Olah Raga Yang Cocok Buat Lansia

http://properti.kompas.com/read/2011/03/03/17180329/Olah.Raga.Yang.Cocok.Buat.Lansia

SOLO, Kompas.com - Guru  Besar Ilmu Faal (Fisiologi) olahraga, Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Dr. dr. Muchsin Doewes PFarK, MARS, AIFO, mengatakan,  olahraga yang teratur  dapat menekan penurunan struktur fungsi pada manusia lanjut usia (Lansia).      "Penurunan struktur fungsi pada lansia sebenarnya dapat dihambat asal mau berolahraga secara teratur," kata Muchsin Doewes, di Solo, Kamis (3/3).

Menurut dia, usia harapan hidup terus meningkat sejalan dengan membaiknya kualitas kesehatan dan kondisi sosial. Tetapi, perlu diketahui bahwa ketika seseorang memasuki lansia terjadi penurunan fungsi struktur tubuhnya.

Pada kondisi tersebut, kata dia, perlu dipikirkan bagaimana ketika seseorang menjadi lansia hidupnya tetap berkualitas dan tidak membebani orang lain di lingkungannya.     Meskipun, kata dia, aktivitas fisik dalam jumlah berapapun tidak dapat menghentikan proses penuaan biologis, tetapi ada bukti bahwa latihan secara teratur dapat meminimalkan efek fisiologis dari gaya hidup sedenter dan peningkatan usia harapan hidup aktif dengan membatasi terjadinya penyakit kronis.

Selain itu, lanjut dia, juga ada bukti baru mengenai manfaat psikologis dan kognitif yang signifikan dari partisipasi latihan reguler oleh lansia. Lansia berkualitas akibat intervensi aktivitas fisik dan latihan dapat berdampak baik dan buruk. Lansia berkualitas juga dapat melahirkan efek paradoks dalam aspek sosial-budaya, ekonomi, politik, dan spiritual.          Lansia sebaiknya tidak selalu berusaha agar dapat lebih dari sekadar melakukan aktivitas rutin saja, tetapi mereka harus dapat melakukan olahraga rekreasi. Bahkan, lansia kalau perlu dapat berpartisipasi  dalam kompetisi olahraga lansia sebagai atlet veteran.

Ia menjelaskan, ada 10 tip  untuk memperpanjang rentang usia, antara lain dengan berlatih olahraga secara teratur, mengurangi jumlah total kalori yang dicerna, berhenti mengosumsi rokok.

Selain itu,  rentang usia dapat dilakukan dengan mengupayakan agar tekanan darah tetap rendah, usahakan kandungan kadar kolesterol darah berada pada tingkat normal, jangan suka menjadi penyendiri atau harus sering melakukan silaturahmi. "Lansia disarankan untuk mengosumsi makanan yang sehat, melatih kerja otak, mencegah penyakit diabetes, dan harus memiliki semangat hidup atau gairah hidup.      Menurut dia, melatih otak seperti halnya dengan otot, dapat mengalami "atrofi" apabila jarang dipergunakan. Apabila dilatih secara teratur seperti membaca, berinteraksi dengan orang lain, maka peluang untuk bisa mempertahankan peningkatan semangat hidup akan diperbaiki secara besar.      Ia menjelaskan, sejumlah riset yang melibatkan binatang uji laboratorium yang diberikan makanan 30 persen dari jatah normal. Binatang itu dapat hidup 30 persen lebih lama dibanding yang makan dengan porsi jatah normal.  "Untuk itu, penurunan struktur fungsi pada lansia dapat dihambat juga dengan cara mengurangi jumlah makanan yang dicerna," katanya.

Dr. dr. Muchsin Doewes adalah Guru Besar ke-139 di UNS Suarakarta. Dia akan dikukuhkan oleh Rektor Prof. Dr. HM. Syamsulhadi SpKJ., pada rapat senat terbuka, Kampus Pascasarjana UNS Surakarta, Selasa (8/3).

 Menurut dia, dalam pengukuhan dirinya sebagai guru besar tersebut akan menyampaikan orasinya dengan tema "Peran Ilmu Faal Olahraga Untuk Meningkatkan Kualitas Hidup Lansia" (Paradoks Lansia Berkualitas).

How vigorously should I exercise?

Whether you are healthy or have medical issues, moderate activity is safe for most people and does plenty to improve your health. If you're in good shape, adding vigorous activities to your workouts cuts time spent exercising and is a boon to health. If you're not fit, work up to vigorous activities slowly. Higher-intensity activities raise your chances for muscle or joint injury and very slightly increase the odds of developing a serious heart problem. This applies particularly to people who are unaccustomed to physical activity, who suddenly start exercising vigorously (although the overall risk of dying from heart disease is lower than if you did no exercise).

How can you judge the pace of your workout? The easiest way to measure exertion characterizes the intensity of an activity through broad categories, such as light, moderate, or vigorous. Called perceived exertion, it's especially helpful for staying in a safe range of activity. As you improve your fitness, you'll find your perception of the intensity of a particular activity—walking up a nearby hill, for example—changes.

The table below describes physical changes at each level of exertion. If you're just getting started with an exercise program, aim for a moderate pace. (If health problems or disabilities make moderate activity impossible, simply do as much as you can.) As you build up, try a mix of moderate and vigorous activities to help build endurance. As you work out more often, you'll notice gains as exercises become easier. Whenever an activity becomes easy, boost the length of your workout or your intensity again.

How hard are you working?
INTENSITY	IT FEELS	YOU ARE...
Light	Easy	• Breathing easily • Warming up, but not yet sweating • Able to talk—or even sing an aria, if you have the talent
Light to moderate	You're working, but not too hard	• Breathing easily • Sweating lightly • Still finding it easy to talk or sing
Moderate	You're working	• Breathing faster • Starting to sweat more • Able to talk, not able to sing
Moderate to vigorous	You're really working	• Huffing and puffing • Sweating • Able to talk in short sentences, but concentrating more on exercise than conversation
Vigorous	You're working very hard, almost out of gas	• Breathing hard • Sweating • Finding talking difficult

For additional information on this and other questions about starting a healthy exercise program,purchase the Special Health Report, Exercise, A Program You Can Live With from Harvard Medical School.

Tips to help you reach your exercise and weight loss goals

Need to lose weight? Cutting back on calories consumed while bumping up total activity level is the most effective method.

Wolfing down a candy bar takes a mere minute or two; walking off those calories would take most people about 40 minutes. To lose a single pound, you need to burn approximately 3,500 calories. Doing so through activity alone could easily take a few weeks of regular, moderate exercise. On the other hand, consuming 500 fewer calories a day will result in the loss of a pound a week. For that reason, dieting alone seems as though it would be a fast path to weight loss.

But regular exercise offers certain benefits beyond calorie burning. It slightly increases your resting energy expenditure— that is, the rate at which you burn calories even when the workout is over and you are at rest. And pounds lost through boosting your activity level consist almost entirely of fat. Plus, some studies suggest exercise preferentially targets abdominal fat, which plays a role in hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Counting calories: What it takes to burn a pound of fat

•	It takes roughly 3,500 additional calories spent in physical activity to burn a pound of fat.
•	Walking or jogging uses up roughly 100 calories per mile. (Note: Your actual calorie expenditure depends on a number of factors, including your weight and pace.)
•	You'll shed approximately a pound of fat for every 35 miles you walk, assuming your levels of food intake and other physical activity remain the same.
•	If you walk briskly (at a pace of 4 mph) for half an hour on five out of seven days, you'll log 10 miles a week. At the end of three-and-a-half weeks, it's possible to lose 1 pound even if the number of calories you consume stays the same.
•	If you also cut back on the amount of food you eat by a few hundred calories a day, you can hasten the pace of your weight loss.

For easy exercises that will achieve results, purchase Exercise - A Program You Can Live With from Harvard Medical School.