Albert Goldman spent 40 years taking care of children. Now the retired pediatrician is taking time for himself.
When he retired in 1990, he resumed painting, volunteered one day a week for an arts group and joined his wife in swimming and walking. Life suddenly had shifted into high gear.
“I was never unfit, but I never exercised, other than lifting 20 to 30 kids a day onto examining tables and racing between two offices,” explains the75-year old Lincoln Park resident.
Fast walking appealed to his impatient side. But race walking hooked his competitive nature.
Participating in races and winning in his age category, plus the attendant social life, turned Goldman into a cheerleader for fitness at any age. Dropping weight and adding energy aren’t the only benefits; he and his wife, rarely use their car, figuring a movie at Water Tower Place is only a 40-minute walk away.
Dick Minto has no time to read Modern Maturity magazine. When the display designer retired at 63, he discovered the good life.
“Retirement forced me to get my life in order,” explains the 77-year-old bachelor. He dropped the daily “hot dog and two Snickers bar” habit, lowered his cholesterol and weight by eating moderately, took acting lessons, sold a short story and learned how to use the computer. Gardening was his only exercise until he finally gave into his neighbors’ cajoling and joined them in their group walks on Saturday. Now he also includes floor exercises and, on occasion cycling.
“Fitness is easy now,” he said. “It’s just a habit.”
What began as a six-week class in self-defense for Ida Lockett opened a new door. At 53, the former postal clerk discovered seido, a form of Japanese martial arts, taught by her self-defense instructor. Its slow, precise moves appealed to her inner dancer. She dove into reading, enrolled in classes and graduated to new schools and teachers. Despite being the oldest in most classes and often the most uncoordinated, she was determined not to quit. On the agenda for the 64-year-old is earning a second-degree black belt. A sense of accomplishment and feeling stronger physically are among the benefits.
“I used to be a bit of a loner. But now I feel good about myself,” says the divorcee and mother of two grown children. “I can go into a room and reach out to new groups at church or the gym. It gives me peace of mind.”
Folks such as Goldman, Minto and Lockett challenge the way society, government policymakers, retailers, demographics experts and medical professionals are regarding seniors, aging and fitness.
As the number of Baby Boomers older than 52 hovers around 76 million nationwide, Chicago counts seniors (60 years and older) around 400,000. They represent 14.7 percent of the total population.
That number is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2020, according to the City of Chicago Senior Housing Market Study.
Promoting active lifestyles among Boomers and seniors is a priority being advocated by groups such as the American Medical Association and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Doing light to moderate activity for 30 minutes at least three days a week is supported by research by Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas. Such exercise promotes more efficient oxygen utilization, which helps the lungs and cardiovascular system to work efficiently.
It’s never too late to start, according to researchers and exercise physiologists. Scott Sherman, an internist with Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center in California, studied the exercise habits of 2,400 men and women who were also tracked for two decades in another study. People who were active later in life had a lower overall mortality rate. They also cut their risk of developing heart disease.
Muscles can adapt and respond to training at any age, says Christopher Hearon, an exercise physiologist and assistant professor of exercise science at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago Regular physical activity reduces the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. It helps maintain bone strength and balance to avoid falls.
Wendell Williams trains June Lackey, 79, and Iris Jones, 61, friends who work out together at a health club in Hyde Park.
“They’re typical of today’s seniors,” he says. “They’re better informed about fitness and insist on taking charge of their health care,” explains the 25-year professional trainer and teacher.
He coaches Lackey in using weights and kickboxing. For fitness novices, he stresses that 30 minutes of activity can be washing the car, doing housework or walking to the store.
“Every move counts,” he says.
Kenneth Cooper, president and founder of Cooper Aerobic Center in Dallas, says seniors who are active display an innate survival instinct, even when their health begins to decline, which he attributes to a youthful mindset. Patients in their 80s and 90s want to live longer, despite the problems associated with aging.
Katherine Flynn exercises in private. Instead of joining group classes at The Georgian, a retirement home in Evanston in which she lives, the 91-year-old retired schoolteacher spends 20 to 30 minutes three times a week on an exercise bike. It gives her time to say a rosary or two, she says.
For most of her life, Flynn says, exercise amounted to dog paddling in the lake during summers. At 65, she quit a 40-year smoking habit and started walking after dinner as a substitute for a post-meal smoke. She added an exercise bike to her routine when she remarried at 73 and her second husband used the bike to offset effects of Parkinson’s disease.
The sessions on the exercise bike make a difference.
“I always feel better,” says Flynn. “My legs aren’t so stiff.”
Exercise and participating in senior sporting events such as Chicago’s Senior Olympics help Gerda and Joe McHugh maintain a positive attitude. Gerda, 70, is caring for her 76-year-old husband, who is fighting cancer. Walking has replaced the track and field events he excelled in.
“In training, you always set goals,” says Gerda. “Our goal now is to walk to the corner. Most of the time, I talk so much, we go further.”
She teaches yoga, water exercise and fitness three days a week in retirement homes and at Galter Life Center in Chicago. Her strategy to get people in their 80s and 90s moving by playing music familiar to their era or culture, such as polka or Big Band.
“Even if you’re chair-bound, you can be active,” she insists. “I get their arms waving. Movement changes their spirit. Even though they may not remember my name, you see their faces change. They light up.”
