Space-Bound Sen. Glenn’s Exercise Plea: Orbit the Block a Few Times

Sen. John Glenn, the 77-year-old space pioneer who blasts back into orbit next month as the world’s oldest working astronaut, has some advice for the Earth-bound elderly: Take a walk around the block.

Glenn (D-Ohio) was introduced Thursday as the designated poster boy for a newly published, government-endorsed fitness guide aimed at middle-age and older Americans.

Even nursing home residents who have been limited to using walkers can benefit. According to “Exercise: A Guide From the National Institute on Aging,” mild weightlifting can enable some elderly patients to increase their strength enough to trade in their walkers for canes.

Although it has become almost a cliche to assert that exercise is good, the guide provides the scientific rationale for working up a sweat, even for those of advanced age and troubled health.

“Many people 90 and older who have become physically frail from inactivity can more than double their strength through simple exercises in a fairly short time,” the guide says.

Women suffering from osteoporosis can reduce the resulting pain through exercises. Patients with congestive heart failure, as well as those who have had heart attacks, are less likely to return to the hospital if they exercise.

Institute Director Richard Hodes stressed that “not only is it safe to exercise, but there is danger in not exercising.”

The risk of developing cancer or suffering mental depression can be reduced through regular exercise, Hodes said at a news conference.

The guide was prepared after a two-year study using the best scientific information on exercise, he said.

Glenn said he walks rapidly two miles a day, five days a week, and has begun a regimen of mild weightlifting every other day to prepare for his first spaceflight since 1962.

“It doesn’t take a lot of equipment or health club memberships or anything like that. All you have to do is walk around the block. And the next week, try to walk around the block twice,” he advised.

“If you can’t walk, do other things,” said Glenn. Do sit-ups.”

Glenn’s spaceflight in October will include 83 experiments, some of which will measure his physiology as a man at least a generation older than most astronauts. When he sleeps, 21 wires from different parts of his body will be connected to recording and measuring devices.

Ever since spaceflight began, scientists have logged symptoms exhibited by astronauts while they are in space: balance problems, difficulty sleeping, sudden drops in blood pressure, muscle weakness and loss of calcium in bones. Those problems are strikingly similar to the health problems faced by many elderly people.

Since the time of the Apollo missions, the space program has used exercise to help astronauts physically, said Dr. Joan Vernikos, director of the life sciences division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Many of the health problems of aging, therefore, appear to be life-style related, rather than inevitable. “It is never too young to start exercising,” Vernikos said. “If you start at 50 or 60, you will have an uphill problem.”

The intended audience for the exercise guide are the 71 million Americans 50 or older. About 34 million of them are over 65.

Government surveys show that half of all adults do not engage in regular physical activity or exercise. About 25% “do no physical activity at all,” the aging institute said.

If the sedentary begin paying attention, the exercise book has “the potential to become a classic,” said Dr. Wanda K. Jones, director of the Office on Women’s Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The exercise guide is free and can be ordered by calling (800) 222-2225 or (800) 222-4225. It can be ordered by e-mail at niainfo@access.digex.net.