DEBBIE JACOB

SANDRA SALLOUM always led an active life – ballet as a child; strength training in her 20s and 30s with tennis and aerobic classes. In her 40s, walking replaced weightlifting, but in her 50s, when she experienced a bulging disc in her back and chronic pain, she returned to weight training.

“I felt like my back couldn’t support the rest of my body, and I was beginning to show signs of osteoporosis in my neck and hip,” said Salloum.

So she began strength training (which includes weight training) with Gregory Seale, founder and director of Movement Mechanics in St James.

“I said I didn’t want to lift heavy weights and get those big, bulky muscles. Gregory laughed,” said Salloum.

“In a few months of strength training, my back pain subsided. On a scale of one to ten, it went from a nine to a two or three.”

Now, at 60, Salloum has fallen in love with weight training.

“It made my whole body feel stronger. I feel less pain. There has been no decline in my bone strength since I started weight training.”

At Movement Mechanics, everyone talks about Salloum’s mother, who does strength training at 89.

“She is really devoted. She won’t use any aches and pains to cancel a session,” said Salloum.

Seale said, “The older you get, the more important exercise is – especially strength training. “When my grandmother was old, she walked like a penguin. I thought it was part of ageing.”

[caption id="attachment_973267" align="alignnone" width="639"] Fitness trainer Simone Gonzales says exercise can help seniors to strengthen and condition their muscles. - PHOTO BY AYANNA KINSALE[/caption]

But declining mobility is not something you have to accept in old age.

“A lot of older people don’t understand the importance of exercising, because they don’t know the benefits of it. As you grow older you will lose strength. You want to have mobility, be able to sit and stand, be flexible, have strength and stability,” said Seale.

When he got a master’s degree in kinesiology (the science of how the body moves) Seale realised his grandmother’s problem was the restriction of movement in the front of the hip, a problem that exercise can fix.

Among the elderly, strength training still carries the stereotypic image of body builders with bulky muscles, but older people who work out discover this type of exercise supports basic movements, which provide a better quality of life.

“You want to be able to pick up grandchildren and have fun with them,” said Seale. “The right exercise helps the elderly to keep from falling. Those muscles have to be able to fire quick enough to brace from a fall or react when you have to react to something.”

Seale said there is a correlation between the ability to get up from a chair and mortality rates.

“Losing your mobility has a cascading effect. If you can’t get off your chair, you’re not getting up to get water so you’re not staying hydrated. Digestion becomes poor because metabolism is poor. You’re not getting the cardiovascular exercise you need or rebuilding muscle. But you c