Andy Hales during one of his sessions with an elderly client at the gym in Lija.

There is a stigma to elderly training in Malta, with the common belief that rest and medication are the answer to pain reduction and that exercise may cause harm.

As a result, third age training is not considered to be part of mainstream training and many elderly lose the opportunity to regain their function and independence.

“However, fortunately, elderly people who take up exercise as a daily routine have been rewarded with more strength, energy and greater independence,” says physiologist and personal trainer Andy Hales, a Maltese descendant from Melbourne, Australia, who runs Fitness Holistic, offering personal training with nutritionist advice, gym induction sessions and elderly fitness training.

Andy’s aim is to challenge the sedentary lifestyle culture in Malta and his vision is to empower people with choosing a healthy lifestyle to be able to live a quality life from an early stage right through to third age.

Numerous studies suggest that elderly training significantly improves chronic conditions such as rheumatism, arthritis, osteoporosis and Parkinson’s disease, which very often causes muscle rigidity, memory loss and speech impediments. Evidence shows that when completing moderate levels of exercise, Parkinson’s patients have seen improved smoothness of movement, flexibility and speech.

“Exercise, which can assist slowing the progression of the disease in the long term, needs to be viewed as an integral part of the rehabilitation care plan for the elderly in order to achieve optimal results,” explains Andy, who has worked in the health and fitness industry in his country of birth, Australia.

He says one of his clients, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, found it extremely hard to cope with her condition. However, with the help of her family and a team of specialised trainers, as well as with determination, her condition improved immensely. Following a carefully laid out daily exercise plan, she is slowly regaining her mobility, reflexes, speech and writing and is also able to control her weight.

With a healthy dose of daily exercise, the elderly woman has once again become confident in her physical abilities, gained back her speech and conversation skills, improved her writing and is also able to go for short walks unaided, carry moderate weights and prepare and carry out her own personal things. Exercise has helped her become fully motivated to continue improving.

“It’s clear that staying on the go helps the individual maintain muscle function, balance, strength and overall independence. There are way too many incidences, such as falls and heart failure, which cause premature deaths. Following a simple, evidence-based exercise regime, among other health modalities, will surely help reduce these risks and, most importantly, lead to a happy life during older age,” Andy suggests.

“On the other hand, elderly people train because they want to be able to perform the things they love to do without pain and constant breathlessness.

“They’d like to have the strength to walk to church, do their gardening or enjoy special occasions without anxiety and stress. Their number one goal is to maintain or regain their independence to enjoy life with friends and family and not be a burden on others.”

Andy carries out initial consultations with his elderly clients with focus and attention to detail, aiming to identify why they want to have more strength or why they want to eliminate pain or lose weight. Once this is established, his job is to prescribe exercise specifically towards this goal.

In many cases, elderly clients are on medication or have a history of previous injuries and co-morbidities. The personal trainer ensures that he obtains a full medical history to prevent any contra-indications.

Andy’s words of wisdom are simple: “You can regain your strength and achieve your goals. It’s never too late.”

Elderly people who take up exercise as a daily routine have been rewarded with more strength, energy and greater independence

Elderly clients have varied medical history and chronic conditions. However, the aim is always to keep exercise functional and related to activities of daily living, with sit to stands, wall push-ups and seated knee-raises, since these are generally simple, safe and achievable.

“Exercises on a chair are a favourite, because of the many different modes that tackle most muscle groups with a sense of security. With the elderly, whole-body exercise is a priority, combined with cardiovascular training on a treadmill or a brisk walk outside,” says Andy, who has worked with a diverse range of people, from sports athletes to clients with long-term neurological, metabolic and cardiac conditions.

“The biggest difference with elderly training is the intensity and mode of exercise. Physiological change is inevitable with our ageing bodies and, as a result, muscle mass, strength, bone density and aerobic capacity all decline. These factors need to be taken into consideration.”

The decline, however, varies from person to person, depending on how active the person has been in their younger years.

But the good news is that the elderly can still make an improvement in all areas, even if they’ve been sedentary most of their lives, Andy says.

“It is recommended that elderly people start their training at a moderate level (40-50 per cent of Heart Rate Reserve), compared with training levels for the young (60-75 HRR).

“Exercise modes for the elderly should be low in impact to reduce the risks of bone and joint injury. Walking, cycling and water-based activities are typical low-impact training modes. For those who have trained for longer and have increased their fitness capacity, tennis, golf and dance are great choices.”

Andy says lack of exercise and unhealthy eating is a global epidemic.

“Australians are no exception to the rise in long-term diseases and early deaths. However, I have found elderly people in Australia to be more open to modern health approaches for disease and/or management thanks to community-based initiatives with elderly group training and individual elderly programmes.”

These programmes have made exercise more accessible and give greater motivation to elderly Australians to attend programmes.

“Increasing elderly programmes in all areas in Malta will help elderly people change their way of thinking and be more open to a modern health practice, of which exercise is now a huge part.”

Fitness Holistic is based in Lija and Sliema.

http://fitness-holistic.com