Older persons who maintain or adopt a lifestyle with increased moderate daily physical activity derive numerous health benefits. Furthermore, it is now apparent that aerobic power, muscle strength, balance, and flexibility are all important aspects of maintaining physical function, and each of these domains can be addressed by specific types of exercise. Physicians are among the more frequent and authoritative contacts older people have. If we recognize the value of including simple exercise specifics in our treatment plans, patients' health and mobility are likely to improve significantly.
Simple measures can have results that seem miraculous to patients.
Take an example provided by our editorial board member Bill Roberts, MD, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. His own mother, age 78, couldn't get out of a low chair because of weakness. She had been active in younger days, but had been doing less and less walking. Bill bought her a Mother's Day present of a graduated set of step aerobics platforms. When she reached 40 repetitions, she graduated to the 4-in.