Are you 55+ and looking for fun and affordable fitness programs? Whether you’re a beginner or already physically active, Good Neighbours Active Living Centre has a fitness class for you. Examples are Beginner and Intermediate Barre Fitness, Functional Movement, Interval Training, PACE (People with Arthritis Can Exercise), Beginner and Intermediate Pilates, Tai Chi, Total Body Conditioning, a variety of Yoga classes (Beginner, Intermediate, Chair Yoga, Strength & Yoga, Relax & Restore Yin Yoga), Drums Alive, Let’s Move, Let’s Dance and more! All of our fitness instructors are certified and trained to work with older adults. For more information, call Good Neighbours at 204-669-1710 or visit our website at www.gnalc.ca.
Community News
Tips for Staying Hydrated
Even though summer is winding down, it’s still important to make sure you’re drinking enough water to avoid dehydration! Especially for older individuals, dehydration can result in: dizziness, fainting, low blood pressure, and irregular bowel movements.
Most adults should drink at least 8-12 glasses of water per day for adequate hydration. Here are a few tips to ensure you’re drinking enough:
-Drink water with your meals and keep a jug of water on the table for easy access.
-Carry a water bottle with you at school, at work, or when running errands.
-For flavour, try adding lime, cucumber slices, or lemon to your water.
Strategies for Back Health
There are a few simple strategies to avoid back pain. One is to try to get up and walk around every 30 minutes. This avoids something called “tissue creep”, which occurs with prolonged sitting. For light lifting off the ground, consider a “golfer’s lift”. It is the same technique that golfers use to pick up the golf ball from the cup. Notice how they don’t round their back while both feet are on the ground? This may be useful for picking up clothes off the floor. For heavier lifting, the hip hinge (using your hips without flexing your back) is the most proven method for lifting weight off the ground.
The Eyes and Ears Connection
As we age, we’re more susceptible to hearing loss and vision changes. According to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), you’re at greater risk of social isolation and reduced community participation if you have vision loss. The same goes for hearing loss. Having both a vision and a hearing problem can affect your ability to lip-read, which is detrimental to communicating with co-workers, family, and friends. A decreased ability to socialize is linked to a greater risk of dementia. However, Statistics Canada reports that 90 percent of people with hearing loss can improve communication with a properly fitting hearing aid, counselling, or environmental changes.
Protect Your Pelvic Floor
You are at greatest risk of pelvic floor problems if you are in one or more of the following groups:
• Pregnant or postnatal women.
• Menopausal and post-menopausal women.
• Women who have had gynecological surgery.
• Men who have had surgery for prostate cancer.
• Elite athletes.
Your risk is increased if you:
• Regularly lift heavy weights (e.g., at the gym or as part of your job).
• Often have constipation.
• Have a chronic cough or sneeze.
• Are overweight.
• Have had trauma to the pelvis area (e.g., a fall, pelvic radiotherapy).
• Have a history of back pain.
Protecting your pelvic floor now will save you from problems in the future.
Returning to Work After an Injury
Motor vehicle accidents (MPI) and workplace injuries (WCB) can be stressful, especially if you end up needing time off from work. It is important not to rush back and risk further injury. Physiotherapists will provide the appropriate hands-on treatments and exercises, while offering safe return-to-work plans with graduated hours and workplace restrictions, if needed. Soft tissue typically takes 3 to 6 weeks to heal, depending on severity, and so functional testing will be done routinely throughout your treatments to ensure that increases in job demands are appropriate and will not flare up symptoms or cause re-injury.
Vitamin K2 Has Big Benefits
Vitamin K2 is a little-known vitamin essential for strong, healthy bones, and cardiovascular health. K2 stimulates production of bone-building protein osteocalcin and inhibits bone breakdown, maintaining bone density and decreasing fractures. It supports cardiovascular health by helping to move calcium into bones and away from the arteries. In the Rotterdam Heart Study, people with the highest (vs. lowest) dietary vitamin K2 intake had a 57% lower risk of death from heart disease. Vitamin K2 is available in a vegetarian-friendly, one-a-day, non-GMO supplement providing MK-7 to support strong bones and a healthy heart. Caution – If you are taking blood thinners, consult a health care practitioner prior to using products containing vitamin K. (Refences listed on Wellnessnews.ca)
Amazing Modern Prostheses
Do you know anyone with an artificial limb? If you said no, you’re probably wrong! Modern prostheses (proper name of an artificial limb) work so effectively and can look so convincing that you might not even know someone was using one. People with prosthetic legs can often climb stairs, walk, and run as well as those using natural limbs, while prosthetic hands have advanced to the point of individual control of all five fingers. You might think prostheses look boring, but they are among the world’s truly great inventions. By creating independence, they boost optimism and dramatically improve people’s lives.
Superior Forensic Healing
Forensic healing involves investigating your past using biofeedback methods (similar to kinesiology) and identifying the most impactful/stressful times that caused a block in your energy field. Then, the most appropriate healing pathway is applied to release the block. It is a structured natural therapy that combines science and intuition to deal with the accumulation of major stress, trauma, or abuse that is causing dysfunction in your life. The technique utilizes physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual healing pathways to help with many genetic/hereditary conditions; mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and trauma; and physical ailments and pain, among others.
Natural Product Review
Eminence Organic Bamboo Firming Fluid. The strengthening agents of bamboo and coconut deeply hydrates which makes the skin feel and look firmer and tighter. Ingredients include; Bamboo: contains soluble and insoluble fiber, antioxidants, proteins, vitamins and minerals Coconut Oil: moisturizer, antioxidant; restores the skin’s moisture barrier Coconut Water: moisture and pH balancing, toning; contains electrolytes, vitamin C, calcium, potassium, phosphorus Natural Retinol Alternative Complex: contains chicory root oligosaccharides and tara tree; smooths the appearance of wrinkles PhytoCellTec™ Swiss Green Apple Stem Cells: plant stem cell concentrate; delays the appearance of visible signs of aging. Monoi: soothing and fragrant Tahitian oil; hydrates and firms the skin.
When to Use an Orthosis
Commonly, an orthosis or some sort of brace might be required after a physical trauma. An example would be a neck brace used to support and immobilize the neck after sustaining an injury like whiplash from a car accident. An orthosis may also be utilized post-surgically; for example, after knee surgery, to provide stability, support the area, and reduce the external forces applied to the knee, thereby allowing the area to heal and potentially preventing injury reoccurrence. Talk to your doctor if you have a physical condition affecting your mobility, and see if an orthosis can be helpful to you.
