Sarcopenia: Insidious Muscle Loss Can Be Managed.
It Can Happen, But Don’t Despair. Read On.
A fitness program that includes resistance training can forestall muscle loss.
Sarcopenia or muscle wasting is a condition which affects almost everyone starting about 50 years of age. Do you have it? Look in the mirror: Your once proud biceps and pectorals have sagged, your pants are falling down, no more butt, your legs look skinny. What looks like loose skin is really the loss of muscle. You find yourself skiing on easier slopes, minding how you climb stairs, playing less aggressive tennis, and basically losing muscle tone.
Is all lost? No, indeed. A prominent medical school subjected a group of older folks who used walkers to a resistance training program. In 90 days, they were able to ditch the walkers!
Apparently, the secret is a resistance training routine with some dietary changes. A structured program in resistance, i.e., weight lifting, similar to a body builder’s program is the key.
In addition, older folk do not process proteins well. When it’s snack time, we go for crackers or other carbohydrates. This subdues your appetite but contributes nothing to your protein intake and robs your body of the space that could be utilized for protein. Find a protein source for your snacks. I am fond of beef jerky. Or try Greek yogurt, trail mix, almonds, peanut butter and celery, and others. Check here for ideas. Protein drinks are okay, but don’t use them as a meal replacement.
Light weights are good for bone density and muscle mass preservation.
Credit: SeniorsSkiing.com
Resistance training for seniors is a case of make haste slowly. There is potential for injury and an untrained individual needs to be careful. Proper form is absolutely critical for injury prevention and instruction by a professional is required, either at certified trainer at a gym or a physical therapist.
Medicare covers about 20 physical therapy visits a year. Get a referral from your primary care provider. Medicare with a United Healthcare supplement (AARP) has the Silver Sneakers Program which allows you unlimited visits to a gym on the program.
If you do have some resistance training experience but have been lax for a while, start off slow. Start with a lower body workout—squats, lunges—that use your body weight only for four weeks. Then add light dumbbells. A weight which allows you to complete three sets of 10 reps without undue exertion is the signal to increase the load, never more than about 10 percent.
Don’t forget your upper body. Most gyms have an array of weight machines which reduce balance issues. Once again, find a personal trainer for a couple of visits to learn the form and reduce the chance of injury.
Follow your program three times a week. You will feel stronger in a month, see results in two months and by the third month you will have developed a life-long habit.
As with all exercise programs, seek the advice of your medical professional and get expert help in starting out.
John Henry Auran: Ski Journalist Extraordinaire, Dies At 90
The Creative, Intense, Funny, Unique Journalist Will Be Remembered As One-Of-A-Kind.
John Henry Auran, journalist, raconteur, skier, sailor, innovator, enthusiast.
Ski journalist John Henry Auran was the kind of person you could never forget. I worked for John Henry, or JHA, as he was known to some, in the early 70s at SKIING Magazine, then located at One Park Avenue in New York City. Despite different life paths since then, we kept in touch, even as his declining health brought him farther and farther away from the sports he loved.
John Henry was always interested in delving into new products, new racing results, new personalities on the ski scene, new ideas for connecting the reading public with the outdoor winter sports industry. His enthusiasm was uncontainable for finding, thinking, analyzing, reporting, and watching the world for news.
I will never forget when he and I went to a ski boot manufacturer somewhere in New Jersey who promised to show us a then new development in boot fitting. This was the first foam-fitting demonstration ever, as far as I know, in the business. Since John Henry was SKIING’s boot expert, he went for a sneak preview, and I tagged along to take pictures.
At the manufacturer’s “plant”, John Henry was seated in a high chair, like the shoe polishing chairs you see at airports or train stations. His foot was placed in a plastic bladder which was gradually filled with foam and placed in a boot shell. I distinctly recall him reporting all the sensations that involved: “It’s getting warmer, I feel some pressure,” while a big smile crossed his face. “I’m getting foamed!”
After that, John Henry couldn’t resist asking people if they’ve been “foamed”. Since no one had, that gave him license to launch into describing the experience complete with gestures and enthusiastic and dramatic commentary. “Everyone should try it.”
He was also an innovator in what created a new genre: the industry show newsletter. At the time, the ski business had three regional shows for equipment and clothing manufacturers and wholesalers to meet retailers run by Ski Industries America. John Henry had a terrific idea: Publish a daily newsletter at each show that reported news, gossip, personnel moves and the like every morning of the show. Sounded like a great idea.
JHA enlisted the staff of SKIING to do some reporting, bring it to us in our editorial corner where he and I would create columns by typing copy into an IBM Selectric. We then pasted the columns to a piece of oaktag with a pre-designed masthead and logo and brought it to a printer where we waited until the job was done. We picked up the edition and distributed it throughout the show venue. Did I mention this process took almost all day AND all night? Trial and error was the name of the game. Despite being exhausted, we knew we had a hit when we saw the show people reading the Show News over coffee. That was true journalism.
John Henry always had a story ready whenever we talked over the years. One of his favorites was about his hometown where he was born in Germany. As a young boy, he was a witness to Kristallnacht in November 1938. A few years ago, the town government had a commemorative event marking that dark past and invited JHA to come back to join the few other surviving town residents to bear witness and tell their stories of what happened. Despite his disability, he went all the way back to Germany with a companion, all sponsored by the town. It was a remarkable and touching journey.
John Henry was also an enthusiastic member of SeniorsSkiing.com’s Advisory Board.
John Henry lived in a nursing home in upstate New York for the past decade or so. When I called, the nursing staff would chat while John got to the phone. They would tell me he enjoyed being taken to nearby Hunter Mountain where he would sit in the base lodge watching the skiers and the lift traffic. I can see him there, in my mind’s eye, reminiscing to himself about the equipment, the racers, the dramatic places, the deadlines, and the great writers he knew. Watching the lift go around and around.
Rest in peace, John Henry.
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (April 20)
Discount Reminders, Season Thanks, Washing Down, Stowing Gear, Abandoned Ski Area Movie, -30-
Killington is still open. Also Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Wildcat, Jay Peak, Okemo, Mt. Snow, Sugarbush. May is possible! Credit: Jamie Frankel
This amazing season hangs on. Even as we write this on April 19 snow is falling in New England, in fact, right outside our window on Boston’s North Shore. We know that the Sierras and Rockies are also seeing spring snowfalls. It will be the last weekend for some, but it’s been years since we even contemplated skiing in May in Maine.
Fourth Season Into The Archives
With this week’s edition, the fourth publishing season of SeniorsSkiing.com is fading into the archives. We will be shifting gears in the next month, bringing articles that reflect our readers’ non-snow season activities on a less frequent basis. We’ll be picking up the pace with new ideas, articles, and offers on the other side of summer.
Bear in mind, the almost 900 articles that we’ve been publishing since 2014 are still and will always be available. Just check the drop down menus in the blue bar above.
Our Publishing Season In Retrospect
Looking back, we’ve accomplished a lot and worked hard to create value for our leaders. Those initiatives marked SOC can be found under Subscriber-Only Content in the top menu bar. The initiatives we’ve developed in partnership with others include:
- Mystery Glimpse photos from US ski museums
- Our Donations to Defray Expenses Campaign
- Making available 60s Ski Songs from Ray Conrad
- Arranging exclusive Discounts For Seniors from 20 vendors
- Publishing Best Skis For Seniors and Best Boots For Seniors (SOC)
- Creating a directory of resorts Where Seniors Ski Free (or almost free) (SOC)
- Offering a free subscription to SKI magazine (SOC)
- Making available a free digital subscription to Ski History magazine
We also have available on under Subscriber Only Content our first information asset we developed for our readers, complied with the cooperation of the International Ski History Association.
- Free eBook Collection Historic Ski Posters (SOC)
Early Survey Results: We DO Have Lists Of Discounts.
A quick glance at the survey responses currently rolling in reveals that some readers are wondering when and if we will be offering advice where to get discounts on skiing. We’ve already got you covered.
One of our major early season efforts for the past couple of years has been to identify those ski areas which offer free skiing, or nearly free skiing, for seniors. We want to point out that information is available under the Subscriber-Only Content menu that is above the blue menu bar. If you are already a subscriber, you will have to confirm your name and email address to get access to that directory. We think confirming your email address is much better alternative than having you create a username and password. We hope you agree.
Spring Survey 2018 Is Still Open.
Responses to our Spring Survey 2018 are still coming in. Thanks to those who have taken the time to give us some valuable input. If you haven’t taken our survey, just click here. It will take you three minutes, and your advice is important to making SeniorsSkiing.com work for you.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/G7YBNCK
Thanks To Our Correspondents: You Are The Best.
SeniorsSkiing.com can’t publish every week during the season without articles submitted by our stalwart correspondents. You should be familiar with their names by now. Each is a professional, some are active journalists, and each “gets” what SeniorsSkiing.com’s mission is all about: Promoting the interests of senior snow sport enthusiasts.
A tip of the ski pole to:
- Jan Brunvand
- Don Burch
- Yvette Cardozo
- Rose Marie Cleese
- Val E.
- Steve Hines
- Marc Liebman
- Roger Lohr (SeniorsSkiing.com XC editor)
- Pat McCloskey
- John Nelson
- Tamsin Venn
- Joan Wallen
- Harriet Wallis
- Jonathan Wiesel
And Thanks To Our Reader Opinion Writers.
This year, our readers have submitted more articles to us for publication than ever. We’d like to acknowledge those who were inspired to put pen to paper to write something for our readers. They made an effort to share their opinions, humor, stories, memories, and advice with you. Thank you to all.
- Torry Hack
- John Farley
- Bill Emerson
- Brad Noren
- Roger Monty
- Bernie Weichsel
Paying Attention to Gear.
With the season winding down, it’s time to clean and stow your gear. We have two articles with advice for doing same. Val E. gives us 10 steps to cleaning that funky down jacket. And, we reprise Don Burch’s article from last year on putting away your equipment.
Flipping out at the US Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Squaw Valley. Credit: Charlie Shaeffer.
US Ski & Snowboard Hall Of Fame 2018 Inductees
The US Ski & Snowboard Association has just inducted its 2018 class of new members at Squaw Valley. We salute the following ski celebrities: Airborne Eddie Ferguson, Hermann Gollner, Marty Hall, Mike and Steve Marolt, Thom Weisel, Steve McKinney, and Shaun Palmer.
Abandoned Ski Areas In Colorado Documentary
Here’s a short documentary from a production company called The Road West Traveled about ski areas that disappeared from the Colorado landscape. In the 60s and 70s at the height of the ski craze, there were 200 ski areas in the state. There are currently 30. “Abandoned” tells the story of just one, Geneva Basin, which closed in 1984 with some nice drone shots. But what’s with the dog running down the piste with the skiers? Thanks to Outside magazine for sharing this.
CLICK THE IMAGE TO SEE THE DOCUMENTARY
Or, Click Here for “Abandoned”.
Look For Us This Summer And Fall.
We’ll be publishing articles on fitness, summer sports, fun things, and skiing in the Southern Hemisphere all with a senior slant for the next few months. Please tell your friends, and remember, there are more of us every day, and we aren’t going away.
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