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Babs – Young at Heart – Again! – By Margaret Martin
Anne was desperate to find someone to help her aging friend, Babs, recover from a back strain. “Her pain is so bad that she is barely making it out of bed,” Anne told me when she called me at home one evening. “I’m afraid if she doesn’t start moving soon, she won’t be able to walk to the dining room in her retirement residence”
During our conversation, Anne shared with me that her 93 year old friend had strained her back while making her bed. I knew that if  Babs did not get moving soon, she would completely lose her independence. Bed rest was not the answer. It would only weaken her quickly – especially at 93 years of age.
When her dog died five years ago, Babs’ activity level dropped. Her regular walks around the block became occasional walks to the corner. Eventually, her only activity was a weekly outing with friends. When she sold her house and moved into a retirement home that provided meals and housekeeping, her activity level diminished even further.
Now she had strained her back and had very limited movement. Her loss of mobility was leading to her loss of independence.
As far as she could remember, Babs had always been active but she had never strength trained or exercised in a formal way.
I started her with a program to reduce her pain, stretch the tight muscles and strengthen the weak ones. Within two weeks, she was able to walk to the dining room for her meals but she was dependent on her 4-wheeled walker to go anywhere.
Now that she knew that her full mobility was within reach, Babs asked me to continue to work with her. She told me that her goal was  to make her upcoming dentist appointment. I told her that that would not be a problem until she told me that the dentist’s building had no elevator and she would have to climb 15 stairs to his office. I wasn’t sure this goal was achievable – but she had surprised me before.
I gave her exercises to do between our sessions together. Once or twice a week I pushed her to her limits of balance, strength and flexibility. She improved steadily as we worked on speed walking, step-ups, step-overs, rows and squats. She gradually increased her endurance from walking for 45 seconds to 15 minutes and from doing one step to a flight of stairs! She learned to walk on the treadmill, do push-ups from her dresser and push herself up onto her hands and knees and crawl (always good to know if you fall).
As she put it: “I am amazed at how much stronger someone at my age can get.” Asked why she puts up with the grueling workouts with me she says “it feels hard at the time, but it makes everything else feel easier.”
One more thing: Babs climbed those 15 steps and made her dental appointment!
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