Misunderstandings about fitness among the elderly

The core misunderstanding of elderly fitness has never been "too lazy to move", but the misunderstanding that "hardship = effectiveness" and "others' experience = universal standard". Survey data from the Domestic Sports Medicine Society in 2023 show that among elderly patients with sports injuries, more than 76% of injuries are caused by blindly following the wrong fitness methods, rather than problems with the exercise itself.

I really felt this when I accompanied my mother to the community hospital to get medicine last week. That day, Dr. Wang from the Rehabilitation Department on the third floor went to a free clinic and received 7 elderly people who came for consultation because of irregular exercise in the morning. The one who impressed me the most was Uncle Zhang, who lives in the front building of my house. He is 62 years old. Last month, he heard from an old man that walking backwards can cure lumbar prolapse and lower blood pressure. He walked backwards around the community for two hours every morning. Last week, his knees suddenly hurt so much that he couldn't go downstairs. It was found that he had knee joint effusion and patellar chondromalacia. It turned out that he had degenerative disease in his knees. When walking backwards, the pressure on his knees was 30% greater than walking forwards in order to maintain balance. The cartilage that was already worn thin could not withstand this.

The matter of walking away is not completely untouchable. Uncle Zhao downstairs in my house is a counterexample. At the age of 70 this year, he has been walking backwards for 8 years. He has never had a backache, and his legs and feet are more agile than many 60-year-old people. After asking, I found out that every time he walked backwards, he chose a flat road with no pits or rocks. He only walked for 20 minutes at a time. He also wore knee pads all year round, and his stride length was extremely small. He never walked hard enough. You see, the same method, if used correctly, is to maintain health, but if used incorrectly, it will bring about suffering. This is not a problem with the method at all. It is that everyone always likes to "copy homework without reading the questions", and they do it without even understanding their own physical foundation.

A more common pitfall than walking backwards is the "tree-bumping party" and "shoulder-slinging party" that can be seen everywhere in the community. Last month, I met Aunt Li who lives in the unit next door. She had difficulty raising her arms to put on clothes. When I asked her, I found out that she felt that her shoulder was "blocked." She bumped against the old locust tree in the community for 20 minutes every day. Dr. Wang said that shoulder and neck pain is often caused by muscle strain or bone spurs. A hard impact will cause damage to the already fragile soft tissue. Elderly people with osteoporosis may even suffer fractures. Of course, some old people will jump out and say that nothing has happened to me after being hit for five or six years. This is normal. If you have done physical work all year round and have sufficient muscle mass and can control the force of the impact well, there will be no problem. But if you switch to an old man who has been sitting in an office all year round and whose shoulders and neck have long since degenerated, wouldn't something happen?

There are also "Ten Thousand Steps Walking" and "Climbing Stairs to Reduce Blood Sugar" that have been praised as magical in recent years, and many people have been fooled. My aunt was diagnosed with high blood sugar before. I heard someone said that climbing stairs can lower blood sugar quickly. She climbed up and down the 18th floor three times a day. After climbing for half a month, her knees were so painful that she started to cry. She went to the hospital for a checkup and said that her meniscus was worn. The doctor said that she weighed 150 pounds and her knees already bear a lot of pressure. When climbing stairs, the pressure on her knees is 4 times that of flat roads. It is better to go to the community and walk on flat roads for half an hour and rest for ten minutes. It is stable and will not hurt the knees.

I have talked about this with different people before. A coach who teaches the elderly to practice Tai Chi in the community said that the elderly should practice slowly, and stability is the most important.； The coach who leads a strength class for the elderly at the gym also said that if you don’t practice, you will lose muscle quickly and fall more easily. Both of them are actually correct, but they are suitable for different groups of people. If you are in great shape and don’t have any underlying diseases, it’s good to practice small dumbbells and wall squats. It can build muscles and prevent falls. ； If you have high blood pressure or coronary heart disease, you must first start with gentle exercises such as slow walking and Baduanjin. You can't just do strength training as soon as you get up. It will be dangerous if your blood pressure spikes later.

Dr. Wang made a very vivid analogy at that time, saying that fitness for the elderly is like an old bicycle that has been used for decades. You cannot pedal hard and rush into potholes like a new mountain bike you just bought. You must first test whether the brakes are working and whether the chain is loose, and slowly walk around for a few laps to understand the condition of the bike, and then decide how fast to ride and which way to go. Now that everyone's life is better, they all want to live healthy and healthy for a few more years. This is originally a good thing, but don't follow the trend and practice whatever others say is good. If you are really unsure, go to a community hospital for a free physical examination for the elderly and ask the doctor what is suitable for you. It is better than anything else. When you are actually practicing, if you feel a little hurt or dizzy, stop immediately. Don’t believe the nonsense that “if it hurts, it will work” – your own body is much more reliable than other people’s experience.