Southern California's No. 1 Golf Source
SITE
SEARCH
GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
fitness
|
||||
|
You’re never too old to exercise, and nearly 65 percent of residents at Leisure World in Laguna Woods use one of the facility’s two fitness centers. The workload keeps fitness supervisor KC Sheahan busy. She took time, however, to answer some questions about senior fitness. Q: Isn’t it inevitable that as we age we will lose our strength and flexibility? A: Not if a person exercises regularly, preferably with a program designed by a qualified fitness trainer. As a senior, it’s best to assess your personal goals prior to meeting with a trainer. The trainer will address issues of form, number of repetitions and the correct weight to use depending on whether strength, flexibility or both are desired. Q: How can a senior improve hand-eye coordination? A: The best way to improve hand-eye coordination is to continue to practice skills that highlight this need. We use a reaction ball drill to help in this area. Place four dots on a wall, then throw and catch progressively smaller balls, at an increasingly faster pace, using the dots as targets. We start our seniors with a beach ball. Q: What about improving concentration? A: Meditation, yoga, tai-chi and tai-chi-chuan all seem to help concentration. Q: How about improving flexibility, specifically in your hip area as pertains to the golf swing? A: For the hips, lay on your side with your legs extended and lift your top leg away from your lower leg. Then return your top leg and repeat. Q: Senior golfers often experience lower back pain. What can they do? A: Since lower back pain can be helped by strengthening the abs, I suggest sit-ups, keeping the stomach muscles tight by using a more restrictive movement. Q: Why do so many people who begin exercising quit after a short time? A: Many first-time exercisers get discouraged when they don’t see an immediate change in their appearance. It generally takes about six months before the necessary chemical changes occur inside your body before you see external changes in your shape or muscle tone, although you should begin to feel an increase in energy after a few sessions. After about six months into a program, if you want to continue to see change in your appearance it will be necessary to intensify your workout — a good reason to have a fitness trainer overseeing your progress. In weight training, be sure to allow between 24 and 32 hours between sessions for your muscles to recover. n |
||||
RSS Subscribe
