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Exercise Programs for Seniors

As people age, their bones, muscles and underlying tissue weaken, resulting in decreased strength, energy, and impaired mobility. Inactivity may increase these effects of aging. Exercise and physical activity can be beneficial to older adults and can help to increase strength, improve balance and possibly delay or prevent diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis and heart disease.

Benefits of Exercise

In addition to preventing or delaying certain diseases, exercise may help seniors to improve their strength and mobility which can help them to remain independent. Additional benefits may include:

  • Reduced depression
  • Increased energy
  • Improved balance which can lessen the risk of falls

Remaining active on a daily basis can provide the most benefits to older adults. Physical activity should be part of a daily routine for older adults.

Exercise Options

While the types of exercise that seniors engage in may vary, the goal of any exercise program is to improve:

  • Strength
  • Endurance
  • Balance
  • Flexibility

Activities that keep individuals moving may include walking, swimming, bike riding, yoga or exercise classes targeted at seniors. Strength training programs for older adults can target certain muscles of the body or improve overall strength, and usually aim to gradually restore lost strength without too much exertion. Stretching exercises may improve flexibility. A physical therapist or trainer may create a customized exercise plan that focuses on improving balance and increasing endurance.

Muscles should always be stretched and warmed-up before any activity. It is important to start slowly and gradually increase any activity. Before beginning an exercise regimen, individuals should always consult with their physician.

More Information

Rotator Cuff Injuries

Four muscles in the shoulder that when injured or damaged can lead to sleepless nights, pain, and weakness.

The most common ways of injury to the rotator cuff are trauma, such as a fall on the outstretched hand, repetitive overload to the tendon by activity, or bone spurs cutting into the tendon.

Symptoms commonly begin with pain over the upper arm that is worse with reaching overhead, lying on your side, reaching behind your back, and weakness.

The rotator cuff has a very limited capacity to heal on its own and therefore treatment is often required to improve symptoms. This usually begins with a short period of rest, followed by a rehabilitation program focused on mobility, and strength to improve function. Steroid injection can be used if significant inflammation is present and interferes with the ability to engage in the exercise program. Two thirds of patients will improve with these modalities alone, and thus this is the first phase of treatment.

If symptoms persist, MRI is utilized to evaluate the rotator cuff for tears. Most commonly injured is the supraspinatus tendon. This is the muscle that allows you to put on a jacket, reach into the kitchen cabinet and get out the dishes, put a gallon of milk in the refrigerator, or pour a pot of coffee. Because the tendon is spring loaded, full tears commonly separate or retract. The more the retraction, the more serious the tear. If these tears are not addressed, atrophy will ensue and the tears will frequently get larger over time.

Surgical repair is performed arthroscopically and consists of stretching the tendon back out to it’s attachment point and repairing it back to the humerus greater tuberosity that it pulled off from. Traditionally, the shoulder was immobilized in a sling for up to 6 weeks before starting physical therapy to protect the repair. The downside of this approach was a high rate of postop stiffness, called frozen shoulder. We pioneered an accelerated rehab program for rotator cuff 25 years ago that reduced this immobilization down to just 5 days and actually lowered to postop stiffness rate.

Quality of the rotator cuff tissue has been a major determinant of success of the surgery, as well as the recurrent tear rate. The larger the tear and degree of separation, the higher the recurrent tear rate – that can approach 50 percent!

Innovation in rotator cuff surgery revolves around the use of biologics to reduce the risk of recurrent tears. CuffMend is an acellular, dermal allograft that is placed upon the repair to effectively double the thickness of an atrophic tendon and reduce the risk of recurrent tears. We have been effectively utilizing this technology over the past 2 years with great success to enhance patient outcomes for the most serious tears.

We remain committed to utilizing the best technology to remain innovators in rotator cuff surgery.