By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
Strength training for adults 65 and older, done more than twice a week and combined with physical exercise, can prolong independent living and promote general well-being.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, strength training, generally in the form of lifting weights or doing various other static exercises, can do more than build strength and endurance. Those factors are important for minimizing falls by maintaining the muscles necessary for proper balance.
Working out regularly also increases bone density, making it less likely to break bones or develop osteoporosis. Additionally, it reduces the risk of diabetes by improving the body’s ability to metabolize glucose.
“Lifting weights regularly can help keep a person out of the nursing home or assisted living for up to three years,” Judy Justesen said.
Justesen, a former Rawlins Recreation Center Recreation programmer for senior citizens, lifts weights three times a week, devotes another three days to other strength training and rests on the seventh day. She combines her activities with daily stretching and aerobic exercise.
Strength training “does a lot to enhance the whole person by releasing endorphins,” Justesen said. Endorphins are chemicals released by the body through exercise and other activities that produce a general sense of happiness or well-being. “I recommend doing it in the morning,” she said. “It’s a great way to start the day with energy.”
According to a CDC, 11 percent of adults 65 and older engaged in strength training, with women less likely to do so than men. Justesen said that women should consider exercise and strength training because “it prevents skin from sagging as much as you get older,” she said. “You look better and definitely feel better. The two go hand in hand.”
When done correctly, strength training helps older folks better enjoy life. Justesen, now a grandmother, still plays volleyball. She says her exercise program helps her agility.
But she says the time lifting weights inside is boring. “It’s my least liked activity, and that says a lot,” she said. “If it didn’t do so much good, I wouldn’t be there three times a week.”
Denise Davis, who has Justesen’s old job, plans to establish a physical training program, provided the community shows interest. To get a class started, check in at the front desk of the Rawlins Recreation Center or call Davis at 324-7529.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Water exercise has many benefits
For the Health Fair section
• Exercising in water reduces impacts to bones and joints and the water provides natural resistance.
By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
Jogging that is relocated to the water, called aqua jogging, has been proven to save joints as well as create resistance training that can have more powerful effects than land-based activities.
“If you exert the same energy jogging on land when jogging in the water, you will burn more calories in the water,” water jogging instructor Gail Dahl said. The water resistance is more than that of air, making the running motion more difficult. And jogging in the water eliminates the damaging joint impact of land jogging.
Dahl has men and women, young and old, attend her classes, which begin at 6 p.m. and run for an hour every weeknight at the Rawlins High School pool. The class is particularly popular with individuals with injuries or joint pain, as well as with pregnant women.
Half of the class is devoted purely to jogging laps at a pace specific to each participant. In the second half hour, Dahl leads the joggers in toning exercises including leg work with buoyant “weights” as well as crunches and thigh and arm exercises using an inflated ball.
“As a new person, it’s easy to get involved,” Dahl said. She gives the new jogger a run-down on correct posture, exercise options and recommendations based on a person’s ability and current health. “All you need is a swimsuit,” Dahl said.
She recommends the activity to anyone looking to revamp their exercise program or start a new one. “I always leave (the pool) feeling energized, not exhausted,” she said.
• Exercising in water reduces impacts to bones and joints and the water provides natural resistance.
By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
Jogging that is relocated to the water, called aqua jogging, has been proven to save joints as well as create resistance training that can have more powerful effects than land-based activities.
“If you exert the same energy jogging on land when jogging in the water, you will burn more calories in the water,” water jogging instructor Gail Dahl said. The water resistance is more than that of air, making the running motion more difficult. And jogging in the water eliminates the damaging joint impact of land jogging.
Dahl has men and women, young and old, attend her classes, which begin at 6 p.m. and run for an hour every weeknight at the Rawlins High School pool. The class is particularly popular with individuals with injuries or joint pain, as well as with pregnant women.
Half of the class is devoted purely to jogging laps at a pace specific to each participant. In the second half hour, Dahl leads the joggers in toning exercises including leg work with buoyant “weights” as well as crunches and thigh and arm exercises using an inflated ball.
“As a new person, it’s easy to get involved,” Dahl said. She gives the new jogger a run-down on correct posture, exercise options and recommendations based on a person’s ability and current health. “All you need is a swimsuit,” Dahl said.
She recommends the activity to anyone looking to revamp their exercise program or start a new one. “I always leave (the pool) feeling energized, not exhausted,” she said.
Snowshoeing adventures abundant in county
Rawlins Daily Times, Janice Kurbjun***************
Looking at the trailhead, nothing was familiar.In summer, there was lush, green foliage scattered with wildflower shades of purple, blue, pink and orange. Now, in late winter, the trail into the Sierra Madres is white, broken by sharp shadows of lodgepole pines reaching into the blue sky.
The well-cleared trail marked with blue diamond signs is off limits to snowmobilers, though the machines can still be heard. The snow is nearly waist deep at the edge of the pavement; the only way to get through is to strap on snowshoes.
Snowshoes create a duck-like effect when the wide, aluminum frames with inside rubber are strapped over boots. Climbing over the snow bank, the only sound is the crunch of crusty snow underfoot.
The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest is a perfect place to hit the snow for a few hours. With snowshoe and cross-country trails in Brush Creek, across the highway from the Medicine Bow Lodge in Ryan Park, and Bottle Creek west of Encampment in the Sierra Madres, there is plenty of terrain to explore.
Mark Rauterkus at the Trading Post at the Encampment-Riverside junction provides the only place to rent snowshoes in Carbon County. For $10 a day, Rauterkus can equip the outdoorsman with shoes, and he provides poles and Forest Service trail maps. “It’s easy to learn,” he said. Just strap them on and go, just like walking.
On the trail, the pristine snow is untouched except for rabbit tracks zigzagging through the forest. Veering from the trail and softly wading through untouched powder, a view of the Sierra Madres comes into focus as the trees open into a clearing. Beyond, the craggy summits of Colorado’s Never Summer mountain range are barely visible.
“It’s the most fun to go off the trail, especially if you see moose tracks or want to go over the ridge,” said Sue Cary, of the Brush Creek-Hayden ranger office in Saratoga. “Often, people just go. You can snowshoe anywhere in the forest if you’re careful.”
The trails Rauterkus points out to visitors start off as an easy hike with a gradual incline, ideal for beginners.
“The trails are very scenic,” he said. “They wind in and out of the trees and as you get higher, they have great views.” Snowshoeing difficulty increases with the trail’s grade, but varies slightly from traditional hiking since it involves snow, deeper means harder going.
— Janice Kurbjun
******************
Tips Offered
For people who plan to strap on a pair snowshoes and take off into the great unknown, officials at Saratoga’s Brush Creek-Hayden ranger station recommend some safety tips:
• Explorers should carry water, a snack, a compass and a whistle.
• Do not go into the forest alone. Leave a note in your vehicle saying where you’ve gone. A vehicle will often be investigated by law enforcement before Forest Service officials recognize that someone has not returned from the trail, especially in winter.
• Remember the acronym WOW: Where am I? Is everything OK in terms of gear and myself? What is the weather like? Forest Service personnel recommend being consistently aware of your surroundings, especially when off a marked trail.
• The weather changes quickly in the mountains; explorers should pay attention to the clouds.
Emergency service undergoing review
By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
Emergency medical services have long been heralded as the first line of defense in emergencies, with their role growing increasingly important in rural communities.
As such, the Wyoming Healthcare Commission, in its search for rural health care solutions with Carbon County as the guinea pig, has contracted with New Jersey-based SafeTech Solutions to evaluate the county’s EMS system.
Gary Wingrove and John Becknell of SafeTech recently visited Carbon County. They talked with a medical professionals and city and county officials about the system and the community’s perceptions.
“We’re not the fixers,” Wingrove said. “Our role here is to assess and then to prescribe the best practices from other communities according to what might fit into this one.”
They defined EMS as all services provided in an emergency prior to arrival at the hospital. That includes anything from answering a 911 call to giving telephone instructions for patient care to taking patients to a care facility.
The SafeTech representatives said they often make recommendations to communities that require the involvement of more than one entity. To them, the responsibility for emergency medicine rests on the shoulders of the community as a whole.
According to the consultants, hospital officials should think about shortages in ambulance workers while organizations and individuals should be aware of how an the emergency service’s functionality affects them. City officials should think about the importance of a fully-funded service and public education can be accomplished through newspapers.
Becknell said they discovered that Carbon County is served by a hodgepodge of volunteer workers and full-time, paid staff, mostly in Rawlins, who also serve at the hospital.
“This is the two-headed monster of EMS,” Becknell said. “It is difficult to recruit and retain volunteers anywhere, across the country. It goes hand in hand with the issue of how to fund EMS if staff must be hired.”
Times staff writer
Emergency medical services have long been heralded as the first line of defense in emergencies, with their role growing increasingly important in rural communities.
As such, the Wyoming Healthcare Commission, in its search for rural health care solutions with Carbon County as the guinea pig, has contracted with New Jersey-based SafeTech Solutions to evaluate the county’s EMS system.
Gary Wingrove and John Becknell of SafeTech recently visited Carbon County. They talked with a medical professionals and city and county officials about the system and the community’s perceptions.
“We’re not the fixers,” Wingrove said. “Our role here is to assess and then to prescribe the best practices from other communities according to what might fit into this one.”
They defined EMS as all services provided in an emergency prior to arrival at the hospital. That includes anything from answering a 911 call to giving telephone instructions for patient care to taking patients to a care facility.
The SafeTech representatives said they often make recommendations to communities that require the involvement of more than one entity. To them, the responsibility for emergency medicine rests on the shoulders of the community as a whole.
According to the consultants, hospital officials should think about shortages in ambulance workers while organizations and individuals should be aware of how an the emergency service’s functionality affects them. City officials should think about the importance of a fully-funded service and public education can be accomplished through newspapers.
Becknell said they discovered that Carbon County is served by a hodgepodge of volunteer workers and full-time, paid staff, mostly in Rawlins, who also serve at the hospital.
“This is the two-headed monster of EMS,” Becknell said. “It is difficult to recruit and retain volunteers anywhere, across the country. It goes hand in hand with the issue of how to fund EMS if staff must be hired.”
Schools need modular units
Times staff report
Carbon County School District 1 plans to lease two modular buildings for next school year.
Pershing and Highland Hills elementary schools each need a two-room modular unit. District 1 already leases some modular buildings.
The additional space should meet anticipated enrollment growth for the next two years, district officials say. The growth is based on patterns in monthly enrollment reports. The district’s initial enrollment has been increasing since 2004. Last August saw the smallest increase — 47 students — as compared to the year before with 52. In August 2005, enrollment increased by 89 students.
In two years, the new Highland Hills school complex should be nearly complete. However, the lease of modular buildings may trickle into the 2010-11 school year.
“We may need to make unusual arrangements in the third year to accommodate (the anticipated number of students),” District 1 Superintendent Peggy Sanders said. “But we do not want to bring in more modulars.”
Carbon County School District 1 plans to lease two modular buildings for next school year.
Pershing and Highland Hills elementary schools each need a two-room modular unit. District 1 already leases some modular buildings.
The additional space should meet anticipated enrollment growth for the next two years, district officials say. The growth is based on patterns in monthly enrollment reports. The district’s initial enrollment has been increasing since 2004. Last August saw the smallest increase — 47 students — as compared to the year before with 52. In August 2005, enrollment increased by 89 students.
In two years, the new Highland Hills school complex should be nearly complete. However, the lease of modular buildings may trickle into the 2010-11 school year.
“We may need to make unusual arrangements in the third year to accommodate (the anticipated number of students),” District 1 Superintendent Peggy Sanders said. “But we do not want to bring in more modulars.”
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