Concentrating on the future can help clients make changes for their bodies

By Robert Babb, PT, MBA

More than 78 million people in the United States were born between 1946 and 1964, the "Baby Boomers" described in the U.S. Census Bureau. There's a good chance that if you're reading this, you were born in the boom and your body is starting to swoon. The knees crack on your first step, your back aches while you are sitting during a long movie, or your shoulders and neck hurt after a long day in the office.

Physical therapists can offer suggestions on exercise, posture, positioning, body mechanics, ergonomics, shoe wear and behavior modification to improve client's chances of a better lifestyle. The suggestions are endless, and the hope that PTs offer to clients is often what motivates them to change their lifestyles.

In many cases, therapists ask someone to change their lifestyle, even though they have attempted change numerous times in their life. So what makes this change that we ask any different?

Making Change

Armed with facts, change is simpler. As an example, when it comes to your aging body, we know that nearly 30 million people are suffering from osteoarthritis, a breakdown of cartilage and bones from the wear and tear of life.

Treatments include medications, education, physical activity or exercise, heat or cold, joint protection, pacing activities, weight loss if overweight, self-care skills and sometimes surgery.

We know that the normal fluid in the knee, the synoviam fluid, is designed to bathe the end of the bones to give them nutrition, which in turn keeps them healthy. My mother used to tell me to get off the couch because "bones were made to move." Little did she know she forced good bone health on me.

Keeping a flexible joint and a lengthened muscle is important. Years ago, we focused on stretching before exercise, but we now know that that stretching after exercise, when muscles are warm, can enhance flexibility more effectively than stretches at the start of a workout. So, warm up, stretch, exercise and stretch again for good bone health. This can help relax the muscles that surround the joint that have become tighter and shorter during training.

Strength Training

Research tells us that strength training is critical, so much so that if we don't strength train, our bodies may not be functional when we are in our glory years of retirement. Studies of people over age 60 revealed that strength training three times per week helped increase the amount of time the study participants were able to spend walking on a treadmill. Both high-intensity and low-intensity strength-training programs did the trick.

Strength training also may help you to lose weight if you are overweight or to keep extra pounds off. Developing muscle will help your body burn more calories throughout the day, because muscle takes more energy to sustain compared to fat. Of course, keeping an eye on your calorie intake also is important to experience the potential weight-loss benefits of increased muscle mass. There is even research that tells us that simple programs that take less effort, like a walking program or water exercise regimen, have helped the participants positively improve lifestyle and decrease joint pain.

Overcoming Fears

So if it is so simple, why don't more people take care of themselves? Why are more people suffering from pain and losing function? Why are so many unable to change their lifestyles? Are we too busy to make change or have we not made the right connections in our subconscious mind to motivate change in our lifestyle?

Perhaps it is the pain of beginning an exercise program, the pain in the joints or muscles for the first three or four days. It may even be fear of not knowing what exercises to do. That is where a physical therapist can help.

There is strong belief that change is created from within and by associating your end result with the pain and pleasure of the outcome, you can change.

Try this: The next time you decide you are going to begin an exercise program, make a list of things you wont be able to do if you don't start taking care of yourself. Think five years from now, 10 years, even 20 years from now.

Things that I won't be able to do:

• Travel when I retire;

• Take day trips with friends;

• Grocery shop independently;

• Boating and fishing;

• Play ball with the children/grandchildren;

• Play tennis with my friends;

• Get on the floor;

• Climb a ladder;

• Cut the lawn and garden.

Things I will be able to do:

• Enjoy a quality of life I deserve;

• Have energy in my day;

• Have improved relationships with my children/grandchildren;

• Think younger, less fear of changes in society/technology;

• Independence with my living;

• Jog/Walk/Run;

• Go to the gym;

• Tumble with my grandchildren;

• Feel better;

• Work until I want to;

• Travel.

So often, we make our decisions based on short-term pain and not the pleasure of the outcome. You may say, "The joints are painful, so to work them may make them more painful." You may miss a television show or telephone call, often a "painful" association if you really like to do these things.

To change your lifestyle, change the way you look at the goal. The positive outcomes should be your focus, writing them down on a list to keep you focused. It is a list that will keep you smiling, positive, and filled with energy so that you can enjoy your days fully, with healthy joints, well into the future. Keep your pleasure list nearby, and your joints will do just fine.

Robert Babb is the owner of The Physical Therapy & Wellness Institute (PTW) located in both Lansdale, PA, and Quakertown, PA.