Shownotes
In this episode, Wendy Green and Dr. Tom Gilliam turn the spotlight on our brains and how to keep them fit as we age. Wendy starts the episode with some banter about the holiday season and how many of us are feeling a bit more 'fluffy' after the Thanksgiving feast. But fear not!
Dr. Gilliam, who, by the way, retired at 81, lays down the science behind why exercise isn't just good for our bodies, but it’s also crucial for our brain health. He dives into the nitty-gritty of how our brains age and how physical activity can slow down that process.
From cardio to strength training, he explains why a mix of these activities is essential. Plus, he shares insights about those magical myokines, like irisin, which are like tiny superheroes for our brains, helping to build new connections and keep our memory intact. It's a mix of science and practical advice that leaves us feeling hopeful and ready to take action!
Takeaways:
- Learn how staying active can really help keep our brains sharp and healthy as we age, making exercise not just about the body but the mind too!
- We learned that activities like walking and gardening can boost brain health by increasing blood flow and stimulating the release of important proteins that protect our neurons.
- Dr. Tom Gilliam shares that resistance training is super important for older adults because it helps maintain muscle health, which is crucial for overall brain function and cognitive abilities as we grow older.
- Don't forget about task switching activities like yoga and tai chi; these not only keep us physically engaged but also improve our balance and cognitive function, making them a fun way to stay sharp!
- The conversation emphasizes that exercise isn't just for the young—it's never too late to start! Even if you begin in your 70s, you can still make a difference in your brain health and help slow cognitive decline.
- Lastly, we talk about how important it is to keep moving regularly. If you stop exercising, the benefits can fade away quickly, so let's keep the momentum going and stay active for our brains!
Links referenced in this episode:
To reach Tom with any questions, email him at tgilliam61@gmail.com
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Can Exercise Really Alter the Cognitive Structure in the Brain?
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Transcripts
Welcome to Boomer Banter. My name is Wendy Green and I am your host.
And every week on Boomer Banter, we talk about the challenges, the changes and the possibilities that come with this season of life. And welcome to December.
I know a lot of people say, oh, time is going so fast, but aren't we glad that we are here and hopefully feeling well to recognize December 1st? And I'm sure you've had or I hope you've had your Thanksgiving turkey and or ham.
You probably, if you're like me, finish the pecan pie and the sweet potato casserole and all the other goodies and snacks that come with the holiday. And you may have already started baking for Christmas, which I have done also.
And I'm betting that you're seeing your clothes getting a little tighter. You may be feeling a bit more sluggish ish. And you tell yourself that you need to reignite your exercise routine.
But this episode is going to give you a reason, besides your waistline, to establish a regular exercise program that includes aerobics, strength training and task switching activities. It has to do with better brain health. My guest today, Dr. Tom Gilliam, is an exercise physiologist and since his retirement last year at 81.
Yes, that's right. He retired at 81. He has dedicated himself to educating older adults on on the role physical exercise plays in enhancing brain health.
Dr. Gilliam was a tenured faculty member at the University of Michigan.
He was the founder and president of Industrial Physical Capability Services, performing employee physical capability strength assessments for Fortune 100 companies and government partners nationwide for over 40 years.
He has presented at many leading industry and scientific conferences and he has written countless scientific papers published by leading scientific journals and scholarly publications. There is so much to learn from Tom about our brain and movement. So let's get started by welcoming Tom to Boomer Banter.
Thank you for joining us today.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:You're, you're welcome, Wendy, and thank you for including me on, on your podcast this afternoon.
Wendy Green:Well, I'm excited, Tom, because there's so much to learn and, and you've kindly sent me a paper which I'm going to put a link to in the show notes.
But there's a lot of scientific speak in there as we discussed, and so we're going to try and translate that into terms that the listeners can remember and understand. So before we get to the scientific jargon, when did brain health become such a passion for you and what sparked your interest in this research?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.: I, I think it was the in:And also in the late 90s, we began to read so much that many people were living into their 70s, 80s, 90s, 1/ hundreds, and you know, way back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, aging, you died at 60 or 70. And so things like dementia wasn't even a word that you were concerned about. And so it got my interest.
And then it was in the early:And we were worried about the heart, we're worried about our muscle, all our other internal organs as we age. But the brain ages too. The brain shrinks. As we get older, various structures shrink.
Our nerves, which are critical to cognitive ability, become less effective. We lose them as well.
And so as our, as we age, we lose the ability to generate new nerves and new synapses, which connects nerves, which is how you send one impulse from one nerve to another, which is critical to cognitive learning. So all that got it all started way back when I read about Alzheimer's. I said I had no idea what it was. And it's scary.
Dementia, which can lead to Alzheimer's. What makes it so scary? It's a frightening disease because your thought ability, your cognitive ability can't comprehend what's going on to your body.
Answer. You can sit down with your doctor and he or she can explain to you what's going on and what the treatment is.
And you understand that you have ability, but when you lose your cognitive ability and things begin to happen to your mind and you, you have no idea what's going on. And you know, your doctor can talk to your family, can talk to your friends, can talk to you, and you don't comprehend.
And the next thing you know, you're in a memory care facility and you just don't have any control. It's sad. It's very sad. And it's a frightening. In my opinion, it's a very frightening disease.
Wendy Green:Yeah. And when you talk about, you know, our brain shrinking and the nerves not working as well, that is scary.
So you're saying that movement can stop the brain from shrinking.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:The research is so exciting. I read new stuff every single day. You know, it's it's just, it's.
I don't understand why, why people don't want to go out and take better care of themselves. But I've been thinking that way for about 50 years and it's getting a little bit better.
But your, your brain, you can manage the health of your brain. Now we're just like with muscle.
As we age, we lose muscle and you got to be careful of sarcopenia, which is significant loss of muscle, which can impact your balance and your ability to walk and things like that. You can prevent that from occurring as well.
But the same thing with the brain, it used to be, it had to be cardiovascular exercise, and cardiovascular exercise, fast walking, swimming, biking, dancing, that's phenomenal activity, are all great activities to increase the vascularization blood flow to the brain. The brain receives its nutrients, oxygen and glucose via the vessels in our brain. You got to keep them healthy.
And through physical activity you can begin to continue to generate new vessels, smaller vessels. You can generate new vessels in your brain which keeps the blood flowing.
Sadly, you can't store glucose in your brain like you can glucose in your muscle. So as a result, vascularization is very, very important.
Nerve conduction, speed and the number of neurons or nerves that you have in your brain, particularly certain areas of your brain called the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, which are critical to cognitive thinking, memory and that thing. We lose those nerves as we age.
But the research shows now that through physical activity, whether it be cardiovascular activity, resistance activity, or as you mentioned earlier, task switching activity, you can stimulate more nerves.
You can enhance the synapse between one nerve and the other, the myelin sheath that goes around the nerve, which allows the nerve transmission to take place. That weakens with age.
And also physical activity enhances that your whole nervous system can continue to function as we age, which is critical to maintaining a healthy brain and cognitive ability.
Wendy Green:Okay, so as a non medical person, what I'm hearing you say is it's not that we're creating new nerves and synapses, but we are almost like building muscle. We are building the ability of those nerves and synapses to connect. Is that right?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Well, you're 99% correct. But you are building new ones as well.
Wendy Green:You are building new ones as well.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:But you have neuroprote neural protectors or neurotrophins in the brain. There's three major ones.
We don't need to discuss them in detail, but what they do, one is, has related to the vascular system, one is related to the nerves. Those Neurotrophins of neural protectors will allow. Protect the existing neurons and allow neurons and more synapses to. To develop within the brain.
Wendy Green:Wow.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Yeah, it's, it's. And so, you know, if you're worried about your loss of memory as you grow older, you know, it starts as early as 55 years of age.
We don't think about that, but it starts with what they call an mci, a mild cognitive impairment. There's no signs or symptoms for it, but it starts around 50, 55 years of age, and it can continue.
And then before you know it, you're in the early stages of dementia when you're 60, 65, and then it gets only progressively worse from 65 to 70, 75 years of age. So you can start the exercise program and get the benefits of exercise at any time, but the earlier you start, the greater the benefit.
And if you're a physically active person your entire life, where you're sitting well right now, as far as your brain health is concerned.
Wendy Green:So if, if we start, say, in our 70s, you're saying that there has already been, for most of us, some cognitive impairment. Is that.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Yes.
Wendy Green:Okay.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:That is correct.
Wendy Green:And so if we start this exercise program, which we're going to talk about in more detail in our 70s, can we reverse some of what already has been lost?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Can't reverse it, but you can slow it and prevent further impairment.
Wendy Green:Okay. All right. So we. We talk about this muscle brain crosstalk.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Yeah.
Wendy Green:And how, how movement sends protective molecules to the brain. Can you give me a little bit more information about this muscle brain crosstalk?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:You know, the human body is phenomenal. I mean, everything you need to take good care of yourself is there, but you have to do the right things to take advantage of it.
And one is physical exercise. And why within our muscle? The muscle has a variety of hormones and they release them, and they're called myokines.
One of the myokines is called orisim I R I S, I M. What does that do? And it is only released when you exercise.
It sits there, and it's there right now waiting for you to go outside and be active, to get released and get circulating. It gets into the blood, goes up to the brain, and then in the brain, you have a blood brain barrier.
It penetrates that blood brain barrier, gets into the brain and interacts with one of the neurotrophins called bdnf. Okay.
And then that's what enhances more neurons and synapses within critical components of your brain to enhance cognition so, but it's the arisin that drives it. And so you, your brain, it's talking and the connection between muscle and brain goes both ways.
is is, this was just found in:It's not, it's, I mean all these things have been in the body for many, many years, but we didn't know that until these myokines. There's over 600 myokines, which is muscle only. There's only 600 myokines within the body. And then they also have what they call cytokines.
C Y T O K I N E S. There's over thousands of those in various organs.
Muscle, fat tissue and things like that, adipose tissue, liver, there's all kinds of these things within the body which, which are good for the body, but you have to get them, to get them released.
Wendy Green:But critical 1 Arisin is the big one. So we want to keep moving for that. So I want to talk about that, the movement that, that's going to help us. So you talk about three different kinds.
So let's start with resistance training. And why is that so crucial to our brain health?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Because resistance training enhances muscle health. Muscle health is critical for what I just said, the release of erisin to go up to interact with the BDNF in the brain.
So you have to have healthy, strong muscle for this to happen. And it's keeping the muscle strong and healthy through resistance exercises.
Now resistance exercises has been researched for many, many years, 100 years.
And, and even though there's all kinds of different equipment today that you can work on, all of the gadgets and toys you could push and so forth, it's no different in terms of what you need to do to stimulate the muscle. And the critical thing, Wendy, is you have to stimulate the muscle.
If you go to the gym and you pick up a two pound weight and you, you do this all day long, you're not stimulating anything, you have to be able to feel the resistance.
So with resistance exercises, you're looking at, you want to get at least seven repetitions in of whatever you are lifting or whatever exercise tube you're pulling back and forth, you want to get at least seven repetitions and up to 12. If it's really easy at 10, 11 and 12, then you need to add more resistance. Now this is easy for me to Say, I've been doing this my entire life.
But, but to take a 70 year old and have them begin to say, look at, this is what you have to do to enhance the muscle health of your muscle so it interacts nicely with the blood brain barrier and the BDNF and so forth in the brain. That's a little bit hard to do at times.
And for a person who's not exercised at 70, 75, 80, 85 years of age, the resistance might be a little bit low to begin with. But you have to start, you have to start training the muscle so it begins to build and get stronger and have the ability to release the Sarissen.
Wendy Green:So.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:It'S difficult. Most people will tell you you got to do three days of strength training. The American College of Sports.
Wendy Green:A week. You mean three days a week, right?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Yeah, three days a week. Sorry. But most, most, the World Health Organization, they're all tied in now, the cdc, you can do it for two days a week.
If you get a third day in, that's, that's fine. You want to do at least 45 minutes to an hour of strength training. So you get into maybe eight to 10 exercises.
You're going to do each exercise three times three sets, what we say, and seven to 10 repetitions within each set. So you're doing somewhere. If you go three times seven, that's 21, or three times 12, that's 36 repetitions.
You're going to do with a minute or so rest between these sets to allow the muscle to recover a little bit. And this is critical to memory health.
Wendy Green:So, so when I think of resistance, I think about like the stretchy bands or, or you push against something that, that is really hard. Is it also lifting? Is lifting also resistance?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Sure, you know you can, but you know, for years, I'm going back into the 50s and 60s, your body weight was your resistance. You did what they call calisthenics. You did push ups, you did pull ups, you did dips on a chair. Your body weight was your resistance.
Wendy Green:Yeah.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:So you've got all kinds of activities. And again, when I go to my fitness center, I watch people work out.
And you know, everyone does it a little bit different depending on what they want, what they like, but the end result is the same. You're enhancing your muscle health again, which is going to contribute to your brain health.
Wendy Green:Okay.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:And also through resistance exercise, you begin, you're, you're moving so you're, you're increasing your vascularization in, into the muscle and up into the brain. Even with resistance exercises, that, that will happen.
Wendy Green:And so that's where we're going to build up that erisin that's going to get into that blood brain barrier and really help our cognitive.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:When I'm out there doing my weights, I'm, come on, erisin, let's get and do your thing. You know, you gotta, you gotta be positive about this.
Wendy Green:I love that. Come on, risen.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Come on, come on. I love that.
Wendy Green:Okay, so, but, you know, normally we would think, oh, gosh, you got to do the aerobics, right, because that's good for your heart and you. Oh, pumping blood to our brain. So what about the aerobic exercise? Is that something we.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:It's been around for years. It's, it's, it's. The main focus in the 70s and 80s was the cardiovascular health.
You know, heart, Heart disease was the number one killer back then, and it still is today. And so every. There was a lot of focus on heart health, which, which is very, very important. Still is. And so back then it was walking or jogging.
There weren't too many other alternatives. Swimming is a phenomenal activity because it takes the pressure off the joints and you get great resistance through the water.
I wish I was a better, better swimmer. I'm good for a couple laps, and it's like me running five miles if I just two laps in a pool.
But running was very popular back in the 80s and 90s, you know, 10Ks races and so forth.
But you want to, you know, so the aerobics is very important because that also enhances vascularization of the brain besides of the rest part of the body. And so that's. And you have a neurotrophin, a VEGF factor in the brain, which is critical to increase vascularization in the brain as well.
And so you're looking at any type of activity that's going to keep you moving for at least 45 minutes to an hour. Could be a nice walk, but you're going to have to move. You just. You can't meander down the sidewalk and consider that to be your walk.
You have to stimulate again, though. You want the heart to beat, you want the blood to flow. Dancing, as I mentioned earlier, is a great activity.
There's all kinds of dances out there today. Swimming, biking, cycling, hiking, climbing.
Wendy Green:All of that.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:All that is good yard work. I live up here in northeast Ohio and, you know, we do get nice weather every now and then, but I love working in my yard, and I'm working in my yard.
I'm, I'm out there for an hour or two hours at a time. I'm working my flower beds, I'm bending over, I'm working the soil and walking behind a lawnmower.
So it's, it's, you can do chores and make it part of your physical activity as well.
Wendy Green:You know, when I do yard work, though, it does not count my steps as well. And so, you know, we have this whole thing in our mind, oh, you got to do 10,000 steps. What do you think about steps?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Steps? I've read all kinds of research where you have to do at least 14,000.
And you know, the word 10,000 steps came from the original pedometer that was invented by the Japanese and it was called, I forgot the Japanese name, but, but it meant 10,000. So that's where the 10,000 steps came from.
You know, if you walk 6,000 steps a day, but you walk very vigorously, you're going to get a tremendous benefit from, from, from that.
But most, you know, my step count, even when I go out and I walk my three miles, two and a half or three miles on up and down hills, on a trail, you know, I, I get about six or seven thousand steps with that.
I, I try to get 10, 000 steps in a day, but I don't always accomplish that when I work in the yard because I'm all over the place, push the wheelbarrow and stuff like that. You know, I might get 14, 16, 18, 000 steps in a day. And at the end of the day, I'm, I'm very tired.
Wendy Green:Yeah, I always feel like I get a good workout that way. But I'm always disappointed that my step counter hasn't been going up like I would want it to be.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:But, you know, you have to, you have to move at a good pace now. And I'm talking to a lot of different people here. I understand that. I know there's some people that just can't do that, and I understand that.
But there are ways to start. There are ways to start to start your movement. There's upper body ergometers. You could do that while sitting, for an example. Cycling.
Incumbent bikes are very, very popular for people who are just getting started. Obviously, if you've not exercised, we strongly recommend checking with your physician first.
Wendy Green:Absolutely.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:And get their, their approval. And then I, you know, get involved with a personal trainer and people say, well, I don't have the money for that. And that may be true.
And I'm, but, and I'm not saying you need to be with a personal trainer for months and months and months. But at least a personal trainer for two or three sessions will set you on a good program. We'll tell you how to properly use equipment.
If you're going to a fitness center, some personal trainers come to your home and bring things. But it'll tell you how to use the equipment.
You can make adjustments on the equipment to fit your size and to make sure you do things correctly so that you don't get injured. Because, you know, some exercises can, can in fact injure you and you don't want that to happen.
So I strongly recommend getting in touch with a personal trainer. You can do that through various organizations. Local fitness centers have personal trainers.
These are certified people a lot through the American College of Sports Medicine. And they know what they're doing and they could set you up on a program for two or three sessions so that you know what's happening.
But that's the cardiovascular portion, so it's wide open. Just move for at least. And they want to do that three days a week.
You know, they want you to get at least 300 minutes of vigorous, moderate, moderate to vigorous exercise in a week. So if you're working two days a week doing your weights for 50 minutes to an hour, that's 100 minutes.
And then three days a week you're doing cardiovascular for up to an hour, that's 180 minutes. So you're, you're, you're, you're approaching the amount of time they want you to be very, to be accurate, active from a moderate to vigorous range.
Which means you're, you're moving but you're not running.
Wendy Green:Yeah. And if you're starting slowly, then it's just move as you can. Right.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:I see people in my fitness center and I'm just so excited to see them there because that's exactly what they're doing, Wendy. They're starting and God bless them, they're out there moving and they want to make a difference. And I see all ages, 20 year olds up to 60, 78 years.
Wendy Green:Yeah, yeah. So let's talk about the task switching.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Tom.
Wendy Green:And you called these activities like yoga and tai chi.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Yes.
Wendy Green:So how did these affect to keep our brains healthy?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:It stimulates the brain a little bit differently in terms of your ability to retain information and recall information. And you're talking about memory games as well. All that kind of activity is good for them. I know you may not be moving a lot, but my neighbors are.
Does Taekondo?
Wendy Green:Yeah.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:And he started maybe a year ago and he was a Big man. He's, he's down. I just talked to him yesterday. He's down to 230 and he wants to get down to 220. But he's, this is what he, this is what he did.
He's doing this four days a week and he said he noticed the, his balance is so much better. He can stand on one. He's, he's probably in his 50s. He can stand on, on one foot while putting his pants on for an example.
And it's just good for balance.
These types of activities that, like the, the yoga and the tai chi are great for balance and it, it does impact what they call the pre frontal cortex part of the brain as far as cognition is concerned. So they're, they're, they are great activities and they're, they're bringing in some of these gaming activities.
Like I, I mentioned puzzles are great for the mind.
Wendy Green:Wordles.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Yes, all that. So those are the types of activities. But there's all kinds of yoga. I've never done yoga. I wish I've had. I still might try it yet one of these days.
But I hear a lot of wonderful things and I read the research about yoga and it's good stuff.
Wendy Green:Yeah, I love, I love my yoga. I, I do it by myself now. I don't do a class because I've done it for so many years. But yeah, it feels good, it's a good stretch.
So, so now we've talked about the resistance training, the aerobic, the task, switching exercises. So what's an ideal workout for someone to protect your brain? And maybe let's start for someone who hasn't done a lot of activity.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Well, I want to add a couple other things. I'll get answer your question. I mentioned this Erisa critical. It doesn't hang around in the body once you're done. It's absorbed back up.
It hangs around for about an hour.
Wendy Green:So after you do your weight training, goes to your brain and then it's done.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:It's done. So why is this important? Because I know people say, well I'm going to go out and work out for two, two weeks and I'll be good for two weeks.
Now you're not going to be good for two weeks afterwards. Sadly me, I, I love it. So it's, it's not sad for me.
Once you elect to start to be active, you, you gotta, you have, you have to be active to maintain these benefits, particularly the brain health benefits. You know, you, you can, you can strengthen your, your muscle.
You know, you put a Cast on this arm and six weeks later take the cast off and it's ugly, it's, it's, it's atrophied muscle will deteriorate rather quickly within six days. If you become bedridden within six days, you're losing a tremendous amount of muscle mass. Same thing is true with the brain.
If all the good you do for six months to a year to six years being physically active, if you stop, it goes away.
And the studies have shown people who've been through a year long workout program within one year for the brain, I'm talking about all the thing, good things that they've accomplished for the brain over a period of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 years goes away within one year.
Wendy Green:So if you stop working out, if you stop moving.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Yes. You continue to be moving. Absolutely.
You got, you gotta, I don't care what it is, you know, as you get older you can do other things to maintain your level of activity, but you're gonna have to do something.
Wendy Green:Yeah. Like the chair yoga or you know, lifting while you're in the. Yeah. So you can still do something. I think that's, that's good to know.
So, so you are 82 and very obviously very sharp and active. So what does your personal workout routine look like?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:I, I, during the summer and right now I'm, I'm not ready to switch over. But right now I do my weights two days a week. It's a 50 minute workout. It varies from day to, from Tuesday. I do it Tuesdays and Thursdays.
You know, I know what I'm going to do and I have a variety of exercises, but I don't do anything. I don't do any more than 50 minutes, maybe an hour, 50 minutes is what I do. And then I do 10 minutes of stretching and that's very important.
Wendy Green:Do you do a warmup before you start?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:I do, I do the warmup. I get my muscles ready. Particularly with, with when you do resistance exercise.
So, so some days I'm doing bench presses, some days I'm working only on the cable machine. We have two or three cable machines in our fitness center.
I love working on the cable machine because you can do every muscle major muscle group in the body with a cable machine. You're adjusting the machine up and down. But I hit all the major muscle groups which are important. Your legs are important.
You got to maintain your strength. When you get older. Slips and falls are the number one injury for older people.
And when you're 75 years of age and you fall and break something the probability of having a full recovery is almost zero. So your muscles, keeping them strong, protect you from slips and falls. It also helps with your balance. So these are critical exercises.
So I do my strength training two times a week.
Again, I have a whole variety of exercises I do, and it's different each time I go in, but I'm accomplishing the same thing in terms of the major muscle groups. Cardiovascular. It's getting very cold here in Northeast Ohio. We have a little snow already, but I love. We have a beautiful park not far from here.
It's got around a beautiful lake. It's a huge lake. And as you walk around it, it's all in the woods. It's hilly, it's rolling up and down.
And I used to run across country in college, and so we were always taught and trained. When you get to a hill, you attack the hill. Yeah. And so even at 82, I'm attacking the hill and getting my heart rate up there.
Then I slow down when I get to the top and recover and then. But I love that workout. It's. It varies from 2 to 3 miles, depending on how tired I am, how I feel. But as I'll.
I'll go inside when it gets too very cold.
And the fitness center I belong to has got a great track, indoor track, and I'll get on the treadmill to work on an incline to get the heart rate beating and so forth. So I'll do the cardiovascular three days a week. So it's three days a week for cardiovascular right now, and then two days a week for strength.
Probably in a month or so, I'll go to three days a week of strength training and still do my three days a week of.
Wendy Green:Of.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Of of cardiovascular. So I'll. I'll put one day in there where I pick up the next day of strengthening.
Like, if I work out on Tuesday and Thursday, I can do strength training on Saturday.
Wendy Green:Wow. Wow, that's. That is impressive that you're able to do all of that. And I would ask for my listeners.
You know, I don't want anyone to feel badly that they haven't maybe done as much up until now. But I also want to give them encouragement about what they can get started with.
So what would you think would be after you talk to your doctor, obviously, what would be a reasonable way to get started for somebody that hasn't been that active up until now?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Well, again, it depends on your environment. Like here, going out and riding a bike is a great activity, and it also helps with balance.
I know you had Bill Tepe on early on in the summer when in talking about his wife. Who's. Who. Yeah, yeah. Pardon me. And they have the. The tribe bikes where you're riding together. Older people there.
I know a lot of older people that have try bikes because balance becomes a factor, for sure. They're out there moving and that's a great activity. Cycling is a great activity here in Northeast Ohio.
We have tremendous bike trails, old railroad beds converted, some paved, some are not paved. So, so cycling and cycling and just going for a walk. And the walk might be going down to the end of your driveway and walking back.
And you do that two or three times a day. That gets you started. And before you know it, you can go down to the end of the driveway and then go down to the corner and you're coming back.
And so you do it slowly. Same thing at home. You don't have to join a fitness center, but you have a lot of weight in your home.
They're called cans of food, you know, and they vary in weight. I know people who will take a grocery bag, and I know in New York you can't get a grocery bag. Daughter lives there, so I know that.
Okay, but you put cans of food and you could, you know, do your weights, you can do your, your lifting, you can do your arms off to the side. You can start very simply with that. Now, if you're just getting started and you do this, you're going to be stiff muscle soreness for a couple days.
And don't panic. It's okay. There's reasons why that happens. It's natural, but it will go away as long as you continue to move.
Stretching is also very important afterwards, and it's hard to get into that here. But maintaining flexibility as you grow older is also critical for balance and preventing muscular injuries from occurring.
But you want to get involved with stretching. And one thing that we were. When we were. When we did stretching, way back in the 60s and 70s, 80s, everyone thought you had to move quickly.
You had a bounce to touch your toes.
Wendy Green:Oh, I remember that. Yes.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:No, no, no, no, you don't. It's. It's very slow contractions, and that's how you increase your flexibility.
But that's where you could use some help when you into a stretching program and get with a personal trainer. But these are some of the things you can start very simply right now.
And again, I love the tri bike for older people because they're worried about their balance. You don't have to worry about your balance.
I do highly recommend People who, anyone who cycles, particularly when they get older, get on a trail, don't ride out on the street. In my opinion, it's dangerous. And don't forget to get a helmet. I don't care whether you're in a tri bike or not, thinking that you won't fall.
It's not so much you will fall, but someone could always hit you. Even on a bike trail, another cyclist could hit you. So you want to have a helmet on. And helmets are usually good for about three or four years.
And unfortunately, you shouldn't buy another one because they lose their protectiveness after three or four years. And I don't, I have no stock in any, any of that stuff. But I just, It's a safety factor.
Wendy Green:Tom, this has been amazing. I want to close with a question for you about hope.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:So what, I just give one last statement.
Wendy Green:You may give one as many more you can.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Let's not forget our children.
Wendy Green:Three studies.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Three studies have come out in the last year that shows children 18, their children 18 to 25 to 29 years of age, who are sedentary. I have less cognitive ability than a same age group, 18 to 29 years of age, who've been physically active.
Wendy Green:Really?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Yes. And so we think of dementia, Alzheimer's as an old person disease. If we're not careful, Wendy, it's not going to be an old person's disease.
That's my closing thought for you.
Wendy Green:That's scary because the kids do like to sit there with their devices.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Gotta get your grandkids moving.
Wendy Green:Yeah.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:And your children moving. Get them away from the devices.
Wendy Green:Get them away from the devices.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Well, people will say, well, that's a task switching activity. They're, they're, they're, they're using their mind now, too. Too much of it is not good for the mind. And, and they're losing cognitive.
This, they're great studies showing these kids are losing their cognitive ability at this very young age.
Wendy Green:All right, well, that's a sobering note to leave us on, but I do want to wrap up the conversation today with hope, like I said. So what gives you hope about the future of our brain health?
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:I'm excited. All this, what we just discussed today, is new information. I'm not sure it's been disseminated to the people that need it.
And I'm hoping through a podcast like this, through you, that more people be aware of the fact you can manage the health of your brain.
Now, there are certain genetics come into play that you might get dementia whether, no matter what you do, but the physical activity side of it slows the process, in some case prevents it. And you and I talked earlier, one of the things I'm most excited about is what physical exercise does.
The same exercises we just talked about for Parkinson's disease and most people with Parkinson are now being recommended strength training programs because of what it does to the neurons in the brain. It's exciting. I. I find it very exciting. So I have a lot of hope that the fear of dementia and Alzheimer's, we have a way to manage that better.
Less fear, and there'll be fewer people getting this horrible, horrible, frightening disease.
Wendy Green:Yeah.
I think what I'm taking away is that, is that we have more agency, we have more control over, over the rapidness or the early onset of our cognitive decline, and that if we do get it, it may be shortened because of all of the activity and the irisin. Go Erisin.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Yes. Go Horrisin. I R I S I N across your forehead.
Wendy Green:I love that I'm going to be saying that every time I do strength training.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:I hope so.
Wendy Green:Yeah. Hopefully everyone too. So we often hear that memory loss and confusion are unavoidable parts of aging.
But as Tom has showed us, there is this different story. Your muscles and brain are in constant conversation.
Every walk you take, every weight you lift, every time you choose to move, you send powerful signals to your brain to help it stay strong, flexible and resilient. So start with what feels doable. As Tom said, 10 minutes of walking, a few strength exercises, maybe a class that you've been curious about.
Yard work, dancing in your kitchen. Oh, yes, it all counts. And you can start at any age after checking with your doctor.
And you want to keep going because right once you start, you don't want to lose what you've built up.
So if you need a little encouragement to get started, let's set up a 30 minute conversation where we can find out what's been holding you back and how to break through. What's holding you back to get started? Because we want everybody to have good brain health.
So you can set up a time with me on my calendly link, which I will share in the show notes. And one more thing before you go. I love sharing inspiring podcasts and my friend Jane Leader has a podcast called Older Women and Friends.
Her podcast speaks to older women about art, retirement, humor, and ageism. Jane is an author and a wonderful interviewer and I always enjoy her episodes.
So you can find older women and friends wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also reach Tom at his gmail address. It's T Gilliam G I L l I a m61mail.com.
He said he would be happy to receive email from you and answer any questions, specific questions you might have. You can tell that he is a font of knowledge for exercise and brain health. So please reach out to Tom.
I so appreciated how much you shared with us Tom and you made it accessible to all of us who are not scientists. So, so thank you for that.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Thank you Wendy. Appreciate it. Appreciate the opportunity to be here.
Wendy Green:Oh it was great. It was great. So until next time, take care of yourself. Share this episode because you know it's going to be helpful to your friends and family.
So share it. Share it. Share it. They can watch on YouTube, they can listen on any podcast app and keep moving and doing things that bring you joy. Thank you.
Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.:Thank you.
