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Understanding Movement & Aging with Dr. Joshua Kaplan
32 Plays3 months ago
In this insightful episode, Erin welcomes Dr. Joshua Kaplan, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Founder of Enphysion Health, to discuss how simple, consistent movement can completely transform the aging experience. Together, they explore why muscle is the true organ of longevity, how neuroplasticity can improve with age, and what it really takes to stay strong—physically and cognitively—well into your later years.
Dr. Kaplan shares his personal journey from sports medicine to skilled nursing, and how that experience led to the creation of Enphysion—a virtual, personalized movement program designed for older adults who want to feel confident, stable, and strong at home. Whether you’re an older adult, a caregiver, or simply someone who wants to age well, this episode offers practical tips, inspiring stories, and a refreshing mindset shift.
📞 Want to connect with Dr. Kaplan or try Enphysion Health?
Visit www.enphysion.com to book a free consultation and explore a better way to stay active, mobile, and independent—on your own terms.
✨ Looking for more heart-centered support as you navigate aging or help a loved one plan their next chapter?
Visit www.dovetailcompanies.com to learn how our expert team helps older adults and families simplify transitions with compassion, clarity, and ease.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Engaging Aging'
00:00:00
Speaker
You are in for a treat today. If you are an older adult or supporting an older adult in your life and noticing physical changes and feeling a little stuck, and maybe that it's supposed to be painful and difficult as we age, you're here to learn that there's so much more you can do with easy, simple tips, not only to increase your overall physical well-being, the benefits of increased muscle mass, bone density, flexibility, minimizing fall risks, but also how all of this physical improvement impacts our cognitive abilities.
00:00:35
Speaker
We talk about neuroplasticity, neuropathways, and all the exciting things to help you physically live your best life later in life and not become a victim to the lie that aging is supposed to be painful and all about decline.
00:00:51
Speaker
So Josh Kaplan, doctorate and p in physical therapy and our expert content provider within the Engaging Aging platform joins us today for an engaging conversation around all things physical health.
00:01:05
Speaker
Hope you enjoyed as much as we did. Be sure to like and comment and follow and details on how to connect with Josh will be in our show notes. Welcome to Engaging Aging. i'm Erin DeCarlo. And I'm Lauren Watts.
00:01:18
Speaker
We believe life gets richer with age, and we're here to prove it. We bring you real conversations about aging well, living fully, and navigating this journey with confidence.
00:01:28
Speaker
So let's dive in, because aging isn't something to endure, it's something to embrace.
Guest Introduction: Josh Kaplan
00:01:36
Speaker
Okay, welcome to the Engaging Aging podcast studio, Josh. Thank you. Thank you so much, Erin. I'm so happy to be here. So to our listeners, this is Josh Kaplan. He is a doctor of physical therapy and the owner and founder of Envision, which is this amazing platform giving anyone in need of physical therapy easy access to consistent movement, coaching, training.
Josh Kaplan's Journey and Inspiration
00:02:05
Speaker
And I'm so excited to dive in with you today. So tell us a little bit about how Envision came to be. i know your background is you dabbled in all types of physical therapy and um landed somewhat in the older adult space. But give us a little background on it all came to be.
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah, so believe it or not, I've had this idea in my head for many, many years, actually over a decade. um This idea was sparked in college, and I basically wanted to help people move more and feel better because we all know that exercise and movement is really helpful in our mood, in our physical form, obviously, and most importantly, our emotional ah well-being.
00:02:44
Speaker
So after I went through PT school, I moved out to San Francisco and I worked at a clinic out there. And obviously in San Francisco, you come across all these incredible people who are starting companies.
00:02:55
Speaker
a lot of them are younger. They were even my age at the time. I was 24. And you start asking yourself, well, if they can start a company, maybe I could start a company.
00:03:07
Speaker
I have that entrepreneurial thinking. It's just who you are. Like you said, for a long time, even when you were young, that was something about yourself that you knew. there was that thread. And then to be able to witness it and other people sparked that inspiration for you. But you started in more sports medicine, correct? When you went out to the West Coast.
00:03:26
Speaker
I did, and just a note on that because it is really interesting and I'll go back to sports medicine. So i used to have insomnia when I lived out in San Francisco. And what I would do to try and get all these thoughts out of my head is I would grab my laptop and just type out all the things that were flowing through my mind.
00:03:41
Speaker
One day, i was organizing my laptop when i was I was actually visiting a friend in Hawaii, and I woke up really early because of jet lag, and I was like, well, I might as well organize my laptop. And I found this document that i labeled the San Francisco Project. I had not looked at this since my insomniac days, which were about four years before this trip, and I opened it up.
00:04:03
Speaker
And basically the exact plan for infusion was there. And i was like, this is kind of, this is crazy. This crazy. So yes, it's. To tap into that. And in those moments of insomnia, I think we have the most clarity because you're in that like semi state.
00:04:19
Speaker
Yes. Your truth can really come through. Yeah, I mean, it's just it was crazy to me because, yeah, your mind works differently at different points throughout the day and night. And to know that these ideas had kind of been in my head, even though during the day they weren't so fully and clearly formed was was a huge surprise to me.
00:04:38
Speaker
Yes, but yes, so you mentioned kind of my my path.
From Athletic Training to Working with Older Adults
00:04:42
Speaker
So I started at Boston University when I was 18, and I did an athletic training and physical therapy combined program. So what that meant was that I did a lot of athletic training clinical rotations with sports teams at BU, Harvard, all the places around Boston, and I kind of got my feet wet.
00:04:58
Speaker
um I learned how to tape ankles, I learned how to do quick screens on the field, I learned how to splint fractures, All the things that you do. exciting, sexy part of physical therapy that young people want to do.
00:05:10
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Yeah. Sometimes sexy, sometimes not so sexy. But either way, you learn a lot when you're.
00:05:18
Speaker
Just to geriatrics. Yes. And you did that first. You did the exciting part first. Okay. Yeah. And yes, that's actually a great point. um And I enjoyed that a lot.
00:05:30
Speaker
I went to PT school. I have got my degree. i started working. And my favorite patients were these middle-aged and older folks who were just, you know, they were visiting a friend up in New Hampshire over the weekend and their back was bothering them. And they just, they're these great people. They're what you would consider everyday normal people.
00:05:50
Speaker
But these are the people that I enjoyed learning about and enjoyed working with and fixing, right? Or they're helping to heal, I suppose is the better term. And I just felt a strong desire to see how much of their life and physical function i could address within just kind of this siloed area of physical therapy, right? So...
00:06:16
Speaker
What started happening is people would come in, they talk about whatever acute injury we're treating, but then the more you get to know them, the more you learn about the types of things they want to do in their life.
00:06:28
Speaker
And I felt that the setting that I was working in was limited in that sense. Physical therapy is incredible for addressing an acute injury or pain or anything post-op and you need it.
00:06:42
Speaker
And I enjoyed doing that with people. However, I found myself being more drawn to this idea of helping someone become the person they want to be physically, mentally, and emotionally.
00:06:54
Speaker
And a huge piece of that is the confidence they have in themselves and their bodies, right? And then- and so young to figure that out. i think so many people come to that as practitioners, at least that I've witnessed in time, like so much later in their career for you to see that, yeah, we're more than just our physical
Impact of COVID on Skilled Nursing and Envision's Focus
00:07:11
Speaker
diagnosis. There's this whole wheel with different spokes on it that contribute to our overall well-being.
00:07:19
Speaker
And the physical piece is just a piece. and And even for that to be the best it can be, we have to address these other areas. And that can't be necessarily done in an outpatient way. clinic because you don't have access to your own unique environment and everyone is different yeah yeah that's exactly it and i think you know this idea began to germinate in the outpatient setting and then i started working in nursing homes So just quick overview, I moved out to San Francisco, worked in an outpatient clinic there for year and half, then I did travel physical therapy, and that's where I got exposure to skilled nursing.
00:07:53
Speaker
And a lot of PTs are not excited to work in skilled nursing. Some say that's where your skills go to die. I worked in skilled nursing during COVID um and a little bit before, and I so thoroughly enjoyed, as you just mentioned, getting to know these older folks and their stories and feeling like I wanted to help them beyond just these kind of physical limitations. And witnessing how their lives can improve so much more drastically than other types of patients when they have quality support.
00:08:28
Speaker
and treatment, I mean, essentially. Like, you really get to see, I'm sure, the fruits of your labor with an older adult patient, right? Yes. And it wasn't until I started working in nursing homes that I realized that even a 90-year-old, even like a 95 or 100-year-old, can actually see improvements in strength, balance, pain, and therefore function.
Personalized Movement Programs at Envision
00:08:53
Speaker
Yes. And so that is really where this idea of starting in fission in its current form came to be. Because the question I kept asking myself is, what can someone do or why aren't people doing 10 minutes of movement a day before they end up in physical therapies or skilled nursing?
00:09:16
Speaker
to do or how to do. So give us an overview. Obviously, I know it we have, you know, we're not only referring professionals. We've also used your program with great results. So tell us, tell the listeners, what is Envision? What is the product and service?
00:09:31
Speaker
um So Envision in its simplest form is delivery of a personalized movement program. Okay, so how do we do that? We start with an evaluation.
00:09:42
Speaker
We want to see how you're moving. We want to hear about your health history. We want to watch you walk, get down on the floor, look at some range of motion. and we can actually do this virtually, which is really cool. We do some of our evaluations in person in the Boston area, but the vast majority of our clients are evaluated on Zoom. And you have clients all over the country.
00:10:01
Speaker
Yes, we do have clients in multiple states at this point that they're more geared towards personal training, right? We're kind of a personal training company with the expertise and lens of physical therapists.
00:10:12
Speaker
And that just helps us approach someone from kind of that musculoskeletal nervous system first approach. Because so often my experience has been witnessing clients, maybe there was a a fractured hip.
00:10:24
Speaker
And so there's limited exercise covered through Medicare for let's say the first four to eight weeks at home. They're just focusing on the hip area and then services end. And it's so hard for us to then watch that person have a ah decline in other areas on their body at home and not be able to get ahead of a future injury or see even more optimal results. So this is bridges that gap for people. when i was 100%. Yeah. So again, physical therapy, i love the profession.
00:10:55
Speaker
I recommend it to anyone in pain. I think if you have a good physical therapist locally, that is one of your best allies, especially as you're getting older. ah But yes, you highlighted one of the enormous gaps our system faces, right?
00:11:09
Speaker
They're not necessarily working on their posture. Ideally, they're working on their core, but they may very well not be working on their core. really depends on the PT you get. And there's some PT clinics that will have you evaluated by a PT, and then you're just doing exercise with someone else. And again, that person, that individual might be great, right?
00:11:27
Speaker
But that individual has not necessarily undergone all the schooling and education that a doctor of physical therapy has, um or even a physical therapy assistant. You're not even always getting a physical therapy assistant to help you in some of these settings, right?
00:11:39
Speaker
So yes, what we aim to do is address the whole body. So we're going to look at your ankles, knees, hip, core, back, posture, balance, all these areas.
00:11:50
Speaker
And we're going to tailor a program to address all of these areas. And we do it in a way that eliminates so many of the common barriers. You mentioned a few before, Aaron, right?
00:12:01
Speaker
How am I not going to hurt myself, right? How is it going to be safe and effective? What do I do? What do I do? Right? Like, not everyone is an expert in the musculoskeletal system. Yeah.
00:12:13
Speaker
And so we start with a 5 to 12 minute program. And... It's like this to the overwhelming. I say
00:12:24
Speaker
is it feels like it'll be a lot and exhausting. And so five to 12 minutes for someone to start to tiptoe in the waters. And then I would assume when they start to feel better or see results, they have that internal motivation to continue on.
00:12:40
Speaker
That's what it is. So many of our clients have been unsuccessful with other models, right? They've tried to go to the gym and get a personal trainer. They've tried to do classes online. They look up YouTube videos.
00:12:51
Speaker
And again, I really, i have no bad things to say. a great Supplemental. Yeah, against these. Yes. But people have found success with us because they're able to do it consistently and they see the results.
00:13:07
Speaker
And that is intrinsic motivation to continue.
Success Stories and the Importance of Muscle Mass
00:13:10
Speaker
And we meet with them throughout the months. We do the most common option is twice a month and we progress their programs. And that ensures that they're progressing safely and effectively.
00:13:21
Speaker
They're stronger than they were six months after starting with us than when they started with us. Even again, if they're 90 years old, right? We have a few 90 year olds and it's all delivered via our app. So you do it at home.
00:13:33
Speaker
And again, you are assigned a trainer and that trainer progresses you in a safe and effective manner, develops a relationship with you, gets to know you to make sure that you're seeing the results and achieving the goals you set out to.
00:13:44
Speaker
What love about this is it takes us out of victimhood. I have seen so many people kind of their aging narrative is like, well, I'm old, so I'm just have to live in pain because that's what was more hit for me.
00:13:58
Speaker
i saw my aging parents decline and this is just what's in the card for me cards for me. but what we know as professionals working in this field is that's not true yeah that we have witnessed other people thriving improving and changing later in life and you can too and i think that's the beautiful thing and our goal obviously here at engaging aging ah one thing i haven't mentioned yet is that josh is going to be an expert content provider within our engaging aging educational platform with lots of different modules and education and information.
00:14:31
Speaker
But that's the goal here is to let people know you don't have to live in chronic pain. You don't have to be victim to what that age narrative narrative is. And our neuroplasticity can increase as we age, our physical flexibility and muscle mass.
00:14:46
Speaker
So if you had to pick, obviously within our Engaging Aging educational platform, we'll go through all of these topics in in great detail. But what's kind of the one thing as an expert working with older adults in your program that you would say like, this is the thing that if we could work on more with people, or this is like the most interesting thing we see with aging, what's your top thing and some tips around how people can address?
00:15:11
Speaker
Muscle, muscle, muscle. um I heard a quote recently and someone referred to muscle as the organ of longevity. So not only does it help regulate blood sugar levels, not only does it help our cardiovascular endurance and strength, but muscle is protective, right? so The more resistance training we do, the stronger our bones can get.
00:15:32
Speaker
And we actually have a client that saw 6% increase in her bone mineral density at the age of 75, and she's not taking Reclast or Fosamax, which are the two most commonly prescribed drugs for osteoacinogenesis. Yeah, this little lady, she's awesome.
00:15:45
Speaker
um She's on our website, so you can take a look. She had had a little testimonial. ah Yeah, she is now doing 18 push-ups, squats with 15-pound dumbbells, step-ups, you name it.
00:15:57
Speaker
We got there working over the course of three years. So, you know, none of this happens overnight. But she's confident. She's strong. She can do the things she wants to do. She went cross-country skiing the other weekend with her husband. Her husband was complaining about how sorry he was, and she just flew right through it or I guess glided right through it.
Tips for Increasing Muscle Mass at Home
00:16:15
Speaker
And so, yeah. So I would just say anything you can do to increase your muscle mass is going to protect you. Even if you do fall, right? It's all like anyone has figured out how to prevent falls fully.
00:16:28
Speaker
But if you yeah you have more muscle on your frame, number one, you're going to be less likely to fall. But number two, you're actually going to be protecting your bones and you'll likely be able to get up. It makes so much sense to me. Yeah.
00:16:39
Speaker
um Tell me a little bit about, so if I'm an older adult and i don't have weights and, you know, a gym area in my house and you're telling me to do, you know, this type of exercise, give us some examples of how this can be easy and manageable in your own home without kind of a classic gym setting.
00:16:56
Speaker
Yeah, great question. um So obviously it's going to depend on if anything is bothering you. Right? So let's say you have knee pain, but you still want to work on strengthening your legs and you're just worried you're going to hurt your knee when you strengthen your legs.
00:17:08
Speaker
So one of the most common things we start with is just a simple wall set, right? So you put your back against the wall, your feet are maybe eight to 12 inches away from the wall, and you just slide down until your knees, if they hurt, start to bother you a little bit. And then you can just come up a little bit from there and you hold that position.
00:17:26
Speaker
right So you're starting to activate these muscles. There's blood going to these muscles, and these muscles are resisting the force of gravity in a very safe way. right You're not going to fall because the wall is right behind you, and you can easily stand up.
00:17:39
Speaker
But that's a very good way to introduce a leg strengthening or quad strengthening exercise. So simple. From there, you can grab your counter and just start to kind of sit back a little bit until a little mini squat.
00:17:51
Speaker
Again, you're watching out to see if anything's bothering you. If nothing's bothering you, because you're holding on, you can go down as far as you want. A simple sit to stand, right? Something most of us do every day, multiple times.
00:18:04
Speaker
If you can try and do a sit to stand using one arm instead of both arms or even no arms, if you have that amount of strength, that is one of the most fantastic functional exercises.
00:18:17
Speaker
He was a physical therapist. He was working with 105. Did you see that? i don't think I saw this one. So he set up his camera every day. She's 105, everyone. So I don't want to hear the ages. I'm doing this move.
00:18:30
Speaker
And he set up his camera every day. So the first day he went to see her, he she was a full support. So he had to fully, she grabbed around him and they stood up. And it was probably, i don't know, 30 or 40 visits that he was like, oh, time lapse. hey And by the end, this woman was standing up, sit to stand on her own at 105 years old. Her muscle mass increased. She was able to have the ability to do that and increase her strength. There you have it, folks.
Changing Mindsets on Aging
00:18:56
Speaker
105, 105. And this woman was able to increase her strength and function. That's amazing. It is amazing. And, you know, the work we do to increase our own well-being is such a great way to change the trajectory and the and the reality for future generations. Meaning, if you're listening to this right now and maybe you did not have quality aging experience,
00:19:19
Speaker
uh bottled for you growing up and so maybe your mindset does need to do by the way mindset your mindset is never set you can change absolutely program on that um so when you haven't had it modeled for you but you can do the work in your lifetime you now just changed the epigenetics in your family for future generations to So I think that idea that you just hit upon, that idea of changing the mindset, changing your epigenetics, changing how future generations think about this is incredibly powerful.
00:19:52
Speaker
In my very own life, in my very own short, not short, but I've been yeah i've been a clinician for like nine years now. In just a couple months of working, i have completely changed the paradigm on how I think about strengthening and rehab and all things around that because I've seen this incredible ability and adaptive nature of the human body, specifically the musculoskeletal system and nervous system, to change and learn and develop at this late stage of life.
00:20:25
Speaker
It's incredibly powerful. It is powerful. And I believe it's how we're going to change the narrative of aging in America. If you've heard me once on this podcast, you've heard me twice or a million times say this.
00:20:37
Speaker
Ageism, I believe, is the last fully socially acceptable form of prejudice in our country because it's not true. The things that are said about older adults is not truth across the board.
00:20:50
Speaker
And yet it's just assumed that when we get old, we get forgetful and our bodies fail us and we live in pain and can't do X, Y, Z. That's not true. And we just need to look out at these examples to come together to say we don't accept this and hey there's something you can do about it so that's all we're so thrilled to have you on today to help reinforce that truth for others um so one thing i just i feel like a hypocrite sitting here um i've always been athletic. I've always been active my entire life. I've played sports in high school and college. I've been busy with children.
00:21:25
Speaker
And then about three years ago, so I had a gym membership. I went to the gym somewhat regularly and then pandemic hit.
Challenges in Maintaining an Exercise Routine
00:21:31
Speaker
I purchased a Peloton and i was really great with consistently using it.
00:21:37
Speaker
And then three years ago we moved. And it's so interesting to me when I look at my situation, like third party that my, I think just because my, my household and my schedule changed, I never got back into it.
00:21:54
Speaker
Yes. It's weird. And now my husband says, just do five minutes or 10 minutes. It's like, because I almost feel like a failure that I can't go but just dive back into the level yeah of activity I was doing before that. I'm just avoiding it. So many people had to change a change of routine during COVID, obviously.
00:22:10
Speaker
Right. And I'm really glad to hear that you got the Peloton and you were using that for the first couple of years. collecting does now abouttin Yeah. used to hang clothing. Yeah. yeah But that change routine knocks you off course. And I think the insidious thing about this is you're not going to notice it.
00:22:28
Speaker
Obviously in your day to day when you're walking around when you're driving to work when you're working when you're doing whatever you're doing on the weekends, but then you know if you go to pick something up off the floor or if you're going on an especially long hike on a nice summer weekend, you're like, oh my God, right and things might start to act up right So it's difficult to internalize the importance of doing something if you're not feeling the effects.
00:22:54
Speaker
And I think that's why so many people get ah away with not moving for so long. It's because it's just not made apparent in our day-to-day lives how important it is to move and exercise. and I also wanted to touch on this idea of like exercise.
00:23:08
Speaker
So we like to talk about our initial programs as movement programs because exercise has a connotation that can be negative for some people, intimidating for a lot of people. And what we're really about and what I think a lot of people should be about is this idea of just moving consistently in the way that your body needs to feel as good as it can feel.
00:23:28
Speaker
So, yeah, Aaron, I think your case is by far the majority of people who might be listening to this and those that aren't listening to it. It's a matter of figuring out your path back to it.
00:23:40
Speaker
And, you know obviously, we'd be happy to help you that. um There are other ways you can get help with that. But yeah. And then once you start. Recently took a trip to Miami for a professional conference and I threw my back out the night before we left very severely.
00:23:54
Speaker
it was awful. Yeah. My husband was there to physically like carry me and support me. ah what i realized, it was my, had zero core strength.
Importance of Core Strength and Holistic Health
00:24:03
Speaker
Throwing my back out made me realize there was nothing to support my back. Exactly.
00:24:09
Speaker
That was my aha moment. And my chiropractor was like, okay, you need the next four to six weeks to heal this pretty that injury. And then the first thing you need to start focusing on is core. Core stabilization. Yep.
00:24:21
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. So we have a bunch of muscles in our core that stabilize our spine and allow us to move safely. Totally. Totally. And again, that's the story of the vast majority of people. And why wouldn't it be? Right. So like if it's not broke, don't fix it type of deal.
00:24:34
Speaker
But what's very clear to me being in the field, and I think a lot of my colleagues in the field is that a little bit of prevention can go long way And if you think about since the beginning of time, we've been active mobile people until fairly recently. Exactly. This sedentary lifestyle, sitting in a car and then sitting at your job and then sitting home and watching television, our bodies are not designed for that.
00:24:58
Speaker
Yeah. And so it's no surprise that we have all of these chronic ailments and conditions and they are all connected. So, you know, me throwing my back out is a core problem, right? It's not. So what I find fascinating about your program and so simple and yet brilliant is that so often in our society, especially with older adults, we treat a symptom, but we're not looking or treating the root cause of what's causing the problems.
00:25:23
Speaker
So one thing, for example, people say like, oh, my mom received a dementia diagnosis. Well, dementia is a symptom. What is causing memory loss or the confusion? What's the root cause of the dementia? And when did it start?
00:25:36
Speaker
And what can we do about it early on? I mean, what's really exciting is all the research that's coming out about all these different ailments, specifically Alzheimer's and dementia, and how if we're able to address it really early on, we can change the trajectory of it. We can't necessarily eliminate it from developing, or I haven't seen data to support that yet, but if we can slow it down, all right, if we can push blood deep into the recesses of our brain and those vessels that might be starting to narrow and decreasing the amount of oxygenation our cells
00:26:08
Speaker
brain cells are getting, if we can start to improve that that neurovascular flow, we can change the trajectory of dementia. Let's talk about that. I didn't think we were going to go into the cognitive impairment world today, but let's do it. So as we're talking, so our brains are an organ.
00:26:26
Speaker
And so what's good for our cardiovascular system we know is good for our brain tissue and circulation, but also our neuroplasticity, which has been proven when we improve our neuroplasticity, we minimize cognitive decline rates and dementia symptoms. So I'm also thinking as we're talking about this, learning a new skill is the quickest way to increase your neuroplasticity at any age. It's the reason why stroke victims are able to regain ability and new yes I've seen amazing things with people who suffered stroke. That was actually my favorite clinical rotation.
00:27:01
Speaker
It's the best example to people to see, yes, your brain can learn new things. Yep, totally. I mean, people that show up and they can't use half their body can walk again four weeks later by just, yeah, the constant training. And there's great research and new technology coming out to support that as well.
00:27:15
Speaker
So if we think about this, not only when we're learning the new skill of these movement techniques through your program, we are creating new neural pathways and new synapses in our brain to learn these new skills. Yep. So there's a physiological increase of blood flow and oxygenation. And all BDNF.
00:27:35
Speaker
Yep. But there's also cognitively beautiful things happening in your brain. So do it for the physical reasons, but the cognitive benefits here, I think we're onto something in this conversation ah about letting the world know none of these things exist in a silo.
00:27:52
Speaker
Yeah, totally. And I think specifically when you're working on balance training, that requires an immense amount of focus, especially you know as you're acclimatizing to a new movement and using some of those reflexes that you haven't been training so often.
00:28:08
Speaker
Yeah, you're you're focusing, you're developing some of those new neuropathways, and you're improving your proprioceptive sensitivity, your neuromuscular sensitivity to perturbation, and lot of good stuff is happening there. So absolutely, Aaron, I think. We meet so many people who say, i'm never, okay, I, some people are a little in this good.
Fall Prevention and Balance Training
00:28:29
Speaker
They're clear that like, I am never leaving this house. My kids are trying to tell me to move into assisted living. I'm not going anywhere. Yeah.
00:28:35
Speaker
Rock on. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, what I love about that. Yeah. um Is that self-determination however the best path to make that your reality is to Stay strong Cognitively and physically and instead of saying like I think have you seen the movie up?
00:28:53
Speaker
Yep. Oh, it's such a great movie where he like sits in his chair and is like I'm not going anywhere the best way to say I'm not going anywhere and I'm never leaving this house is to do Yeah, yeah to stay physically, because you just mentioned falls.
00:29:07
Speaker
Falls are the leading cause I think, deaf and older adults because of the cascade, yeahp yeah what happens after. Especially a hip fractuction hip fracture, mortality, yeah. So you can stay independent, longer, healthier at home by saying yes to increasing movement And some small product effusions. Yes. Are you comfortable talking about falls a little bit? Yeah, he yeah absolutely. um So we know that 25% of people over 65 fall at least once a year. It's a huge number. It's a scary number, especially if we have people in our lives who we have been worrying about.
00:29:41
Speaker
um i mean, my grandparents, for one, I'm very worried about them falling. And they have a short little movement program that they do to hopefully prevent that. Yeah. Oh, yeah. My grandparents didn't want any advice from me. So I'm glad that yours can give advice. yeah Well, begrudgingly, and the yeah the grandson has a little bit more pull than ah than their daughter. Yeah, exactly.
00:30:01
Speaker
um Yes, we know the risk is incredibly high and we know that we can prevent falls through strengthening and balance training. Right. We there are three areas in our body and brain that are responsible for balance primarily.
00:30:17
Speaker
It's our visual system, vestibular system, which is housed in our ears, and our proprioceptive system. And that refers to all these kind of sensory organs in our tendons and muscles around our ankles and knees and hips and even spine that allow us to receive the information telling us where we are in space. so In other words, three different systems are telling our brain where we are and the sensitivity of those systems is crucial in preventing falls.
00:30:46
Speaker
Because if we lose our balance, which happens to people who don't fall, if those systems are acutely reacting to that, there's a much higher likelihood that we'll be able to correct that loss of balance.
00:30:57
Speaker
And again, training our leg muscles, training our ankles, training our hips to withstand perturbations increases the sensitivity of these systems and helps us stay upright.
00:31:10
Speaker
And that's one of the key areas we focus on with our programming because obviously we want to prevent as many falls as we can. So that's built into most people's program is making sure that those basic areas are addressed and to help increase...
00:31:22
Speaker
Yes, and it's not rocket science, right? Like I am not- The simpler the better. So yeah explain that to everyone. This is not fancy maneuvers. yeah It's simple.
00:31:33
Speaker
ah Yeah, I'll tell you guys something. I took physics in college and that class took me to town. Okay, I am not an engineering genius type, right? What's become very clear to me is if we do simple things consistently and progress those things consistently, we're going to see positive changes that have implications on how we're able to function, right? So to work on balance,
00:32:00
Speaker
All you really have to do is find a position where your body might feel a little bit unstable and just try and stay in that position. So for a lot of people, it's a single leg stance and you can do it with one finger on a counter and then you can try and lift that finger up and if you start to lose your balance, you can put it back down or two fingers, whatever you need.
00:32:20
Speaker
As long as your nervous system, proprioceptive system is being challenged, you're going to see that positive adaptation. And when I was in school, I had this awesome neuro professor and she called it the just right challenge.
00:32:34
Speaker
Shout outs to Karen Hutchinson. And all we're after is the just right challenge. And the just right challenge is different for every person. But by targeting that kind of outer limit of our capability, we're starting to see the adaptation.
00:32:51
Speaker
so much because we're all about less is more. What can be the most effective? Yeah. Easy to accomplish, keep people in the program. love the just right challenge.
00:33:03
Speaker
We'll talk a little bit more about that maybe in another segment or within the engaging aging model because totally that's the goal. We don't want to share these like lofty big things that people can't execute on. yeah we're not putting together a 45 minute program with barbells and gyms and stuff. Unless you want that, in which case we will, because we have a few clients. um Yeah, I got a young man in his 20s. I got people in their 30s and 40s, but i would say about 60% are you know, 70s. We have a client in the 70s who just set up a full Pilates reformer room. So yeah, for it's whoever's listening. There's something
Conclusion and Accessibility of Physical Health
00:33:36
Speaker
for everyone. So there's so much more that we could dive into on this. But um again, Manageable Bites is our goal. Thank you so much, Dr. Kaplan, for joining us. And hopefully we'll see you many more times. How can people find you if they'd like to work with you or learn more about your program? ah Yeah, thanks for asking. So you can visit our website. The company is called Envision Health, or E-N-P-H-Y-S-I-O-N health.com.
00:34:07
Speaker
And you can watch some videos of some of our clients sharing their experiences. You can book a free consultation, right? So we'll have a free 15-minute phone call. We'll learn a little bit about each other. We'll see if Envision might be right for you or if there's another thing that might be right for you. We're happy to try and find that for you. We want to make you successful no matter if you're working with us or not.
00:34:25
Speaker
And um we have a YouTube channel as well with some exercises. We'll put some links in the show notes, everyone, so you can easily – get in touch with Dr. Kaplan and his group, but thank you. And if you want a deeper dive as well, make sure you follow us for Engaging Aging. yes where um He will be the content expert for all things physical health.
00:34:46
Speaker
So thank you for joining us today and thank you again for coming. Thank you so much, Erin. That was a lot of fun. Good convo. See you soon. Sounds good. Thank you for joining us today. We love having these conversations and we hope they sparked something for you too. If you enjoyed this episode, please like comment and share it with your community because together we can change the way the world sees aging.
00:35:10
Speaker
You can find us at dovetailcompanies.com or on any of our social media channels at dovetail companies. And just a quick note, the opinions shared in this podcast are those of our guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of Engaging Aging dovetail companies or our team.
00:35:28
Speaker
So until we see you next time, keep engaging with aging.