FITNESS FOR LIFE

fitness

for life

Dan Ritchie PH.D.

Functional fitness is the term we use to describe fitness as it relates to our body’s ability to function, performing the tasks we ask of it. And it’s so much more than what we traditionally think of when it comes to fitness.

Our functional fitness level impacts our ability to continue to enjoy the most important things in life as we get older.

Most people think about exercise in its most basic form — as a function of cardio, muscle strength, and weight management. But, what we now know about the body is that to be “fit” means so much more than being able to climb stairs and wear the same dress size you did 10 years ago.

When assessing functional fitness, we measure your power, aerobic energy, balance, response time, joint function, coordination, agility, and more. The goal is to make you better than fit — you need to be functionally fit to ensure that you can do all the things you want to — for as long as you can! Have you ever really considered how functionally fit you are at the moment? We have a short little quiz for you to take and then one exercise you can begin using right away either at home or the gym.

Rate yourself on the following 10 common functional activities with 1 being “no ability” and 5 being “fully capable.”

________ Ability to climb a flight of stairs without using railing for support. ________ Ability to dash in the rain to your car in a parking lot without thought/concern. ________ Ability to go on a brisk 20-minute walk while talking with a friend. ________ Ability to stand up from a chair without using your arms for lift or balance. ________ Ability to get up off of the ground easily, without rolling to a crawl position first. ________ Ability to pick up and carry a 20-pound toddler for 5 minutes. ________ Ability to play your favorite sport as well as you did 5 years ago. ________ Ability to travel wherever you’d like to go without thought/concern. ________ Ability to balance on one foot for 10 seconds with your eyes closed. ________ Frequency of nights you get a 'good night's sleep.' ________ Total

Next, add up your answers and compare your totals:

40-50 Congrats! You’re probably at the higher end of the spectrum for your age! Uh oh. Your functional abilities are declining, and perhaps you haven’t even noticed. Caution. Your current abilities expose you to a greater risk of injury, falling, and losing the ability to live independently.

20-39 0-19

Here’s one simple exercise that can help you function better and even improve your score on this test.

We call it the Get up Exercise. It really is as simple as the name implies, basically you are getting up from the floor using your hands as little as possible. If you need a wall, or chair nearby to help that is fine to start, but eventually you want to be able to get up with something in your hands! Repeat this for a series of 5 repetitions. Lance is doing it with a 10 lb dumbbell in his hand at the age of 78 so he is functioning at a pretty high level. You might need to use both hands at first, but eventually try to get up with the use of only one hand.

Dan Ritchie received his Ph.D. in Kinesiology with a minor in Gerontology. from Purdue University. He’s the co-founder and President of the Functional Aging Institute with expertise in personal training for special populations: athletes, stroke recovery, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s, etc. He regularly presents at national and regional conferences and has been active on committees for the American College of Sports Medicine.

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Mothers hold our hands for a short while, but they hold our hearts forever.

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