** Exercise classes keep Flo fit at 100 **

[Alan]

How exercises classes are keeping elderly pensioners on their feet.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/health/7534545.stm >

My family has a hisory of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) - smokers and obesity being the main causes so I send this story to my brother and 2 sisters who are prime candidates, and can see what our 83 yr old has been like these last 5- 10 years.

 

[W2R]

My mother's continuous care facility had regular exercise classes designed for their elderly residents. I attended with my mother when visiting her. The class was a lot of fun and got my blood moving around a little. They used 2-pound and 3-pound dumbbells and that was about the level of exertion required for the class. Of course they had heavier weights but the elderly at the class could not handle them. One poor woman could only use the 1-pound dumbbells.

My mother went regularly until she was bedridden just before she died at almost 98. I think it gave her a sense of accomplishment and self worth, and a little structure to her week. It also helped her to remain mobile and self sufficient longer than might otherwise have been the case.

They accomodated those in wheelchairs and the instructor demonstrated modifications of the exercises for them.

 

[Moemg]

My Mom who is 93 exercises everyday . I think it is great but I admire my grandfather who at 84 decided he would eat ,drink and smoke what he wanted and the world be damned !

 

[Alan]

My Mom who is 93 exercises everyday . I think it is great but I admire my grandfather who at 84 decided he would eat ,drink and smoke what he wanted and the world be damned !

That's great. Your grandfather sounds just like my Dad but now that Dad has this pain in his legs all the time and can hardly walk, he never stops complaining and saying "ee, I niver expected to ind up like this".

The fact that his father and both his older brothers had the exactly the same lifestyle and ended up like he is now means it doesn't surprise me one little bit.