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Aging Pets Need to Move, Too

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My DogThere isn’t much harder than watching a loved one get older and slow down with age.

While we all know cognitively that we are going to outlive our pets, it doesn’t make it any easier to watch them grow older and be able to do less and less. The picture above is my 13-year-old English Setter. She is my girl, my princess.

She is curled up on the couch next to me now as I type this, and sleeps a lot more now that she used to. But, she is still an active dog, still loves throwing and barking at bones, stalking squirrels, and going for walks.

The anti-aging process for pets is the same as it is for people. Movement.

Just like “move it or lose it” applies to people, it applies to our pets as well.

So, my girl doesn’t get any slack. I still take her on walks as often as possible, make her climb stairs, and make her jump in to bed by herself.

The Bed

I’m not mean about it making her do it herself – on the rare occasion that she can’t make the leap in to bed, I’ll come over and give her a boost. She lets me know if she needs help. But, I make her try first. She requires a bit more of a running start than she used to, but she can make it.

The Stairs

I have steep, and by steep, I mean STEEP stairs going down to my basement and family room area. She has learned that she needs to go slower than she used to.

More recently, she has started falling up the stairs, and I quickly realized her back hips aren’t functioning as well as they used to. I put my Z-Health/movement coach hat, and asked myself, “if she was a person, what would I do?”  Well, to improve movement in an area, you can rub the area to bring awareness to it and wake it up. I figured the principles were the same, so decided to give it a try.

So, our new routine for her climbing up the stairs, if she has been napping prior to that, is that she walks over to me, I rub her rear hips for a minute or two, and then send her on up. To keep her moving slowly enough, I talk to her in a calm, soothing voice and I stay right behind her so she feels safe.

Now that we’ve started our new routine, she has yet to fall up the stairs.

Walks

We have a 2-mile loop that we take in our neighborhood. When I first moved here 5 years ago, it was 30-40 minute walk for her to get the most out of it. It was her version of interval training — trot along quickly in areas, but then also stop for every kitty.  Today it took us closer to an hour to make that same route. Slower, yes, but she is still making it happen.

On a weekend when I have hours to spare, we’ll still even get in 4-5 mile walks. That literally takes hours, but for as long as I can, I don’t want her body to stop thinking it can do it.

The Net

Her senior pet exams come back virtually perfect – exam after exam. Her last exam they told me that her bloodwork is that of a 7 or 8-year-old dog. For a girl almost twice that age, I was thrilled!

Winter is now upon is in Seattle, and neither of us loves the cold and wet, but every chance we get, we’ll be out there after her Fountain of Youth.

Filed Under: Movement

What is Your Story?

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What is the story you tell yourself and the world about who you are? As a parent, employee, boss, athlete, friend, lover.

And, is that story consistent? Are you living it?

My story is a bit circuitous, but at the end of the day my story is what led me to leave my six-figure management consulting gig to help people.

How did that happen?

Honestly, I’m not sure. I think I’m a fairly unlikely candidate; I grew up with a whole host of allergies and asthma. I was the kid who spent her summers in her room reading while her friends played outside, I was always picked last for sports teams, and spent years in and out of the hospital with asthma and other respiratory disorders. But, maybe that is what got me here. I’ve had to constantly fight to be healthy, become athletic, and to lose weight.

In college everything changed…

My Mom died unexpectedly of a heart attack at 47, my grandfather had a quadruple bypass and I watched him struggle to recover. Shortly after college I had a close friend die of breast cancer in her mid-20s. And somewhere in there a switch flipped. I went from being completely non-athletic to searching out the Fountain of Youth — researching, reading, and trying just about everything. All I knew is that I wasn’t willing to die in my 40s, didn’t want to ever go to an assisted living facility, and desperately needed to be healthy to remain independent. I went through everything from step aerobics to Tae Bo to Tai Chi to Tae Kwon Do to Pilates and Yoga, the Bowflex, and just about every exercise video ever made. “Abs of Steel” anyone?

I’ve always been game for just about everything, but athletic endeavors have never come naturally to me. Even now, I’m a Master Practitioner movement coach, but still fall down the stairs with alarming regularity. But, I continue to work at it, to learn, to improve, and yes, to struggle. For me, Persistence is King.

Becoming a Health Professional

In 2006, I got my first personal trainer certification, the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certification). I never actually intended to teach – but when I decide to learn something, I’m going to learn from the best so had to go through the course. I started getting phone calls, got my first couple of clients, and I LOVED it. Since I was already a consultant, the shift was fairly easy. At the end of the day both are about helping people make changes in their lives – this is just another tool.

In 2007, I found, Z-Health, which is the current trajectory I’m on. I instantly fell in love with the system because it just made so much sense to my extremely pragmatic and scientific brain. Instant assessment? Sold. I didn’t get the whole nervous system thing, but I’d figure it out. Fortunately for me, Z-Health turned out to be a good match on both sides, and shortly after meeting the system founder I started working for them in a consulting capacity to help the company grow.

Pursuing my Dreams

In 2008, I left corporate consulting for good, and now am lucky enough to be able to chase my dreams and passions. I work for a company whose mission statement is, “We help create professionals in the top 1% of their respective fields.” I also get to build my own coaching practice filled with individuals of all ages and all walks of life who just want to get in shape, be pain free, and live longer, healthier lives.

I know this may sound really idealistic, but it’s something I believe in. I love helping people become who they want to be. And, it’s not nearly as altruistic as it sounds – working with my clients gives me the energy and inspiration to continue to work to make myself better.

So, that is my story. Every day I work to align my actions to it. There are days that I fall down, but I always get back up. Because really, what other choice is there?

What is your story? And, more importantly, are you living it?

Filed Under: Motivation

Move It Monday – Movement Improves Mood

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Living in the Pacific Northwest can be rough. Little sunlight, lots of rain, lots of grey skies. LOTS of depression.

(Personally, coming from the upper midwest, I’m happy about the lack of snow and mosquitoes, so bring on the rain and clouds.)

You know I believe that movement can solve just about anything (I’m working on world peace next). It has definitively shown to reduce/alleviate pain, extends life, and facilitates weight loss.

Movement also puts you in a better mood and alleviates the symptoms of depression and fatigue.

Any movement at all is going to make you feel better (unless you are moving in to pain — rule #1: never move in to pain). This happens because movement triggers various types of receptors throughout the body — which helps wake up the body and override pain signals. It’s the same reason why I encourage you to move instead of hitting the vending machine when the mid-afternoon lull comes on.

But wait, there is more…

You can amplify that signal by working to master a physical skill. When you gain physical competence at something, you are happy about it, dopamine (a hormone) is released, and the dopamine further overrides the pain, fatigue, and depression. I’m not asking you to pick up a car or leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but take on something small. For some of my clients, it’s enough to lead with the other leg heading up the stairs. For others of you, you can:

  • Go out and shoot some hoops — work on that free throw
  • Go biking with the kids (particularly if you don’t do this very often)
  • Take the stairs an extra floor at work

If you need more ideas, I have a post from earlier this month where I talk about training progressions. It’s exactly what I’m talking about here. It really doesn’t take much.

So, this week, UP YOUR GAME!

Filed Under: Movement

Move It Monday – Move More, Move Often

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Healthy Monday

“Too much sitting is bad for health.”

This is from a recent study that you may have already seen, but it certainly bears repeating.

In short, for each hour we spend in front of the TV:

  • 11% increase in death (from all causes)
  • 9% increase in cancer death
  • 18% increase in cardiovascular death

“Compared with people who watched less than two hours of television daily, those who watched more than four hours a day had a 46 percent higher risk of death from all causes and an 80 percent increased risk for cardiovascular-related death.”

While the study focused primarily on TV, you can logically extend the study to any prolonged sedentary behavior (and yes, that includes the computer). We simply aren’t meant to sit in one place for long periods of time. I know I talk a lot about how movement is the fountain of youth, but I believe it AND the science backs me up on it!

What can you do about it?

I tell my clients that I want them up and moving for at least 5 minutes every hour. While this may sound impossible for those of you working cubicle farms, here are some options:

  • get up and talk to a co-worker instead of emailing/calling
  • refill your water bottle or get a healthy snack
  • go to the restroom (which will be important if you are regularly refilling your water bottle)
  • make up some sort of errand
  • do some Z-Health mobility drills

This week, 5 minutes every hour. Your kids and grandkids will thank you!

Filed Under: Movement

Move It Monday – Active Rest

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Healthy MondayNow you’ve done it!

You jumped headlong in to a new training program and are really sore. If you are like most of my clients, at this point you are likely to do one of two things, neither of which sets you up for long-term success:

1)     A hot bath, curl up on the couch, and decide that training isn’t for you (or that you will start again once you feel better).

2)     Keep pushing yourself as hard as you can – after all “no pain, no gain.”

Neither option is ideal.

If you choose what is behind door #1, there is a distinct possibility that you won’t start again – momentum is everything. Bonus: you will actually recover more quickly if you continue to move – you really want to keep from getting stiff.

So, then the answer must be to keep at it, right? Wrong again. If you are really sore or hurt, training that way is most likely going to exacerbate the problem – so if you aren’t hurt yet, you will be soon. If you are hurt, you will either further aggravate the existing injury or cause new injuries from your compensatory movement patterns.

This week, if you just aren’t feeling the love for the training program you have planned that day, take a day of active rest. By active rest, I mean still get out and do something, but cut way back on the intensity. It can be a nice walk, a leisurely bike ride, or light dynamic mobility work to keep the body moving.

Work out the stiffness, but never move in to pain.

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