Caring for Aging

I attended a very interesting info session (oddly enough at work) this week titled “Managing the Impact of Caring for Aging Family”.  The session delivered a powerful message and put a lot of things in perspective for me.  The presenter began with a very heart-felt story on her relationship with an older family member (in this case her father) and the transition that it made as aging took its toll on the mind.  The presentation was fantastic and it hit many people in attendance quite hard, including myself.  Today’s elderly population is living longer now than in any other previous time in history.  This comes, however, with the added risk of mental illness.  

She made reference to Dementia, and how it isn’t a disease, but rather a group of symptoms that accompany disease such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, MS, or Stroke to our aging loved ones.  Not to scare you but she also mentioned that these diseases often come in pairs.

Ali_Fox

At the end she provided ways of tackling some of the very hard, yet very real discussions we are forced to have with our parents about aging, prevention, illness, and eventual passing. As depressing as this might sound, the presentation was in fact a real eye opener and made me realize that these real discussions have to happen with family.

To help, she provided reference to a few books such as  “I Only Say This Because I Love You” and a wealth of information on the AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) website. 

I took a quick glance at the information on the AARP website and found a few articles that dive into some of the topics/issues that she touched on:

• Help for Alzheimer’s Caregivers
• Easing Aged-Based Sibling Rivalry in Caregiving
• Caring for the Greatest, Muhammad Ali
• And mention of local, Margot Bentley

I’m no expert in family matters, and by no means a councillor, but I thought this was a very real and very probable issue that is going to touch all of us at one stage of our life or another.

Maybe some of our resident Health Care guru’s could also comment on any additional resources  

Thoughtfully,
Richy

Friday

Warm-up: Andy’s Choice at 6 am

Strength: Cleans (2, 2, 2)

You can either touch-and-go or take one quick pause (no more than 5 seconds between the two lifts). How heavy can you go for a double?

THEN

Every 30 seconds for 7 minutes: 1 clean (Go heavier than you did Grace earlier this month)

Workout: Quake Bar Sprints! (Budget 20 minutes)

East Van Barbell Club dabbles with quake bar bench press a lot. It’s great for both muscular endurance and stability.

5 rounds:

15 unbroken Quake Bar Bench Press (16 kg for men, 12 kg for women)
200 meter sprint

**Share benches. Rest as needed (1 to 2 minutes between rounds). The idea is to do the bench press unbroken and hit the 200 meter hill sprints hard.

Here’s a video of how to set up with Quake Bar with bands attached to the KBs.

 Saturday

Warm-up:

5 minutes dynamic warm-up lengths
20 band pull aparts
10 Dislocates
10 ring rows
10 pull-ups
5 minutes to warm up squat clean

Workout:

Badger

3 rounds of:

30 squat cleans (95 lbs/65 lbs)
30 pull-ups
800 m run

40 minute time cap

If you’ve been here for less than 6 months, do a smaller version:

3 rounds:

20 Squat Cleans
20 Pull-ups
600 meter run

Sunday

Make up day, but prioritize CrossFit Total!