs and kidneys. After complete winding up warm water body wash followed by a normal cold water wash will facilitate the residuals drained in to be in the blood stream to be removed by the blood through kidneys and lungs.

For the people of this age group it may not be free of risk of spinal injury to engage in extreme forward bending exercises. Backward bending strengthens lumber region muscles without foreseen risk.

Meditation

As psycho-physical interaction is foreseen by physical educationists it may be a healthy practice to engage in mental activity as meditation not directing to supermundane sphere but to physical well-being.

This can be done profitably, first by practising Ana Pane Stati Meditation until concentration can be directed to the body organs making a demand for smooth functioning. It may take a long time before beneficial results are shown.

It may be well kept in mind in engaging in physical and mental activity the key words are gradualness and continuity and not to be hasty.

Healthy Tips

Healthy food pyramid:

The food pyramid demonstrates grains, whole grains, brown rice, cereals as a foundation of the pyramid. These nutrients are needed the most.

Prefer to have 6-11 servings, whole grains.

Enjoy at leat 3-5 servings of vegetables.

Choose 2-4 servings of fruits.

Consider 2-3 servings of dals, pulses, non vegetarian foods.

With fat, oil and sweets at the tip, recommends limited intake of these. Choose food with lower fat, especially saturated fat as well as in cholesterol and sodium.

Aim for healthy weight-balanced calories and physical activity. (Minimum 30 minutes daily).

Ants and Antibiotics

“Scientists have found that some ants grown mushroom crops to feed their young, even using antibiotics as a form of ‘pesticide’ to protect them,” says the international edition of The Miami Herald. Called leaf cutters, these ants transplant, prune, and weed their crops just as a farmer does.

The antibiotic, which protects the ants’ crops from an infectious mold, is produced by a bacteria that belongs to the Streptomycete family and lives on the leaf cutter’s outer skin.

Ted Schultz, insect specialist at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC., notes that while humans must constantly invent new antibiotics to overcome drug-resistant germs, leaf cutters have been using the same antibiotic successfully for aeons. Understanding the ants’ secret “could be directly relevant to human survival,” states Schultz.

A global health catastrophe

The world is headed for “one of the biggest health catastrophes” it has ever seen, thanks to an alarming increase in diabetes, warns Britain’s Professor Sir George Alberti, president of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). According to IDF figures, over 300 million people worldwide have impaired glucose tolerance, which often leads to diabetes, reports Britain’s Guardian newspaper.

Type 2 diabetes, once affecting mainly older people, is now making inroads into the health of Britain’s young who have grown obese because of a diet of junk food and a lack of exercise.

“The enormous frustration is that most of this (diabetes and its effects) is preventable through lifestyles,” says Alberti. Developing countries may also see diabetes soar as they adopt “the unhealthy diet and urban lifestyles of the affluent wold,” comments. The Guardian.

Seven effective tools for life

Death from HIV/AIDS and many infectious deceases can be greatly reduced at very little cost with the proper use of affordable tools and medicines. The following are some examples:

Latex condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV. Cost: $14 for a year’s supply.

Bednets can reduce child deaths from malaria by 25%. Cost: as low as $4 for an insecticide-treated bednet.

T B medicines are 95 per cent effective in curing TB. Cost: as little as $10 for a six-month course of treatment.

ORT is highly effective in treating dehydration caused by diarrhoeal diseases. Cost: $0.33.

Antibiotics for pneumonia are 90% effective. Cost: as low as $0.27.

Antimalarials are 95% effective. Cost: as low as $0.12.

Vaccines are 85% effecting in preventing measles. Cost: $0.26 per cent dose (including injection equipment).

(From UNFPA, release sent to Healthwatch by Dr. Viraj Peramuna)

An ageing planet

By 2050, 4 per cent of the world population will be 80 years or older. In 2000, persons in that age group, numbering 69 million, made up 1 per cent of world population. By 2050, the number will be 379 million, including 3.2 million centenarians.

There were an estimated 180,000 centenarians in the world in 2000. Japan will have the highest proportion of centenarians (8.8 per 1000 population) in 2050, followed by Finland, France, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland, each with two centenarians per 1000 population. In terms of numbers, Japan will also be in the lead with 959,000 centenarians, followed by the United States (437,000), China (471,000) and India (142,000).

Laughter the best medicine

Conversation between doctor and male patient.

“I had good news and bad news. The bad news is that you are ten pounds overweight, your blood pressure is too high, and your appendix has to come out”.

“Okay, so what’s the good news?

“When I went home, I found a note to say that my wife has left for good”.

Tissa Hewavitarane

US study on cost savings for hospitals

* In hospitals with an infection rate of 20% among surgery patients, the use of IMPACT yields cost savings of about $1,400 per hospitalisation, even after accounting for the cost of supplying IMPACT ($45 for well-nourished patients and $220 for malnourished patients.)

* In fact, IMPACT pays for itself among well-nourished patients and malnourished as long as the initial infection rates are greater than 0.6% and 2.8% respectively.

Cost savings for hospitals

* With a cost savings of about $1,400 per hospitalisation, a hospital that administers IMPACT to 1000 of its well-nourished surgery patients could save $1.4 million after an investment of only $45,000 in IMPACT products.

* In fact, IMPACT pays for itself in reduced use of pharmaceuticals alone.

* If the infection rate among surgery patients is 20% the number needed to treat with IMPACT to prevent one infection is about ten.

* The cost to supply IMPACT to ten well-nourished patients and prevent one infection is $450.

* Medications, including antibiotics, to treat one infection cost $3,432.

Health Ministry is studying this report.

Your questions on Family Health

Dr. Epa Seneviratne (MBBS Cey. MD FRCP - London FCCP) consultant Physician and ex-President SLMA, will answer yur questions on Family Health, through this page.

Please send your questions in writing to Dr. Epa Seneviratne Consultant Physician, No. 76/1 Main Street, Matara.

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Your questions on sports injuries and neurology

Dr. Githanjan Mendis (Consultant Neurologist and Sports Medicine) and Head of Sports Medicine Unit, Ministry of Sports will answer questions on Sports injuries, and neurology through this page. Please send in your questions in writing to Dr. Githanjan Mendis (Consultant Sports Medicine, Neurology and Head Sports Medicine Unit) Ministry of Sports, Torrington Square, Colombo 7).