Tom and Donna Dwiggins of Batavia knew they wanted to mark their 50th wedding anniversary in a physical way, so they hiked through the mountains of Colorado.
Instead of a traditional anniversary picture, 75-year-old Tom and 74-year-old Donna were photographed in hiking shorts standing along a trail with the Maroon Bells mountain range as their backdrop. The couple have been hiking and biking the trails of Colorado most summers for the last 20 years. They’ve also hiked Camelback Mountain in Arizona, and Donna has walked the 25-mile trail around Lake Geneva in Wisconsin several times.
Mona Rose, 72, of St. Charles also likes challenging physical activities. She discovered kayaking and rock climbing thanks to a Batavia-based program called Get Up and Go, which offers adventurous activities for women older than 40.
“Not everybody likes aerobics,” said Eileen Voiland, Get Up and Go’s director. “Mona is a big inspiration to us. She hasn’t stopped. She’ll show up after two hours of tennis to go kayaking!”
Exercise trends among older adults highlight Voiland’s point. Older adults are bucking traditional “walk the dog” and “light gardening” exercises in favor of more adventurous fare such as triathlons, rock climbing, scuba diving and hiking.
According to Dr. Thomas R. Prohaska, director of the Center for Research on Health and Aging at the University of Chicago, these older adults are probably postponing the aging of their muscles, which normally begin losing mass when people reach the mid-40s. They also are the kind of seniors who are successful in maintaining an exercise program.
“Those who have been active earlier in their lives are the ones more likely to continue into later life,” Prohaska said. “Every older adult can benefit from activity. This is a great time to be looking into fitness over 50, because there are so many studies being done on this very subject.”
One such study, published by the American College of Sports Medicine in January, involved people 70 and older. Researchers found that it was exercise, more than nutrition, that had the most significant benefit to an older person’s immune system.
Although adventurous exercises are not required to stay in shape, many older adults participate for the challenge.
For example, the National Outdoor Leadership School offers courses that help older adults stay fit while emphasizing self-reliance and wilderness stewardship. The school offers wilderness tours, such as Alaska sea kayaking, Yukon backpacking and Baja coastal sailing.
“We have quite a few seniors who participate in our programs,” said Bruce Palmer, director of admissions and marketing for NOLS. “In fact, we used to have courses geared for those ages 50 and older, but when we surveyed them we found that those who participated were not concerned with the ages of the other participants and preferred a variety of age groups.”
Older adults don’t want to be typecast when it comes to physical fitness. Take skydiving. At age 72, the senior George Bush did it. He wasn’t alone either–the United States Parachute Association’s statistics show that of nearly 33,000 members, 2,446 are over age 60 (almost all of whom were actively jumping).
Although an extraordinary fitness level is not a required to skydive, participants must be in good shape. According to Jim Crouch, director of safety and training for the association, older adults who are considering skydiving must be flexible and have enough strength to hold their limbs off the floor for 10 seconds.
“When seniors participate in my drops, I tell them that there is strain on the heart and the adrenaline system because the heart rate doubles during the jump,” Crouch said.
But can you get a workout from a jump?
“Each jump burns a couple hundred calories,” Crouch said. “So it provides some calorie-burning benefits.” Yet it also poses risks, as do most exercises.
Mary Carlson, a 70-something grandmother living in St. Charles, knows all about risks. The mother of 8 children and 21 grandchildren has been playing tennis for 60 years and routinely participates in adventurous exercises.
“I was supposed to go kayaking one day, but since I don’t swim, I changed my mind and rode my bike instead,” Carlson said, adding that she broke her arm during the biking trip. The injury only briefly interrupted her active lifestyle.
“I still teach tennis,” she said. “I can still toss the ball to them [her students].”
Active, thrill-seeking older adults aren’t going unnoticed, as organizations such as AARP attempt to handle the latest trends associated with aging and shift away from such end-of-life issues as grief and loss and maintaining driving skills.
“People are living longer and living more healthily,” said Beverly Moore, communications representative for AARP’s Illinois State Office. “We’re emphasizing wellness.”
Balance Bar grant for mind/body athletes
If you get a kick out of yoga and Pilates, then you’d be a good candidate for the Balance Bar grant.
The grants are for people who participate in sports or activities that integrate all aspects of the body and mind. The Balance Bar Company will help provide financial support so selected grantees can focus on pushing personal limits in activities that help them enrich their body and mind.
A minimum of four grants will be issued three times a year starting in December. The deadline to apply for the first grant is Dec. 7. The amount of each grant will range from $500 to $10,000. Individuals must apply online at www.balance.com and fill out a statement of purpose explaining why their particular mind/body activity is an important part of their life and how a grant from Balance Bar will enable them to continue studying their activity.
Grant applicants must be 18 or older and a U.S. resident. Only those individuals who are amateur athletes/hobbyists/enthusiasts and have not competed in athletic activities as their main source of income are eligible to apply for a Balance Bar grant. For a list of terms and conditions and grant review criteria, visit www.balance.com or contact Hunter Public Relations at 41 Madison Ave., 5th Floor, New York, NY 10010 or via fax at 212-679-6607.
Adventure is only a phone call away
Get Up and Go, 13 E. Wilson St., Batavia; 630-761-3741. Classes include kayaking, hiking, biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
National Outdoor Leadership School, 288 Main St., Lander, WY 82520-3140; 307-332-5300 or visit www.nols.edu. Classes include Alaska sea kayaking, Yukon backpacking, Baja coastal sailing and mountaineering.
AARP: Call or write the local chapter for a listing of the group’s activities at Illinois State Office of AARP, 222 N. La Salle St., Suite 710, Chicago, IL 60601; 312-458-3600 or visit www.aarp.org.
U.S. Parachute Association, 1440 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314; 703-836-3495 or visit www.uspa.org.
