Seniors Outdoors

Seniors in the Outdoors

Information and resources to enable, encourage and inform seniors to get (back?) into the outdoors and outdoor recreation activities.

Healthy Active Aging (Heart Foundation)

Healthy Active Aging

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/M_iEZsJupJk

The Healthy Active Ageing Module, developed by the Heart Foundation, was created as part of an ongoing commitment to support professionals to get older Australians active. This project has been funded by Sport Australia through the Move It AUS Better Ageing Grants program.

This Healthy Active Ageing module brings together the latest evidence, practical advice, checklists, case studies, infographics and other resources to develop healthy active ageing neighbourhoods and communities.

The content of this module aligns with the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s age-friendly approach and the WHO’s eight domains to an age-friendly community, while considering the existing Healthy Active by Design design-related features.

This module has been created for practitioners and policy makers across transport, urban planning, housing, information, health and social welfare, state and local governments, and more.

Source
Heart Foundation

See also Heart Foundation Walking

COTA Queensland

COTA Queensland

Council on the Ageing (COTA) Queensland is the Seniors Peak Body committed to advancing the rights, needs and interests of people as they age in Queensland.

We aim to help create a more just, equitable and caring community in which older people are actively involved and have access to appropriate support, services and care.

Qld Seniors on FacebookQueensland: an age-friendly community (QLD GOV)Age-friendly Toolkit (QLD GOV)National Seniors Australia

National Seniors Australia

National Seniors Australia is not only the leading independent voice for over 50s in this country, but also your gateway to a diverse range of exclusive member-only benefits.

Recreation and Staying Connected (QLD GOV)#GetLifelongReady

#GetLifelongReady aims to equip our recreation and sport industry with practical information to engage, or re-engage, adults in physical activity.

GOLD

Growing Older and Living Dangerously (GOLD), a Brisbane City Council Active and Healthy Lifestyle program, provides free or low-cost activities for residents 50 years and over.

Council also runs GOLD n’ Kids, for seniors and children (aged four years and over).

Playgrounds for Senior Citizens

Playgrounds for Senior Citizens

Senior citizen playgrounds are growing in popularity worldwide. Originally created in China, they are playgrounds featuring various stations that have equipment designed for use by the elderly. As science continues to show the correlation between exercise, health, and fitness and the importance of these to senior citizens, playgrounds for the elderly are in high demand.

Mature-aged Sport and Physical Activity

Mature-aged Sport and Physical Activity

An aging population presents many significant challenges to governments, particularly in areas related to health, participation in society, planning and infrastructure, and quality of life. Long-term physical activity has been linked to enhanced physical, mental, and social wellbeing and this may impact across many policy areas.

Source
Clearinghouse for Sport

Stay on your Feet

Stay on your Feet

Helping older Queenslanders stay healthy, active, independent and on their feet

Every day, 133 older Queenslanders have a fall requiring medical attention, even though falls are mostly preventable. Falls have a big impact on mobility and independence, but there are steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.

This site provides information about how we can all work together to help Queenslanders stay healthy, active, independent and on their feet. This site is for seniors and anyone who works with seniors, including individuals, organisations, health professionals in hospitals and the community, aged care facilities, local councils, government departments, and the fitness industry.

Choose Health: Be Active

Choose Health: Be Active
A physical activity guide for older Australians

To help encourage older Australians to be physically active, the Department of Health and Ageing and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs have jointly produced a resource called Choose Health: Be Active.

Activities - Things to do

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.

George Bernard Shaw

Life Ball

Lifeball

Lifeball is a fun team game which incorporates activities such as walking, thinking, and passing and throwing a ball with the aim of scoring a goal through a hoop. It encourages physical movement and teamwork.

It is a game which can be played on any flat surface. It involves strategy and is a game designed for fun, fitness, and skill development. If you are looking for a way to get active, stay healthy, and meet new friends then try Lifeball!

Lifeball can be played by men, women, and boys and girls of all ages. Lifeball is particularly suited to older adults as it improves heart and lung function, increases circulation, and relieves stiffness. It helps prevent fall injuries as it improves balance, coordination, flexibility, mobility, and mental stimulation. Lifeball is also suitable for people with diabetes, arthritis, cardiovascular problems, and other chronic illnesses. Lifeball is a game designed on the philosophy of participation for all. The game can be modified to suit everyone whatever their ability.

For more info:
info@lifeball.net.au
http://www.lifeball.net.au

Walking Football

Walking Football

Walking Football has been created for the Over 50’s; however, slightly younger seniors (say, in their mid40s), and especially women, are also welcome.  It is a 6-a-side version of soccer, played on a small field (e.g. basketball court size), but at a slower pace and with modified rules to avoid injuries.  It is a low-impact, fast recovery, team game ideal for people wanting to be more active, more social,and who want to get fit without the pain associated with faster-paced sports.

The Benefits of Walking Football

  • No soccer experience necessary;
  • Relaxed and friendly environment;
  • Great way to meet new people;
  • Low-impact exercise;
  • A healthy pursuit; and
  • Great fun!

Where is Walking Football Played?

Brisbane City Indoor Sports Centre – Newmarket
Wednesday 12.30pm – 2:30pm

Brisbane City Indoor Sports Centre – Coorparoo
Saturday 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Brisbane City Indoor Sports Centre – Newmarket
Sunday 12.00 noon – 2:00pm

Walking Football Opportunities

In addition to our own annual Walking Football Festival at QUT Stadium; Walking Football Brisbane is also in negotiations with the Queensland Corporate Games and with the Pan Pacific Masters Games for the inclusion of Walking Football in their upcoming events.  Also, the opportunity exists for Walking Football Brisbane players to participate in interstate and overseas tours, one of which is currently being organised to Japan in 2020 where you’ll get to meet, and play with, Japanese Walking Football players.

For any further information about Walking Football please contact Alan Templeton
Coordinator Walking Football Brisbane
alan@walkingfootballbrisbane.com.au
www.walkingfootballbrisbane.com.au

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Related Articles / Info

Healthy Aging for Men

Healthy Aging for Men

A Complete Guide for all Ages

All men want to live a little longer, right? Most importantly, all men want to look and feel physically healthy in their own bodies. Luckily, there are things you can do to take care of your health no matter which age milestone you’ve reached, whether that’s finding a way to become more motivated, or quitting that bad habit you’ve been struggling to let go of. You deserve to make your health a priority.

Read More: Your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and beyond

Source
Optimale UK

 

Darling River Dream for Kayakers

Darling River Dream for Kayakers

Summer flooding makes 10-year Darling River dream a reality for kayakers

At a campground on the banks of the Darling River, the sun rises as 23 paddlers prepare to pack their tents into kayaks, and push off downstream.

They are halfway through a 10-day journey along one of the world’s biggest river systems, an adventure that will take them 205 kilometres from Bourke to Louth in western New South Wales, through Gurnu-Baakandji country.

The trip has been 10 years in the making and is only possible because of flooding upstream in Queensland.

“We have been so, so lucky,” paddler Ken Jeffreys says.

International Day of Older PersonsHow to Exercise with Rheumatoid Arthritis

How to Exercise with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Co-authored by Ashley Mak, DPT
When you have rheumatoid arthritis, exercise can feel like an especially hard challenge. You might find that activities you used to do are too painful with your joints. Fortunately, there are lots of low-impact exercises that can improve your muscle strength while supporting your joints. Plus, you’ll enjoy the benefits of physical activity—improved balance, reduced joint stiffness, and improved mood.
READ MORE for Exercise Tips

Source
WikiHow

New study shows the right workout routine can help fight dementia

New study shows the right workout routine can help fight dementia

Older adults who sweated through 12 weeks of high-intensity interval training improved their performance on a memory test by 30 per cent compared with those who did a more moderate exercise routine.

To understand why, a new study from researchers at McMaster University’s NeuroFitLab is making waves … read more

The positive message from this study is that it is never too late to start.

Source
Alex Hutchinson
The Globe and Mail

How to be fit in your 60s and beyond

How to be fit in your 60’s and beyond

Ageing is inevitable and is influenced by many things – but keeping active can slow ageing and increase life expectancy. Evidence shows that ageing alone is not a cause of major problems until you are in your mid-90s. And strength, power and muscle mass can be increased, even at this advanced age.  Read More

Physical activity at any intensity linked to lower risk of early death

Physical activity at any intensity linked to lower risk of early death

A multi-national team of researchers, including authors from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), have produced clear evidence that higher levels of physical activity—regardless of intensity—are associated with a lower risk of early death in middle aged and older people.
Read More

Source:

Medical Press

Becoming active older can still reduce chances of premature death

Becoming active older can still reduce chances of premature death

They have the most free time of any age group yet they are the least active group of all.

Only 27 per cent of Australians over 65 meet the Department of Health physical activity guidelines of 30 minutes activity per day, a minimum which brings significant health benefits.

The 73 per cent who do not meet the recommendations can take heart; new research shows that it is possible to quickly regain the lost health benefits by starting exercise later in life or resuming it if it’s fallen by the wayside.

On the flip side, the exercise they did in our youth is not enough to sustain them for the rest of their lives; the benefits of physical activity are quickly lost when we stop exercising.

The Hike Forever Fitness Plan

The Hike Forever Fitness Plan

Once you catch the hiking bug, you’ve got it for life

No matter how old you get, the urge to pack up and go for a long walk never goes away.

And you don’t have to either. Stay trail-ready forever with our life-long guide to hiking fitness and health

Any Physical Activity

Any Physical Activity

For seniors, any physical activity is better than none

They found a link between physical activity and reduced risk of heart disease in both elderly and middle-aged people.

“Elderly people who were moderately inactive had a 14 percent reduced risk of cardiovascular events compared to those who were completely inactive,” said study first author and cardiologist Sangeeta Lachman.

For Men, Fitness Can Often Last a Lifetime

For Men, Fitness Can Often Last a Lifetime

Active middle-aged men are likely to stay active into old age, a new study finds.

“Sport participation in mid-life may help maintain physical function and [physical activity] self-efficacy in later life, increasing psychological and physical readiness for [physical activity] in old age,”

Mature-aged Sport and Physical Activity

Mature-aged Sport and Physical Activity


Long-term physical activity behaviours have been linked to enhanced and lifelong physical, mental and social wellbeing.

Seniors empowered by challenging, adventurous activities

Seniors empowered by challenging, adventurous activities

From traversing high ropes to stand-up paddle boarding, older people are open to and benefit from trying new and challenging physical activities, a leading researcher will tell next week’s Active Ageing Conference.

Bolton Clarke Institute senior research fellow Liz Cyarto undertook an Australian-first pilot in 2014 in partnership with the Australian Camps Association and COTA Victoria that demonstrated the feasibility of an immersive outdoor education program for seniors.

Source
Australian Ageing Agenda

Age is No Barrier

Age is No Barrier

Gold Coast triathlete proves age is no barrier as he prepares for world title tilt

AlF Lakin is bound for the world triathlon championships in Holland — which is quite a feat considering he couldn’t swim 25m less than two years ago and hadn’t ridden a bike in more than six decades.

Social support and physical activity in older adults

The association between social support and physical activity in older adults:
A systematic review.

The promotion of active and healthy ageing is becoming increasingly important as the population ages. Physical activity (PA) significantly reduces all-cause mortality and contributes to the prevention of many chronic illnesses. However, the proportion of people globally who are active enough to gain these health benefits is low and decreases with age. Social support (SS) is a social determinant of health that may improve PA in older adults.

This review had three aims: 1) Systematically review and summarise studies examining the association between SS, or loneliness, and PA in older adults; 2) clarify if specific types of SS are positively associated with PA; and 3) investigate whether the association between SS and PA differs between PA domains.

Source
Biomed Central

How to grow old like an athlete

How to grow old like an athlete

The question of how to maximise ‘health span’ – the period of life during which we are generally healthy and free from serious disease – is increasingly prevalent both in and out of sport.

It’s likely that we will live and work for more years than any generation before us. For many, this will be a necessity as much as a choice, as the increasing social costs of an ageing population are pushing back retirement age in many countries. These changes will have significant economic, social and psychological impacts, but one of the key questions we need to ask concerns the kind of life we’re hoping for, over this time course

Source
World Economic Forum

Fitter Seniors May Have Healthier Brains

Fitter Seniors May Have Healthier Brains

Study found link between strong cardiorespiratory system and better memory.

Good heart and lung fitness can benefit older adults’ brains, researchers report.

They assessed the heart/lung fitness of healthy young adults (aged 18 to 31) and older adults (aged 55 to 74), and compared their ability to learn and remember the names of strangers in photos. MRI scans recorded images of their brain activity as they learned the names.

The older adults had more difficulty with the memory test than the young adults. But older adults with high levels of heart/lung fitness did better on the test and showed more brain activity when learning new names than those of their peers with lower levels of heart/lung fitness

Source
Medline Plus

Lack of Exercise Might Invite Dementia

Lack of Exercise Might Invite Dementia

In a study of more than 1,600 adults aged 65 and older, those who led a sedentary life seemed to have the same risk of developing dementia as those who carried the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene mutation, which increases the chances of developing dementia.

Conversely, people who exercised appeared to have lower odds of developing dementia than those who didn’t, the five-year study found.

Source
Medline Plus

Stronger muscles lead to stronger brain
Stronger muscles lead to stronger brain
A study led by the University of Sydney in Australia has found that gradually increasing muscle strength through activities such as weightlifting improves cognitive function.
[Elderly woman showing off her muscles]
Stronger muscles reduce cognitive impairment in elderly patients.

The study was conducted in collaboration with the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at the University of New South Wales and the University of Adelaide …

How a disciplined weightlifting schedule can improve cognition

The trial looked at progressive resistance training – such as weightlifting – and the functioning of the brain

READ MORE

70 yr old Neil Smith circumnavigates Australia

70 yr old Neil Smith circumnavigates Australia 

wildwind

The weathered old timbers of Wild Wind immediately suggest adventure. Tethered at the quiet Smithton wharf, the old fishing boat actually looks at rest after four years circumnavigating Australia.

Old beer barrels for carrying water sit on the deck near a hatch from which the wizened head of Neil Smith has just appeared.

“Come on down, kettle’s boiling,” he beckons from the top of ladder steps before disappearing again to clank about with his wood heater.

Fitness, not physical activity, mitigates negative effects of prolonged sitting

Fitness, not physical activity, mitigates negative effects of prolonged sitting

New research suggests that fitness, not physical activity alone, plays a protective role in guarding the body against risk factors for heart disease and other conditions.

Source
Medical News Today

75 Marathons in 75 Days at 75!

75 Marathons in 75 Days at 75!

raymatthews75

A 75-year-old man has run 75 marathons in 75 days to raise money for a special needs school in Rotherham in north-east England.

TED: Talks to make you feel good about getting older

TED: Talks to make you feel good about getting older

The extra candles on the birthday cake, the little lines you notice in the mirror … aging doesn’t always feel good. But remember, age also brings wisdom and balance. Watch these reminders of the benefits that come with age.

TED

10km Pre-dawn Walk!

10km Pre-dawn Walk!

‘Nothing special’ about daily regime starting with 10km pre-dawn walk, 78yo Coolum man says

10KM-Walker

Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better With Age

Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better With Age

To keep our muscles healthy deep into retirement, we may need to start working out more now, according to a new study of world-class octogenarian athletes. The study found substantial differences at a cellular level between the athletes’ muscles and those of less active people.

Muscular health is, of course, essential for successful aging. As young adults, we generally have scads of robust muscle mass. But that situation doesn’t last.

Muscles consist of fibers, each attached to a motor neuron in our spinal column by long, skinny nerve threads called axons. The fiber and its neuron are known as a muscle unit.

When this muscle unit is intact, the neuron sends commands to the muscle fiber to contract. The muscle fiber responds, and your leg, eyelid, pinky finger or other body part moves.

However, motor neurons die as we age, beginning as early as in our 30s, abruptly marooning the attached muscle fiber, leaving it disconnected from the nervous system. In younger people, another neuron can come to the rescue, snaking out a new axon and re-attaching the fiber to the spinal cord

But with each passing decade, we have fewer motor neurons. So some muscle fibers, bereft of their original neuron, do not get another. These fibers wither and die and we lose muscle mass, becoming more frail. This process speeds up substantially once we reach age 60 or so.

Scientists have not known whether the decline in muscular health with age is inevitable or whether it might be slowed or altered.

There have been encouraging hints that exercise changes the trajectory of muscle aging. A 2010 study of recreational runners in their 60s, for instance, found that their leg muscles contained far more intact muscle units than the muscles of sedentary people of the same age.

But whether exercise would continue to protect muscles in people decades older than 60, for whom healthy muscles might be the difference between independence and institutionalization, had never been examined.

So for the new study, which was published last week in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers from McGill University in Canada and other schools contacted 29 world-class track and field athletes in their 80s and invited them to the university’s performance lab. They also recruited a separate group of healthy but relatively inactive people of the same age to act as controls.

At the lab, the scientists measured muscle size and then had the athletes and those in the control group complete a simple test of muscular strength and function in which they pressed their right foot against a movable platform as forcefully as possible. While they pressed, the scientists used sensors to track electrical activity within a leg muscle.

Using mathematical formulas involving muscle size and electrical activity, the scientists then determined precisely how many muscle units were alive and functioning in each volunteer’s leg muscle. They also examined the electrical signal plots to see how effectively each motor neuron was communicating with its attached muscle fiber.

Unsurprisingly, the elite masters athletes’ legs were much stronger than the legs of the other volunteers, by an average of about 25 percent. The athletes had about 14 percent more total muscle mass than the control group.

More interesting to the researchers, the athletes also had almost 30 percent more motor units in their leg muscle tissue, and these units were functioning better than those of people in the sedentary group. In the control group, many of the electrical messages from the motor neuron to the muscle showed signs of “jitter and jiggle,” which are actual scientific terms for signals that stutter and degrade before reaching the muscle fiber. Such weak signaling often indicates a motor neuron that is approaching death.

In essence, the sedentary elderly people had fewer motor units in their muscles, and more of the units that remained seemed to be feeling their age than in the athletes’ legs.

The athletes’ leg muscles were much healthier at the cellular level.

“They resembled the muscles of people decades younger,” said Geoffrey Power, who led the study while a graduate student at McGill and is now an assistant professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Of course, this type of single-snapshot-in-time study can’t tell us whether the athletes’ training actually changed their muscle health over the years or if the athletes were somehow blessed from birth with better muscles, allowing them to become superb masters athletes.

But Dr. Power, who also led the 2010 study, said that he believes exercise does add to the numbers and improve the function of our muscle units as we grow older.

Whether we have to work out like a world-class 80-year-old athlete to benefit, however, remains in question. Most of these competitors train intensely for several hours every week, Dr. Power said. But on the plus side, some of them did not start their competitive regimens until they had reached their 50s, providing hope for the dilatory among us.

Source
The New York Times
Well Blog

61 year old Mary Hanna ready to take the reins in Rio

61 year old Mary Hanna ready to take the reins in Rio

Mary_Hanna

Whatever you’re planning on doing at 61, it probably won’t be as awesome as what Mary Hanna is about to achieve.

What do you reckon your exercise regime will be like at 61?

Strolls on the beach and the occasional gentle swing of a golf club sound pretty perfect.

Not for dressage rider Mary Hanna. Instead of having a roll at the local lawn bowls rink, Hanna is set to become Australia’s oldest ever competing Olympian in Rio.

Growing old is mandatory; acting old is optional.

Anon

Anyone who keeps learning stays young

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80.

Anyone who keeps learning stays young

Henry Ford

Some people are young at 90

Some people are old at 18 and some are young at 90 – time is a concept that humans created.

Yoko Ono

If I could live my life again.

If I could live my life again.

Next time, I would try to make more mistakes.
I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more.
I would be sillier than I have been.
I would take fewer things seriously.
I would be less fastidious.
Accept more risks, I would take more trips,
Contemplate more evenings,
Climb more mountains, and swim more rivers…
I would go to more places where I have not been,
Eat more ice cream and fewer beans.
I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.
I was one of those people who lived sensibly and meticulously every minute of their life.

Of course I have had moments of happiness.
But if I could go back in time, I would try to have good moments only,
and not waste precious time.
I was someone never went anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bag, an umbrella and a parachute.

If I could live again,
I would travel more frivolously.
If I could live again, I would begin to walk barefoot at the beginning of the spring
and I would continue to do so until the end of autumn.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds,
I would contemplate more evenings and I would play with more children.
If I could have another life ahead.
But I am 85 years old you see, and I know that I am dying.

Have another resource to share?

Email industry@qorf.org with all the details

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