♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists on the internet ♪
- Hi folks I'm Bob Schrupp, Physical Therapist.
- Brad Heineck, Physical Therapists.
- Together we are the most famous physical therapists
on the internet.
- Well, Bob, in our opinion, of course.
- Our humble opinion.
Today we're gonna talk about
how much activity do older adults need?
So the subject is physical activity, Brad
and I wanna make sure right now we emphasize
how important physical activity is for health.
Even modest amounts can affect your health.
You don't have to run a marathon.
- Right. Exactly.
- We just want you to get off the couch.
- Right (laughing) and we're physical therapists.
We work with all ages of people.
We're literally experts at this.
And I think we can - That's right.
I think we can talk to it.
Let's name some benefits, Brad, of physical activity.
- Well, one thing, it helps keep you thinking
and learning skills sharp.
You know, if the body is not active it affects the mind
and how the mind works.
They're definitely a...
- It's funny how that works.
- Yep. (laughing)
- Okay. It's gonna improve your sleep quality.
- Oh, right.
- I mean, you work hard. You're gonna be ready for bed.
- Right and when you sleep better you're gonna have a-
- Everything goes better.
- Exactly, your body needs that time
to relax and rejuvenate.
Also it strengthens your bones and your muscles.
And I think that's one thing
that people may not be aware of,
we know it strengthens your muscles,
but your bones are directly influenced.
- Exactly.
- That osteoporosis factor can be really-
- Osteopenia, osteoporosis.
I mean, the bones react to stress on them.
- Right.
- They become thicker.
It can reduce the risk of depression and anxiety.
- Oh right. Right.
- Mental health is so important nowadays
and this helps keep you on track.
It's probably one of the best drugs you can do
for mental health is the natural drug,
- Right, exactly.
- of physical exertion.
- And I can speak to that personally, as well as-
- So can I.
- You know, my wife, if I'm getting a little ornery,
she says, you need your exercise.
- Get out! - Yeah. I'm happy to do it.
- Go ride a bike.
- Decreases the risks of cardiovascular disease
and type two diabetes.
Cardiovascular disease is the number one,
- The heart killer.
- The number one killer in the United States.
- Yup. I saw that.
They just mentioned that.
- 500,000 people roughly,
I don't have the exact number in my head, but yep.
- All right and it also can reduce the risk
of certain cancers, just by being active.
So there are some guidelines.
We have different organizations
that provides the guidelines.
Like according to
the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans,
you should do at least 150 minutes.
That's two and a half hours a week.
- Sure.
- That's a fair amount.
I saw a lot of that ended up being about 60 minutes a day.
- If you're starting out,
you're not gonna jump in to - No.
- 150 minutes in a week.
You take weeks to build up.
- Right.
- To find things you enjoy doing
and make it into an enjoyable part of your life.
- Exactly, we're talking about a lifestyle approach here.
So don't jump right into this.
But the other ones,
I wanna mention,
the Institute of Medicine, U.S. Dietary Guidelines
and the American Cancer Society
all recommend around
a 45 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorously extra activity.
Vigorously is that a word?
Vigorous activity.
- Sure. I'll give it to you, Bob.
- All right, thanks.
- It's definitely clear. So yeah, again,
don't get scared off by this.
Everyone has their own levels of moderate and vigorous.
- Well, I just wanna say
"You get off the couch and do something.
(Brad laughing)
"I'm really happy with you."
- Right.
So, let's give some examples of moderate activities.
Okay, Brad?
- Walking briskly.
- Sure.
- So if you're walking with someone you're talking to them,
you should be able to keep a conversation going,
but you notice that you're working.
- You're working a bit hard.
- Yep.
- So cleaning heavy, boy.
- Heavy cleaning.
- I bet you do that a lot, don't you?
- Oh yeah.
- Well, you do actual.
- Well no, I clean the bathroom once a year,
whether it needs it or not.
- There we go. (laughing) - Just kidding.
- Next one, Brad.
- Washing the windows.
- Ah, Mike used to do that, our camera man.
- Yeah, professionally actually.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, so obviously you gotta be careful reaching up high
if you have shoulder problems or balance issues.
So here's its just an example.
- Vacuuming, vacuuming actually is,
we find this for a lot of people with back pain.
It's difficult on their back.
- Sure. Mm-hm.
- So it's a very, it can be moderate intensity.
- Yup. Yup.
Depends. If you've got one of those vacuum cleaners
that have the power motors in the drive.
Mopping the floor,
obviously, again, as long as your back is healthy.
- Same with sweeping the floor.
It's like the next one, Brad.
- Slow dancing ballroom and line dancing.
- That's what you can do with your broom and your vacuum.
You can slow dance with them.
(Brad scoffing)
Didn't you see on, who was it?
- I didn't see it.
- Oh, (laughing) it'll come to me.
- Mowing the lawn.
Yeah. Be careful.
I've got a friend he's in his seventies
and he's mowing the lawn yet, but his lawn is not-
- We're not talking about a seated mower
or we're talking about a push mower.
- A push mower and it may be one
that has the power transmission, which is kind of nice.
Especially if you got some hills.
So good judgment on all these.
- Bicycling. Especially a light effort.
I'm not talking about really gearing down like you do.
- Yeah, if you got a hill to climb,
that's a major issue versus bicycling on the flat
or gentle rolling hills.
- I though of the actor I was thinking about,
Robin Williams,
when he danced around with the vacuum cleaner.
- Oh, "Mrs. Doubtfire." - Mrs. Doubtfire. Yeah."
♪ Dude looks like a lady. ♪
(both laughing)
- Okay. How about badminton?
- Badminton, yeah.
It's another one of those activities
where you forget about getting tired so much
'cause you get involved with the activity.
- We were just talking about this one, Brad,
pickleball - Pickleball.
- It's gone crazy over the nation.
- Does the ball have a pickle?
I don't know why the pickle comes in.
- Where the pickle comes in. Yeah, exactly.
- We're not pickleball players, yet.
- Tennis, but doubles. - Doubles right.
- So you're naturally going back and forth so far.
And again, all these with good judgment
and moderation involved.
- Using an elliptical trainer.
It's nice because they're easy on the legs,
easy on the knees.
- You don't have that impact
it's a smooth motion. - Right it's smooth.
- And you got something to hold onto with your hands
and it helps your balance.
As long as you get on and off at safely, of course.
- Any others, Brad?
- Gardening.
- Yeah. That was my dad's thing, boy
He always said too, that keeps him in shape, these gardens.
- And there's something I think,
I have a friend who was a farmer.
He talks about getting out into the soil
and the fresh air.
- Oh yeah, The nature.
- Yup and watching the-
- Double benefit.
- Yep. Watching things grow and have that feeling,
of feeling good about what you're doing.
And then water aerobics.
I go swimming two to three times a week
and there's always a water aerobics class
that comes in, right.
They kinda kick me out actually.
- Sure.
- But it's wonderful.
And there's usually about 20 or 30 people.
It is the retired crowd and they're just having a ball.
- Yeah, it's a great community type activity.
- I mean, they're not playing water polo with a ball
but their enjoying it very much.
- So, basically again,
we want you to work up to that 60 minutes maybe, every day,
but that would take a long time.
There's multiple studies that show the benefits
of walking anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 steps a day.
- That sounds like a lot.
- A lot of people got the watch.
- Oh yes.
- You know the Fitbit.
- Yeah, don't count it literally. I mean you could but...
- My wife is addicted to hers. Oh gosh.
- I would get addicted to one, if I had one.
- She, at night, will often, "Oh my God,
I'm 800 steps light.
And she starts walking around the kitchen.
I'm not kidding you.
She's just addicted to hers.
And she does 10,000 steps by 10 in the morning.
- Oh really? And then she can rest?
- And then does 20,000 steps.
No, by at night.
So if you can do 2,000 steps a day,
we're really happy with you.
That's really highly beneficial.
- I just wanna clarify, if you want 60 minutes.
I think it's fine to do 20 minutes in the morning.
- Oh absolutely.
- 20 minutes in the afternoon and 20 minutes,
break it up, break it up.
- Yup, exercise bits.
- You... ah, forget it,
we'll get on with that another video.
- All right.
- Enjoy the day and be careful.
- Robin Williams,
♪ Dude looks like a lady. ♪
(both laughing)
(musical flourish)