(Editor's note: The following column appeared in the April 7 2017 Finger Lakes Times newspaper in Geneva, NY)
By Michael J. Fitzgerald
Watching daytime television programming is usually ranked somewhere below scheduling a root canal on my to-do list. But a highly recommended segment on last Friday’s NBC “Today Show” featuring biomechanist and fitness author Katy Bowman turned out to be too good to miss. Bowman’s name might be familiar from the string of eight books she has published in the last six years, all carrying a variety of advice about how to stay flexible and fit — and keep advancing age from slowing you down.
Her more familiar titles are “Don’t Just Sit There” (2015), “Move Your DNA” (2014) and “Alignment Matters” (2013). And even though the clever names on the covers of these tomes might lead one to think they are lightweight pop culture, they have serious science backing up Bowman’s narrative with footnotes from medical and academic journals like The Lancet, the Journal of Physiological Anthropology or the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The release of Bowman’s newest book — “Dynamic Aging” — caught the attention of NBC correspondent-anchor Maria Shriver, prompting her to produce the lively five-minute bit that probably should be must-see TV in the Finger Lakes. It’s informative (and entertaining) for anyone from 18 to 80. Her basic premise is what we consider normal aging is not age but a lifetime of bad habits of how we stand, sit and move. It’s possible to restore our bodies by focusing on movement. In the NBC segment, Shriver interviews Bowman and a group of women she labels “superagers” who follow Bowman’s restorative exercise regime. Although in their 70s and older, they are measurably as mentally fit as 20-somethings and maintain physical health levels of people decades younger. The secrets to their successes sound familiar. People need to challenge their brains and bodies on a regular basis, daily pushing themselves physically and mentally. But the pushing Shriver noted is more intense than taking longer walks each day or doing a few extra Sudoku or crossword puzzles each afternoon. One woman featured in the broadcast had learned to play the piano, chess and how to shoot pool — in the past year. But the video of the women stretching and swinging on playground equipment — and even climbing a tree — was nearly jaw-dropping.
They are, indeed, superagers, although my wife has started to call such people “perennials.” While the NBC video was inspiring, “Dynamic Aging” expands the filmed concepts with 200-plus pages of specific exercises and advice. This column, for example, is being written in 15-minute segments. Fifteen minutes at the keyboard, followed by five minutes of getting up and moving around. Then it’s back to this week’s “Write On.” And there is no using the arms of the chair to help boost to a standing position. “Lean your torso forward, shift your weight back on your heels ... then rise,” the book counsels. It’s harder than it sounds. But you can feel muscles working, physical evidence supporting the notion of how important movement is to health.
Reading a number of the exercises and suggestions in “Dynamic Aging” seemed eerily familiar, with good reason. My bulletin board contains a half-dozen or so pages of recommended exercises prescribed in the last few years by my Watkins Glen physical therapist. The stretches and various contortions she says are so important mirror much of what’s outlined in the book.
As the weather continues to flip from snow and slush to spring and summer around Seneca Lake, it’s a good idea for all of us to get out and move our DNA, physically and mentally.
Now if I can just remember to stand without using the arms on the chair.
Fitzgerald worked for six newspapers as a writer and editor as well as a correspondent for several news services. He splits his time between Valois, NY and Pt. Richmond, Calif. You can email him at Michael.Fitzgeraldfltcolumnist@gmail.com and visit his website at michaeljfitzgerald.blogspot.com.
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