If you’re young it’s not so impressive to be spry. It comes with the territory. As you get older, it’s really good to be spry. How you live when you’re younger will make a huge difference to staying spry when you are older.
What does spry really mean?
Here is a dictionary definition of spry:
“able to move quickly, easily, and lightly : nimble sense 1 —used especially to describe an older person”
Webster Merriam dictionary
They also give these synonyms for spry:
“agile, featly, feline, graceful, gracile, light, light-footed (also light-foot), lightsome, lissome (also lissom), lithe, lithesome, nimble“
Webster Merriam dictionary
You get the (maybe too detailed) drift.
Beyond a dictionary definition what goes into being spry?
Some important factors are:
- Strength
- Flexibility
- Balance
How do you stay spry?
The older you get, the less likely you are to be limber, nimble, agile and lithe. Use it or lose it. So, it is important when you are young to create the lifestyle, habits and activities that will keep you spry. Actually, it is important all of your life, but the younger you are when you work toward improving and maintaining your fitness and health, the better your chances of remaining spry.
Working flexibility and strength training into your exercise routine or daily living activities will go a long way toward maintaining or even improving your spryness. You need strength, especially in your lower limbs as you age to maintain your independence. Strength helps with balance, but balancing exercises are also a good idea.
When you are younger is a good time to work on the activities you will want to do when you are older. I knew a woman in her nineties who had gone skiing every year and was still doing it at her advanced age. This is not for everyone. She didn’t look a day older than 60 years. She was able to maintain a lifelong activity that was not usual for a person of her age.
Wouldn’t you want to be able to do all the usual activities daily living and more? I suspect most people would want to walk reasonable distances, carry groceries, and put things away on shelves above their heads. They may want lift up a baby grandchild from the floor or sit on the floor with them and get up with ease. Also, they would want to climb stairs, climb in and out of vehicles, or dance. Not having to worry too much about falling would be a biggie at an advanced age.
One approach to retain your activities of daily living is to focus on functional fitness. For example, to be able to put something onto a shelf above your head, you will need to practice putting objects of slightly increasing weight or more frequently at least above your head. If you keep doing the same thing without increasing the load or repetitions, your function will likely decline with age.
Try to continually improve your balance through activities, such as yoga and tai chi.
In this blog, I will address spryness and wellness, including topics related to building your health and function from early in life to an advanced age.
