Vintage Fitness Continuing Education
Easy Upper Body Boosters
Arm, shoulder, and chest strength are crucial to maintaining independence and warding off injury.
POSTED APRIL 30, 2020, 2:30 PM
When your upper-body strength dwindles, you risk more than the loss of power to open a car door or lift a bag of groceries. “It’s not just a strength problem; it may also be a length problem. Shorter muscles reduce your range of motion. And if you do any reaching activities without adequate range of motion or muscle strength, like hanging curtains or putting dishes in an upper cabinet, you can get a small tear in a muscle or rotator cuff or tendinitis in the shoulder,” explains Clare Safran-Norton, clinical supervisor of rehabilitation services at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The oomph in the upper body
A number of major muscles and muscle groups enable us to use our arms and shoulders throughout the day.
The deltoid muscle moves your entire arm at the shoulder joint and helps you wave your arm overhead.
The biceps muscle on the top of your upper arm helps bend your arm at the elbow joint, making it possible to raise a glass to drink.
The triceps muscle on the underside of your upper arm straightens your arm at the elbow joint, so you can push a window up.
The pectoralis muscles in the chest allow you to move your arms up, down, in, and out, so you can push something away from you or lift something up.
The trapezius muscle in your upper back moves your shoulder and shoulder blade, so you can shrug. The rhomboid muscles, under the trapezius, move your shoulder blade back and forth (think of starting a lawnmower).
The latissimus dorsi muscle at the side of your mid-to-lower back pulls your arm down, so you can pull a window down. Also crucial to upper-body strength is the rotator cuff in each shoulder: the group of tendons and muscles that helps you raise and rotate your arm.
Why do muscles change?
At around age 35, we start losing muscle mass at a rate of 1% to 2% per year. After age 60, muscle loss accelerates to 3% per year. This deterioration is called sarcopenia. “Your muscle cells shrink, and you also lose some of the speed at which the motor neurons fire messages from the brain to the muscle. So you become slower, and you lose muscle mass, bulk, and power,” explains Safran-Norton. If you’re less active when you’re older — maybe because of energy or arthritis pain — you face a “use it or lose it” problem: that sedentary lifestyle and disuse of the muscles can also cause them to shrink or tighten.
Get your power back The great news is that you can improve muscle size and strength. Safran-Norton recommends working with a physical therapist to get back on track. The therapist can evaluate the strength and length of your muscles and the range of motion of your joints, and then design a program to fit your particular needs. A program typically involves gentle stretching to keep muscles supple, plus strengthening exercises like triceps curls, with low amounts of weight (just a few pounds) and a high number of repetitions. That’s because you don’t need to bulk up; you need to condition your muscles and increase their stability and endurance. Just remember that once physical therapy is over, it will be up to you to keep your muscles strong, either by going to a gym or maintaining your own home workout two or three times per week. We’ve given you a few easy upper-body boosters below. For more workout ideas, check out the Harvard Special Health Report Strength and Power Training for Older Adults (www.health.harvard.edu/spt).
Strategies to promote better sleep in these uncertain times
POSTED MARCH 27, 2020, 2:30 PM
These are unprecedented times. Given the real and tangible threat of the coronavirus pandemic on personal, community, and societal levels, it is normal to experience anxiety and sleep problems. Sleep is a reversible state marked by a loss of consciousness to our surroundings, and as members of the animal kingdom, our brains have evolved to respond to dangers by increasing vigilance and attention — in other words, our brains are protecting us, and by doing so it’s harder for us to ignore our surroundings. Despite the threat of the coronavirus and its rapid and pervasive disruption to our daily lives, many of us are an in a position to control our behaviors and dampen the impact of the emerging pandemic on our sleep. Cultivating healthy sleep is important; better sleep enables us to navigate stressful times better in the short term, lowers our chance of developing persistent sleep problems in the longer term, and gives our immune system a boost.
Daytime Tips to Help with Sleep
-Keep a consistent routine. Get up at the same time every day of the week. A regular wake time helps to set your body’s natural clock (circadian rhythm, one of the main ways our bodies regulate sleep). In addition to sleep, stick to a regular schedule for meals, exercise, and other activities. This may be a different schedule than you are used to, and that is okay. Pay attention to your body’s cues and find a rhythm that works for you and that you can maintain during this “new normal.” Make this a priority for all members of your household.
-Get morning light. Get up, get out of bed, and get some light. Light is the main controller of the natural body clock, and regular exposure to light in the morning helps to set the body’s clock each day. Natural sunlight is best, as even cloudy days provide over double the light intensity of indoor lighting. If you are living in an area with shelter-in-place, try to expose yourself to natural light by stepping outside, at a distance from others, for at least 20 minutes.
-Exercise during the day helps improve your sleep quality at night, reduces stress, and improves mood. Fit in exercise as best as you can. If you need to go outside for exercise, maintain proper social distancing at least six feet away from others. Avoid any group exercise activities, especially contact sports. Many gyms and yoga studios are now “at home” and offering virtual programs at low or no cost.
-Don’t use your bed as an escape. While the gravity of the pandemic certainly makes us all tired, try not to spend too much time in bed during the day, especially if you are having trouble sleeping at night. If you must take a nap, try to keep it short — less than 30 minutes.
-Avoid caffeine late in the day.
-Helping others may help with feelings of uncertainty or unease. Even if you do not work in an “essential” industry, your role in maintaining physical distance is critical in our fight against coronavirus. If you would like to be more actively involved in helping people, seek out ways to contribute your skills, donate money, or leverage your social capacity locally, such as providing virtual social connection to your loved ones by checking in on elderly family members or a friend, or providing in-kind donations. Doing altruistic acts may provide a sense of purpose, reduce helplessness, and alleviate some of the uncertainty contributing to sleep problems.
Nighttime Tips to Help with Sleep
-Prepare for bedtime by having a news and electronic device blackout. Avoid the news and ALL electronics at least one hour before bedtime. Avoid the news and ALL electronics at least one hour before bedtime. (Yes, it’s so important, I am saying this twice!) The nonstop news cycle seldom provides new information in the evening hours that you can’t wait until morning to hear, and will likely stimulate your mind or incite fear, making it harder to fall and stay asleep. Remind yourself by setting a timer or putting your television on the sleep setting. Make a pact with your family members to respect these parameters.
-Cell phones, tablets, and all electronic devices make it harder for your brain to turn off, and the light (even dim light) from devices may delay the release of the hormone melatonin, interfering with your body clock. If you need something to watch to help you unwind, watching something that you find relaxing on TV from far away and outside the bedroom is likely okay for a limited time. You can also curl up with a book or listen to music. Minimize alcohol intake. While alcohol can help people fall asleep, it leads to more sleep problems at night.
-Set a regular bedtime. There are certain times at night that your body will be able to sleep better than others. If you feel sleepy but your brain is busy thinking, it can’t shut off and go to sleep. It may be helpful to sit down with a pen and paper in the evening and write down the things that worry you; you can review this list in the morning and attend to any important concerns. If you have a bed partner, enlist their support to helping you stick to your schedule.
-Reduce stress. The evening and bedtime hours are also a good time to perform some relaxation techniques, such as slow breathing or yoga. There are many free resources available for bedtime meditation. Create a comfortable sleep environment, a place that is cool, dark, and quiet.
-Don’t spend too much time in bed during the night (or the daytime). Minimize spending time in bed in which you are not sleeping. If you are having trouble going to sleep or staying asleep, don’t stay in bed for more than 20 minutes. Get out of bed and do a quiet activity — read a book, journal, or fold some laundry.
What if I am doing all these things and I still can’t sleep?
This may be a sign that you have a clinical sleep problem, such as insomnia disorder or sleep apnea. If you are doing all the right things, and still have trouble falling or staying asleep, you should discuss your sleep problems with your doctor.
What if I have been diagnosed with a sleep disorder?
If you have a history of insomnia and take sleep medications and can’t sleep, contact your doctor for medical advice, including questions about making changes in your medication. Many doctors are doing virtual visits now and they can review your current sleep problems and changes to management. You can also consider online programs for insomnia, such as Sleepio. If you have obstructive sleep apnea you can check out the American Academy of Sleep Medicine guidelines for COVID-19-related questions. Remember, don’t stress out about sleep Disrupted sleep is a normal response to stress, and it is okay to have a few nights of poor sleep as you adjust to new routines and big changes to your work and personal life. But with some simple measures you can preserve your sleep and improve your well-being during these uncertain times. We can’t control what’s happening in the world right now, but we can control our behaviors and dampen the impact of the emerging pandemic on our sleep.
An efficient (and thrifty) way to exercise at home
Get stronger and Stay fit with just a few props and simple moves.
Updated: March 20, 2020 Published: December, 2019.
As the world grapples with the effects of COVID-19, social distancing has become the new normal – at least for now. With gyms, beaches, and parks temporarily closed and people being encouraged to stay at home, it’s easy to let your exercise routine fall by the wayside. And working from home or lacking a daily routine can make it hard to keep up with any physical activity at all. But you can get a good workout in the comfort of your own home, even if you don’t have a dedicated workout space or fancy machines. In fact, you don’t actually need any props, although a few small dumbbells can come in handy. Muscle-strengthening exercises are being increasingly recognized as playing an important role in cardiovascular health. “Most people only think of aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, for heart health. They don’t always consider strength training Also known as weight training or resistance training, strength training refers to any exercise that uses resistance, either from your own body weight, free weights, or specialized machines.
Why weight training helps
A recent study found that people who did strength training for just one hour a week had a lower risk of heart attack, stroke, and death from heart disease compared with people who didn’t do any. The two main factors that seemed to mediate this benefit were stronger quadriceps muscles (the muscles in the fronts of the thighs) and a decrease in body mass index. The study was published in March 2019 in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Stronger muscles help your body pull oxygen and nutrients from the bloodstream more efficiently, lightening the load on your heart. And when you boost your muscle mass, you burn more calories, both during and after exercise. Two to try First, check with your doctor before doing any new exercise regimen, which should ideally include some brisk walking or another activity that raises your heart rate. To add some simple strength training to your routine, I suggest starting with two basic exercises that strengthen a wide range of muscles in the body: a squat and a bent-over row (see photos below). Begin by marching in place and doing some arm circles for a few minutes to warm up your muscles. For an easier version of the squat, simply stand from a seated position. Use your hands to push on the arms of the chair for support, then graduate to standing without using your arms. Try the bent-over row exercise first without weights, just to see how it feels. When you’re ready, you can try holding a dumbbell (anywhere from 2 to 10 pounds), which you can buy at a big-box store or a sporting goods store. For each exercise, try to do three sets of eight to 10 repetitions (reps), resting between each set. The nice thing about these exercises is that you can do them in your living room while watching television or listening to your favorite music (or an audiobook or podcast). As you become stronger, gradually increase the number of reps you perform in each set, For examples of other strengthening exercises to add to your workout, see the National Institutes of Health’s Go4Life website (go4life.nia.nih.gov).
