August 26, 2024 • 30 mins
If you take a long walk around Bealiba in regional Victoria, you might spot the occasional water bottle, perched under a tree. Those would be Heather’s.
Heather’s always been a keen athlete and, even now at 80 years old, she loves long-distance running. That hasn’t changed since she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, but she’s had to adapt her training to make sure she stays safe and on the right track. The water bottles, strategically placed every four kilometres along her usual running route, don’t just keep her hydrated – they mark her trail.
Fitness has always been important to Heather. But Hold the Moment co-host Jim Rogers can’t say the same: “I’ve never been a gym junkie.” But because of his dementia, Jim’s learning to think of exercise as medicine.
You’ll also meet exercise physiologist Nick who has tips on physical exercise that can support your quality of life.
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Hold the Moment is a podcast from Dementia Australia, produced by Deadset Studios and hosted by Jim Rogers and Hamish Macdonald.
For support, you can contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500 (24 hours a day, seven days a week). The National Dementia Helpline is funded by the Australian Government.
Follow Dementia Australia on Facebook and Instagram or find support resources on our website.
This episode was produced by Liam Riordan. Sound design by Sean Holden. The executive producers are Grace Pashley and Kellie Riordan. Production manager is Ann Chesterman.
Dementia Australia and Deadset Studios acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Dementia Australia acknowledges and appreciates the support of the Australian Government for this initiative.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
- Hello, my name is Kevin.
I am a First Nations advocatewith Dementia Australia.
These lands in which we aremeeting are many countries
filled with languagessimilar and different.
For more than 50,000 years,we have come together
to trade knowledge, tolearn, and to teach.
Today, we joined tokeep up that tradition.
So with that in mind,we now pay our respects
(00:22):
to the traditional owners,to Elders past and present,
to those First Nationspeople joining us here today.
Welcome and thank you.
- We are about to pull upat your trainer's house.
His name's Nick.
- Yes.- Tell me about what you are
(00:45):
going to be doing this afternoon.
- I lift weights, I dosome cardiovascular work,
and he also builds into what I do,
some balance work and memory.
So look, those things, dothey help? Do they not help?
But you know, he's doingeverything he can to try
(01:05):
and build the program to benefit me.
He's just very conscientiousand very interested
in trying to help, so, youknow, that's supportive.
- What's the hardest bitof the training regime?
- I hate the bike.
- You dread the bike?
- Yes. I hate the bikebecause, and he knows it,
(01:26):
sometimes I try to talk becausethat's my thing, I can talk.
- Do you talk your wayout of the training?
- Yes, so I try to get him talking,
and at the end of theprogram, if it's too late,
because he's got another client, you know,
I could miss the bike, andhe'll say, "Oh, I think
you've missed the bike,Jim, we've been talking."
I'll go, "Oh, really?"
(01:47):
And he'll go, "Only joking,get on that bike," you know?
I am Jim Rogers, andthis is Hold the Moment.
A podcast from DementiaAustralia full of real stories
(02:07):
about life after diagnosis.
It's hosted by me and myfriend Hamish MacDonald.
Hi Hamish, how are you?
- Good day Jim. So we'recovering all the ups and downs
of life with dementia across this series,
and I know that staying fit and healthy
is a really big part of livinga good life with dementia.
And I know Jim, that you are active now
(02:30):
because you won't stop talking about it,
but you weren't alwaysa gym junkie, were you?
- I'm definitely not a gymjunkie, but no, absolutely not.
I was active, we'd go on a lotof walks and things like that
but before my diagnosis ofyounger-onset Alzheimer's,
you'd never really catch me in a gym.
But now, I'm trying to staymore on top of it, you know,
you got to do the best you can.
(02:51):
How about your dad? Is hemanaging to stay on top
of his exercise?
- So dad is living with Lewy body dementia
and he does exercisea bit, we go swimming.
He's always been an incredibly active man,
was a rower in his early days,
cross country skiing, bush walking,
- Wow.
- Ran marathons, that kind of thing.
So these days, we go toBronte Beach in Sydney,
(03:12):
and there's an ocean pool there,and it's quite accessible,
so that's really important for us,
but I think the best thingabout it from my point of view
is that it's a really joyfulthing that we can do together.
- It's something you canshare, something you enjoy
and remember that you did that with.
- Totally, it just meansthat the relationship is not
consumed by all the other health stuff
that's going on in his life.
(03:32):
So, if you weren't a gym junkie before,
tell me about this guy, Nick,
that's kind of turnedaround your fitness journey.
- He's absolutely great,he just won't let me quit.
And you know, withouthim, I really don't think
I'd be able to discipline myself
into doing what he's prepared for me,
but his process is greatbecause he's very understanding.
(03:53):
Sometimes, I can feel quite lethargic
and don't have the energy, sohe'll tailor it to suit me.
- Alright then, let's go andmeet the incredible super Nick,
- Let's go.
Hey Nick, my friend, how are you?
(04:14):
- Good, good. Yourself?
- Yeah, all good. Ready for a workout,
I always hate meeting with youbecause I know what's coming.
So this is Hamish.
- Hey Nick, nice to meet you.
- Hey man, how are ya?
- Thanks man.
All right, about there,3, 2, 1 bar comes up.
Good, in the middle of your chest for me.
(04:34):
Yep, we're going to goeight reps, all you,
find the middle. Goodman. Nice and controlled.
- My name's Nick Hughes, I'man exercise physiologist.
So background wise, I'vejust come out of two years
of private practice work.
- Okay. So what sort of peopledo you sort of deal with?
- I get a really wide varietyof clients that I look after.
So I do a lot of rehab work, I do a lot of
(04:56):
I guess, insurance, workcover stuff, NDIS work,
conditions through NDISthat I've covered before.
So obviously dementia, cerebral palsy,
multiple sclerosis, ASD.
So yeah, I've got to covera wide variety of clients,
and that's a big part of the joy in it,
that it's not sort of seeingthe same person every day.
You get to experience a lot of different
people and conditions too.
(05:17):
- Probably sounds like a dumb question,
but we think of dementiaas a disease of the mind,
why does the body andphysical exercise matter?
Does it actually help the brain?
- Yeah, absolutely. So,cardio respiratory fitness,
and I guess getting yourheart rate up is going to be
one of the biggest positivesfor something like dementia,
(05:38):
and, really, any conditionthat has a neuro element to it.
So, getting oxygen to thebrain is going to be huge
in that regard, andthat's a lot of evidence
in regards to that, that of how helpful
cardio exercises for neuro conditions.
- Jim's obviously areally fit, healthy guy.
Does he need much help?
Does he need specific tailored exercise?
(05:59):
- Yeah, absolutely.
So, I know Jim looks a million bucks.
- That's what he says anyway.
- Yeah, I'll give youthat tenner later, Nick.
- So typically, a lot ofpeople will sort of focus on
purely the cardio or strength side of it,
but I guess, as you've seenbefore through our session,
it's really importantto also integrate things
in balance, planning, memory,
(06:22):
all those aspects of cognitive function.
- What stands out to you inthat sort of list of stuff
that you wouldn't havethought of doing on your own?
- Oh look, you know, I'venever been a gym junkie
or interested in doingthe things I don't like,
like lifting weights, or you know,
as we've mentioned thebike and things like that,
where he gets me to get myheart rate up and stuff,
(06:44):
so I wouldn't reallyhave the discipline now
to do those things ifit wasn't for the fact
that I know when we meet,he's going to make me do it,
and he's also set up ahydro program where I have
to get my heart rate upthrough swimming, et cetera,
but these things, I would definitely,
I wouldn't discipline myself to do it,
(07:05):
so it's only becauseI show up and see him.
I know he is investedin me wanting to do it.
I feel as though I should doit for him more than me now,
you know, so it's worked, really.
- Alright, do you want tostart? Jim, I want you to try
to stay on this line the whole time.
- Yep.
- So if you, yeah, you can startwhere you are, you're going
(07:27):
to go tandem walk, so you'regoing to go heel, toe,
heel, toe, all the way downas you are walking towards me.
I'm going to be passing thefooty to you, all right?
- Can you explain for me, Nick,
what you were doingspecifically just then?
So at the end, there was an exercise
where you were gettingJim to step one foot
in front of the other, andyou were passing him a footy
(07:47):
while he was doing that.
What's the purpose ofthat? Why does that work
or why is that valuable forsomeone living with dementia?
- Balance is one of the commonthings that will decline
after being diagnosed withdementia and the condition,
so that exercise, inparticular, was focusing on
Jim's dynamic balance.
- All right, You go. Take acouple steps, get your balance,
(08:08):
little pass coming in, back to me.
Good man. Couple more steps,
make it all the way down to the bench.
Good. I'll get you to turnaround there, face the other way.
I'll switch.
- And that was just through a tandem walk,
so walking heel to toealong a straight line.
And then, again, Jim's balanceand function is quite good,
(08:31):
so I was just progressing that challenge,
and adding in a footy, andadding in a new element
to make it a little bit moredifficult and test that.
- Good, watching it, I'mthinking there's probably
quite a lot of people that wouldreally struggle to do that.
- Oh, it's certainly not easy,but yeah, Jim's doing well,
and I guess that toucheson what I mentioned before,
what we can currently do,
you just want to be able to dothat for as long as you can,
(08:52):
and the only way to dothat is challenge yourself.
That's the only way you can get better
and hold onto what you got.
- And last couple steps,finish off well, beautiful.
Good, good. We'll take that.
- Cheers, thanks Nick.
- A very interesting thingwhen I first met Nick as well,
we sat down and heshaped up all this stuff,
(09:16):
and did a whole analysison me first, you know,
got to know my background,blah, blah, blah,
what the condition was,and he'd also got notes.
But what he said to me, whichreally resonated with me,
and I've often thought about this,
you need to treat thissession as medicine.
Don't think this is for fun,this is something to do,
(09:40):
think of it when you take your medication,
this is part of yourmedication, you need to do it.
And so, that really stuck with me,
even though I don't wantto do certain aspects,
I'll do it, because I thinkof it as taking another pill.
(10:08):
So even if I don't exactly love doing it,
I'll keep exercising formy body and my brain.
Not everyone has to beconvinced to exercise, though.
- We came from a very sporting family,
we all enjoyed our sport very much.
- This is Heather.
- We loved to feel well.
(10:28):
Our mother was veryencouraging for us to eat well,
and sleep well, and exercise well.
- She's always been very active,
ever since she was a young girl.
- So we value our bodiestremendously as a family.
And all my grandchildrenare very enthusiastic
in their various sports andother activities like that.
(10:51):
- Getting diagnosed withAlzheimer's in her mid-seventies
only strengthened Heather'sresolve to stay fit
- Well, the diagnosiswas very much part of
how I felt about my body,
and it not working for me as it should.
For example, I'd ridden mybike to school as a child.
(11:13):
I'd ridden my bike to university,I'd ridden my bike mostly
to work, even though thatwas a lot of distance.
And then, I couldn't ride my bike,
I couldn't balance on my bike,
and I had to put my bike inthe shed, and wonder why.
- Was that what led to youinvestigating something's wrong?
- It's an accumulation, Jim.
(11:33):
I think we all know alittle bits of ourselves
are not quite goingwell, and I also noticed
as I was doing my littlejogging, a disbalance coming up,
so that was balance,
and vision was a bit of a problem as well.
(11:54):
And so, I just felt myalways excellent body
that had always responded very well to me,
things were not going well.
- So, did that lead you toexploring a little bit more
with the medical field tofind out what is happening?
- I think I pretended thatnothing was happening.
(12:17):
"Oh, I can't balanceanymore, maybe I've got
an ear infection. Oh no,I'll be fine. I'll manage."
And then I had quite an incident.
I had to go to the doctor,I think, for an injection
or some minor happening.
I went into the doctor'ssurgery and I said to him,
(12:38):
"I think I've just driventhrough a red light."
And he said, "Oh," and sent me for a scan
almost straight away to a local hospital.
That scan sent me for a couple of MRIs,
and within 10 days, Ihad a phone call from
(13:00):
the psychiatrist at themain hospital to say
that they'd like to see me.
And then I got my verdict.
I think I spent 12 months in the doldrums,
I think I came to grief,
(13:23):
the psychiatrist pronounced her verdict,
I can still remember that blue file
that she was holding and reading from.
Physically, I felt as ifsomebody, a gang had attacked me,
and bashed me all over the place,
and I was just quite ruined.
(13:44):
I recovered because my family loved me
and gave me lots of sympathy,
but immediately reminded methat I had a duty to them
not to burden them andleave them in sorrow
(14:05):
with their mother having Alzheimer's.
I have a great sense of humour,
I was always, laughed andjoke through the dramas
that we have in our, littledramas, that we have in our life
cheered the kids on with their cut knees,
and all that sort of thing.
So I couldn't have my family grieving
(14:26):
for their mother with Alzheimer's,
and that's why I sort of
picked up my crumpledlittle body, and held it up,
and said, "Come on, theremust be something you can do."
(14:48):
- What does your day-to-dayexercise routine look like now?
- Oh, it's very, very structured.
I aim quite high
at something like a half marathon,
or something like that.
So I really structure my exercise around
(15:09):
keeping my body really limber,
and just looking after it in every way,
so not too much running, all right?
Because you know, you can'tkeep pushing those bits
too hard, too long.
So I do that four times a week,
and then the other twodays, I do cross training,
(15:30):
and then I have a rest on one day.
I swim, our community bus, only takes us
once a week to where there's a pool.
So I do, I swim a kilometre there,
but my swimming is not,
I'm not the best swimmer in the world.
And of course, I walk every day,
(15:52):
and we've always had lots of dogs.
Some have been working dogs, kelpie dogs,
and they like about 10K under their belt,
and the new little pup, shehas about 3.5K in the morning,
and about five in the afternoon.
- Fantastic. They're luckydogs to have such a good owner
that's taking them out.
(16:14):
Do you do anything elsesort of from a social aspect
with your exercise?
- Oh, certainly. I have line dancing,
which is now up to three hours a week.
- Wow.
- I know, it's marvellous!
- That must be fun.
- Well, my teacher, onlythe other day, she said,
"You're all facing the wrong way."
(16:35):
And she was pointingat them, and they said,
"Oh, and Heather is too,"
and she said to them, "AndHeather's got an excuse."
(all laugh)
- How do you find withlearning the routine
and memorising the routine?
- I couldn't memorise the routine,
so she talks it throughthe whole dance through.
(16:56):
There might be, say, 22 repeatsof eight different moves,
and she will talk, for all of us,
she will talk those movesthrough, she'll abbreviate them
because all I need is a hint,
that it's going to be the leftfoot and not the right foot.
- Yeah.
- And she would justgently talk that through
(17:17):
- Repetition, repetition,repetition helps,
because the more you repeatit, the more you repeat it,
I know with myself, if you doit over, and over, and over,
it seems to be a lot easierthan something that's new
or you've just learnt.
Do you find that with your line dancing?
- The repetition, Jim,is you are so correct,
and I said, said to her, I said,
(17:38):
"Chris, I love it whenI've done 23 of the things,
and the 24th one, I getit all eight steps right,
and in the right order."
- Yeah, so you can sort ofrelax and really throw yourself
into it because you feel so confident then
that you know, those steps
(17:59):
- And the confidence,
the confidence in the factthat you've got so much brain
that you can use otherbits to store this dancing
that once you would've,as you said memorised,
but you're not doing it that way anymore.
I think you're doing it by a repetition,
and somehow ingrainingyourself in that work,
(18:21):
now, that is why running is so good
and you're feeding your brainwith oxygen on this boring,
repetitive, over and over again.
And it's the same with the swimming.
I mean, you've got four bits going,
and then you've got to breatheas well. Work that out!
And do you find, as well,with your running that doing
(18:41):
repetitive routes in a way that you know
off the back of your hand,inside out, back to front,
that makes the running alittle bit more relaxing
so you don't have thatfeeling of, perhaps,
getting a little lostor feel a bit confused,
you know that route so well
that it's sort ofingrained in your memory.
Do you feel that way?
- Yes, very good question, Jim.
(19:03):
When I was talking aboutwondering about, you know,
my situation with my possible Alzheimer's,
we have a very large garden,
and even out in that very large garden,
if I was bending down doingsomething, I'd stand up,
and I didn't quite knowwhere I was in my own garden.
(19:27):
And then, if I wasrunning out in the forest,
I would have to bethinking about where I was.
If I'm thinking about whereI am, then my running,
I may trip and fall, or some other thing,
so you are so right.
I have this very regular route,
(19:48):
and everybody in ourvillage knows that there's
that mad woman
- There's Heather
- Who lives there, she's running again,
and that's where she runs.
And I have a bottle of waterplaced under a gum tree
at every four kilometres distance,
so I stop and have a drink there,
(20:09):
and then, I run to thenext bottle of water.
- That's so smart to do it that way,
so as you have some sort offocus how far you are getting
around the route, andyou've also got a little bit
of refreshment there to keep you going.
Have you got a little bit ofan addiction now to marathons,
because I believe you've signedup for a marathon this year,
(20:29):
is that right?
- Yes. I think unless you have a goal,
you can cheat.
- Heather's right.
Unless someone else is holdingyou accountable, it's easy
to let yourself off the hook,and just stop exercising.
(20:50):
That's why I personallysee my trainer, Nick,
so let's go back to thegym with Nick and Hamish.
- Alright. To start off,
We will go, keep it niceand simple to start with,
we won't have any things to pick up,
but I want you to start on this end.
Now, as you go through, I only want you
(21:11):
to step on green and red.
- So there's an exercisethat you do with Jim
where you lay out plates on the ground,
with different marks on themthat are different colours.
And then you give him,basically, a code to walk through
the little field of mats.
- I only want you to step on green,
(21:33):
and let's go blue, green and blue.
- What's that about?
- Yeah, that's, again, another fun one
that I like to use with Jim,so the idea behind it is
it's a motor planning challenge for Jim,
and to a certain extent,there's also a bit of memory
and a recall involved in it as well,
so what that sort ofentails is we'll set up with
(21:55):
I guess, as you mentioned,different coloured plates
moving along the floorfor about five metres,
and before Jim takes off,I'll give him instructions on
what colours he's allowed to stand on.
And then, again, if youwant to sort of make
that a little bit trickierand progress things,
I'll usually chuck things out on the floor
where I'll instruct Jimbefore he takes off.
(22:16):
When you get to the other side,
you've got to pick upthis, this, and this,
ignore this one, so yeah,
Jim's got to essentially picka direction where it can go,
so he is got to plan it in that sense,
and then he is got to execute it
and remember the instructionsat the same time,
so there's a bit goingon in that exercise,
but again, it's a really goodone where you can regress
and progress to the individualand how they're going.
(22:37):
- You know, I suppose there's another way
of looking at all of this, Nick, which is,
this is a guy that'sbeen dealt a tough card.
He should have sympathy,
he should be wrapped up in cotton wool,
he should be looked after, doted upon,
and here you are, flogging him on a bike.
- It's just tough love. It's tough love,
it's the best way to go about it.
So, no, I think it's, I knowhe doesn't like it at the time,
(22:59):
but I know it's all out oflove, and it's good for him,
so I make him do it.
- And on a more, I suppose,serious kind of personal note,
chatting to Jim on the wayhere, he was talking about,
you know, an idea he hasin his mind of his life,
and his trajectory in life, and you know,
really wanting to seehis grandkids grow up,
(23:20):
and convincing himself,actually, he can in some way
beat this.
Are you kind of on board with that project
of like giving hope, I suppose?
- I think right from thatsort of first initial session
I had with Jim, and hewas quite aware that
there's no way you can undoor reverse the condition,
but it's all about ensuring that, I guess,
(23:41):
Jim can live the best quality of life,
and do everything that he wants to do
for as long as possible.
And the way to do that is addressing
those focus areas mentioned before.
So, things like balance,things like strength,
things like gettingyour cardio activities,
all your cognitive tasks.
Those are the ways you're goingto be able to address that.
(24:04):
- Even though I dread it, Iget back on that exercise bike
because I know stayingactive will help me enjoy
life for longer.
Heather's found acceptance ofher diagnosis through exercise
and it's something she works on every day.
- My husband and I wentstraight into Dementia Australia
(24:24):
office when I had the diagnosis,
I think it was even on the day.
And we went in and we said, "Help!"
And they provided us with booklets,
we then did a course with them.
It was a course as acouple, and that was good.
Then, I saw Lisa every once a month,
(24:48):
she's a counsellor.
Lisa said to me, "Heather, I'veworked with a lot of people"
she said, "I've workedwith a ballet dancer who
was very, very, verygood in her profession,
and she'd have to give up,and she found it really good,
she put cards all around her,
(25:11):
and she wrote acceptance on these cards."
And being quite a visual person,
I like colour, and I likepaintings, and art, and things.
I thought, "Yes, right."
So, I went home and gotlarge sheets of paper,
double fools cap size,and I wrote very, very big
(25:33):
and very thick text, "acceptance".
And I pinned it up onthe kitchen pinboard,
I put one in the bathroombecause you go into the bathroom,
and you look in the mirror,and there's your mother,
and you go, "What areyou doing in there, mum?"
So you need acceptance of how you are
(25:55):
and just how you feel.Where else did I put it?
I put it where I strugglewith the computer terribly,
I could no longer type.
And now, when I do, I type (laughs)
a bit like an orangutan, you know?
I look at the keys and that's how I type.
(26:16):
So I put acceptance up therejust under the computer screen.
So acceptance, acceptance,all over the house,
and more or less hitting myselfover the head with this fact
and once I'd accepted it, I could move on.
(26:39):
- For Heather, exerciseis full of rewards,
far greater than just therush of finishing a marathon.
- I went for a run this morning
and I was just trottingalong, and as I went,
there were beautiful Frangipani flowers
scattered on the footpath.
Some were white, and then Icame upon another large tree,
and they were pink.
(27:00):
And I just enjoyed that so much.
The beauty of nature, theperfection of each one
of those flowers, all with that touch
of yellow in the Frangipani,all beautifully shaped,
everyone quite perfect, all the same,
millions of them.
It's just a wonderful world,please go and have a look.
(27:27):
- Whether you've alwaysbeen a long distance runner
like Heather, or you just want to keep up
with your gardening routine,
you can call the NationalDementia Helpline
for advice tailored toyour specific diagnosis.
- Hi, I'm Kristin. I work onthe National Dementia Helpline
as an advisor, you can giveus a call with anything
(27:50):
that you're thinking about,
and we'll have a chat with you about
whatever's on your mind.
You might wonder how exercisecan help with your dementia.
Sure, might make youfeel physically stronger,
might help if you're worried about falls,
but more than that, it canhelp build your confidence.
(28:11):
You can start to meet newpeople at a shared activity
that you like.
If you start swimminglaps at the local pool,
it doesn't have to be difficult.
The types of exercise that youdo really comes down to you.
What sorts of things do youenjoy? What do you love?
What makes you smile and feelgood and strong and confident?
(28:33):
If you've run marathonsbefore, that's great,
you can keep running.
But if what you really love is dogs,
walk yourself up to the local dog park,
throw a couple of ballsfor the dogs there.
It's really about finding whatmakes you feel good inside,
doing a bit more of that.
And if you're the adventurous type,
you could try something new,
(28:55):
something you've alwaysbeen interested in.
Look in your local council for something
that might be going on, like Tai Chi,
if you've never tried that,
you could give something new a try too.
What's really important isfinding an exercise that you like
to do, something that makes you feel good,
that makes you feel strong,and that you enjoy doing.
(29:16):
If anything you've heardtoday has prompted questions,
or you're interested in knowing more
about keeping active with dementia,
you can contact theNational Dementia Helpline.
We're here 24-hours aday, every day of the year
on 1800 100 500.
(29:45):
- Hold the Moment is a podcastfrom Dementia Australia.
It's produced by Deadset Studios.
You can find more episodes and resources
through the Dementia Australiawebsite, dementia.org au.
Now, don't forget tofollow Hold the Moment
on your podcast app, soyou don't miss an episode.
The show is hosted by me, Jim Rogers,
(30:05):
- And by me, Hamish MacDonald.
The executive producers areKelly Ridden and Grace Pashley.
The producer is Liam Ridden,sound design by Sean Holden.
A special thanks to the wholeteam at Dementia Australia,
and to all the advocates
who shared their stories on this podcast.
- Hello, my name is Kevin.
I am a First Nations advocatewith Dementia Australia.
These lands in which we aremeeting are many countries
filled with languagessimilar and different.
For more than 50,000 years,we have come together
to trade knowledge, tolearn, and to teach.
Today, we joined tokeep up that tradition.
So with that in mind,we now pay our respects
(00:22):
to the traditional owners,to Elders past and present,
to those First Nationspeople joining us here today.
Welcome and thank you.
- We are about to pull upat your trainer's house.
His name's Nick.
- Yes.- Tell me about what you are
(00:45):
going to be doing this afternoon.
- I lift weights, I dosome cardiovascular work,
and he also builds into what I do,
some balance work and memory.
So look, those things, dothey help? Do they not help?
But you know, he's doingeverything he can to try
(01:05):
and build the program to benefit me.
He's just very conscientiousand very interested
in trying to help, so, youknow, that's supportive.
- What's the hardest bitof the training regime?
- I hate the bike.
- You dread the bike?
- Yes. I hate the bikebecause, and he knows it,
(01:26):
sometimes I try to talk becausethat's my thing, I can talk.
- Do you talk your wayout of the training?
- Yes, so I try to get him talking,
and at the end of theprogram, if it's too late,
because he's got another client, you know,
I could miss the bike, andhe'll say, "Oh, I think
you've missed the bike,Jim, we've been talking."
I'll go, "Oh, really?"
(01:47):
And he'll go, "Only joking,get on that bike," you know?
I am Jim Rogers, andthis is Hold the Moment.
A podcast from DementiaAustralia full of real stories
(02:07):
about life after diagnosis.
It's hosted by me and myfriend Hamish MacDonald.
Hi Hamish, how are you?
- Good day Jim. So we'recovering all the ups and downs
of life with dementia across this series,
and I know that staying fit and healthy
is a really big part of livinga good life with dementia.
And I know Jim, that you are active now
(02:30):
because you won't stop talking about it,
but you weren't alwaysa gym junkie, were you?
- I'm definitely not a gymjunkie, but no, absolutely not.
I was active, we'd go on a lotof walks and things like that
but before my diagnosis ofyounger-onset Alzheimer's,
you'd never really catch me in a gym.
But now, I'm trying to staymore on top of it, you know,
you got to do the best you can.
(02:51):
How about your dad? Is hemanaging to stay on top
of his exercise?
- So dad is living with Lewy body dementia
and he does exercisea bit, we go swimming.
He's always been an incredibly active man,
was a rower in his early days,
cross country skiing, bush walking,
- Wow.
- Ran marathons, that kind of thing.
So these days, we go toBronte Beach in Sydney,
(03:12):
and there's an ocean pool there,and it's quite accessible,
so that's really important for us,
but I think the best thingabout it from my point of view
is that it's a really joyfulthing that we can do together.
- It's something you canshare, something you enjoy
and remember that you did that with.
- Totally, it just meansthat the relationship is not
consumed by all the other health stuff
that's going on in his life.
(03:32):
So, if you weren't a gym junkie before,
tell me about this guy, Nick,
that's kind of turnedaround your fitness journey.
- He's absolutely great,he just won't let me quit.
And you know, withouthim, I really don't think
I'd be able to discipline myself
into doing what he's prepared for me,
but his process is greatbecause he's very understanding.
(03:53):
Sometimes, I can feel quite lethargic
and don't have the energy, sohe'll tailor it to suit me.
- Alright then, let's go andmeet the incredible super Nick,
- Let's go.
Hey Nick, my friend, how are you?
(04:14):
- Good, good. Yourself?
- Yeah, all good. Ready for a workout,
I always hate meeting with youbecause I know what's coming.
So this is Hamish.
- Hey Nick, nice to meet you.
- Hey man, how are ya?
- Thanks man.
All right, about there,3, 2, 1 bar comes up.
Good, in the middle of your chest for me.
(04:34):
Yep, we're going to goeight reps, all you,
find the middle. Goodman. Nice and controlled.
- My name's Nick Hughes, I'man exercise physiologist.
So background wise, I'vejust come out of two years
of private practice work.
- Okay. So what sort of peopledo you sort of deal with?
- I get a really wide varietyof clients that I look after.
So I do a lot of rehab work, I do a lot of
(04:56):
I guess, insurance, workcover stuff, NDIS work,
conditions through NDISthat I've covered before.
So obviously dementia, cerebral palsy,
multiple sclerosis, ASD.
So yeah, I've got to covera wide variety of clients,
and that's a big part of the joy in it,
that it's not sort of seeingthe same person every day.
You get to experience a lot of different
people and conditions too.
(05:17):
- Probably sounds like a dumb question,
but we think of dementiaas a disease of the mind,
why does the body andphysical exercise matter?
Does it actually help the brain?
- Yeah, absolutely. So,cardio respiratory fitness,
and I guess getting yourheart rate up is going to be
one of the biggest positivesfor something like dementia,
(05:38):
and, really, any conditionthat has a neuro element to it.
So, getting oxygen to thebrain is going to be huge
in that regard, andthat's a lot of evidence
in regards to that, that of how helpful
cardio exercises for neuro conditions.
- Jim's obviously areally fit, healthy guy.
Does he need much help?
Does he need specific tailored exercise?
(05:59):
- Yeah, absolutely.
So, I know Jim looks a million bucks.
- That's what he says anyway.
- Yeah, I'll give youthat tenner later, Nick.
- So typically, a lot ofpeople will sort of focus on
purely the cardio or strength side of it,
but I guess, as you've seenbefore through our session,
it's really importantto also integrate things
in balance, planning, memory,
(06:22):
all those aspects of cognitive function.
- What stands out to you inthat sort of list of stuff
that you wouldn't havethought of doing on your own?
- Oh look, you know, I'venever been a gym junkie
or interested in doingthe things I don't like,
like lifting weights, or you know,
as we've mentioned thebike and things like that,
where he gets me to get myheart rate up and stuff,
(06:44):
so I wouldn't reallyhave the discipline now
to do those things ifit wasn't for the fact
that I know when we meet,he's going to make me do it,
and he's also set up ahydro program where I have
to get my heart rate upthrough swimming, et cetera,
but these things, I would definitely,
I wouldn't discipline myself to do it,
(07:05):
so it's only becauseI show up and see him.
I know he is investedin me wanting to do it.
I feel as though I should doit for him more than me now,
you know, so it's worked, really.
- Alright, do you want tostart? Jim, I want you to try
to stay on this line the whole time.
- Yep.
- So if you, yeah, you can startwhere you are, you're going
(07:27):
to go tandem walk, so you'regoing to go heel, toe,
heel, toe, all the way downas you are walking towards me.
I'm going to be passing thefooty to you, all right?
- Can you explain for me, Nick,
what you were doingspecifically just then?
So at the end, there was an exercise
where you were gettingJim to step one foot
in front of the other, andyou were passing him a footy
(07:47):
while he was doing that.
What's the purpose ofthat? Why does that work
or why is that valuable forsomeone living with dementia?
- Balance is one of the commonthings that will decline
after being diagnosed withdementia and the condition,
so that exercise, inparticular, was focusing on
Jim's dynamic balance.
- All right, You go. Take acouple steps, get your balance,
(08:08):
little pass coming in, back to me.
Good man. Couple more steps,
make it all the way down to the bench.
Good. I'll get you to turnaround there, face the other way.
I'll switch.
- And that was just through a tandem walk,
so walking heel to toealong a straight line.
And then, again, Jim's balanceand function is quite good,
(08:31):
so I was just progressing that challenge,
and adding in a footy, andadding in a new element
to make it a little bit moredifficult and test that.
- Good, watching it, I'mthinking there's probably
quite a lot of people that wouldreally struggle to do that.
- Oh, it's certainly not easy,but yeah, Jim's doing well,
and I guess that toucheson what I mentioned before,
what we can currently do,
you just want to be able to dothat for as long as you can,
(08:52):
and the only way to dothat is challenge yourself.
That's the only way you can get better
and hold onto what you got.
- And last couple steps,finish off well, beautiful.
Good, good. We'll take that.
- Cheers, thanks Nick.
- A very interesting thingwhen I first met Nick as well,
we sat down and heshaped up all this stuff,
(09:16):
and did a whole analysison me first, you know,
got to know my background,blah, blah, blah,
what the condition was,and he'd also got notes.
But what he said to me, whichreally resonated with me,
and I've often thought about this,
you need to treat thissession as medicine.
Don't think this is for fun,this is something to do,
(09:40):
think of it when you take your medication,
this is part of yourmedication, you need to do it.
And so, that really stuck with me,
even though I don't wantto do certain aspects,
I'll do it, because I thinkof it as taking another pill.
(10:08):
So even if I don't exactly love doing it,
I'll keep exercising formy body and my brain.
Not everyone has to beconvinced to exercise, though.
- We came from a very sporting family,
we all enjoyed our sport very much.
- This is Heather.
- We loved to feel well.
(10:28):
Our mother was veryencouraging for us to eat well,
and sleep well, and exercise well.
- She's always been very active,
ever since she was a young girl.
- So we value our bodiestremendously as a family.
And all my grandchildrenare very enthusiastic
in their various sports andother activities like that.
(10:51):
- Getting diagnosed withAlzheimer's in her mid-seventies
only strengthened Heather'sresolve to stay fit
- Well, the diagnosiswas very much part of
how I felt about my body,
and it not working for me as it should.
For example, I'd ridden mybike to school as a child.
(11:13):
I'd ridden my bike to university,I'd ridden my bike mostly
to work, even though thatwas a lot of distance.
And then, I couldn't ride my bike,
I couldn't balance on my bike,
and I had to put my bike inthe shed, and wonder why.
- Was that what led to youinvestigating something's wrong?
- It's an accumulation, Jim.
(11:33):
I think we all know alittle bits of ourselves
are not quite goingwell, and I also noticed
as I was doing my littlejogging, a disbalance coming up,
so that was balance,
and vision was a bit of a problem as well.
(11:54):
And so, I just felt myalways excellent body
that had always responded very well to me,
things were not going well.
- So, did that lead you toexploring a little bit more
with the medical field tofind out what is happening?
- I think I pretended thatnothing was happening.
(12:17):
"Oh, I can't balanceanymore, maybe I've got
an ear infection. Oh no,I'll be fine. I'll manage."
And then I had quite an incident.
I had to go to the doctor,I think, for an injection
or some minor happening.
I went into the doctor'ssurgery and I said to him,
(12:38):
"I think I've just driventhrough a red light."
And he said, "Oh," and sent me for a scan
almost straight away to a local hospital.
That scan sent me for a couple of MRIs,
and within 10 days, Ihad a phone call from
(13:00):
the psychiatrist at themain hospital to say
that they'd like to see me.
And then I got my verdict.
I think I spent 12 months in the doldrums,
I think I came to grief,
(13:23):
the psychiatrist pronounced her verdict,
I can still remember that blue file
that she was holding and reading from.
Physically, I felt as ifsomebody, a gang had attacked me,
and bashed me all over the place,
and I was just quite ruined.
(13:44):
I recovered because my family loved me
and gave me lots of sympathy,
but immediately reminded methat I had a duty to them
not to burden them andleave them in sorrow
(14:05):
with their mother having Alzheimer's.
I have a great sense of humour,
I was always, laughed andjoke through the dramas
that we have in our, littledramas, that we have in our life
cheered the kids on with their cut knees,
and all that sort of thing.
So I couldn't have my family grieving
(14:26):
for their mother with Alzheimer's,
and that's why I sort of
picked up my crumpledlittle body, and held it up,
and said, "Come on, theremust be something you can do."
(14:48):
- What does your day-to-dayexercise routine look like now?
- Oh, it's very, very structured.
I aim quite high
at something like a half marathon,
or something like that.
So I really structure my exercise around
(15:09):
keeping my body really limber,
and just looking after it in every way,
so not too much running, all right?
Because you know, you can'tkeep pushing those bits
too hard, too long.
So I do that four times a week,
and then the other twodays, I do cross training,
(15:30):
and then I have a rest on one day.
I swim, our community bus, only takes us
once a week to where there's a pool.
So I do, I swim a kilometre there,
but my swimming is not,
I'm not the best swimmer in the world.
And of course, I walk every day,
(15:52):
and we've always had lots of dogs.
Some have been working dogs, kelpie dogs,
and they like about 10K under their belt,
and the new little pup, shehas about 3.5K in the morning,
and about five in the afternoon.
- Fantastic. They're luckydogs to have such a good owner
that's taking them out.
(16:14):
Do you do anything elsesort of from a social aspect
with your exercise?
- Oh, certainly. I have line dancing,
which is now up to three hours a week.
- Wow.
- I know, it's marvellous!
- That must be fun.
- Well, my teacher, onlythe other day, she said,
"You're all facing the wrong way."
(16:35):
And she was pointingat them, and they said,
"Oh, and Heather is too,"
and she said to them, "AndHeather's got an excuse."
(all laugh)
- How do you find withlearning the routine
and memorising the routine?
- I couldn't memorise the routine,
so she talks it throughthe whole dance through.
(16:56):
There might be, say, 22 repeatsof eight different moves,
and she will talk, for all of us,
she will talk those movesthrough, she'll abbreviate them
because all I need is a hint,
that it's going to be the leftfoot and not the right foot.
- Yeah.
- And she would justgently talk that through
(17:17):
- Repetition, repetition,repetition helps,
because the more you repeatit, the more you repeat it,
I know with myself, if you doit over, and over, and over,
it seems to be a lot easierthan something that's new
or you've just learnt.
Do you find that with your line dancing?
- The repetition, Jim,is you are so correct,
and I said, said to her, I said,
(17:38):
"Chris, I love it whenI've done 23 of the things,
and the 24th one, I getit all eight steps right,
and in the right order."
- Yeah, so you can sort ofrelax and really throw yourself
into it because you feel so confident then
that you know, those steps
(17:59):
- And the confidence,
the confidence in the factthat you've got so much brain
that you can use otherbits to store this dancing
that once you would've,as you said memorised,
but you're not doing it that way anymore.
I think you're doing it by a repetition,
and somehow ingrainingyourself in that work,
(18:21):
now, that is why running is so good
and you're feeding your brainwith oxygen on this boring,
repetitive, over and over again.
And it's the same with the swimming.
I mean, you've got four bits going,
and then you've got to breatheas well. Work that out!
And do you find, as well,with your running that doing
(18:41):
repetitive routes in a way that you know
off the back of your hand,inside out, back to front,
that makes the running alittle bit more relaxing
so you don't have thatfeeling of, perhaps,
getting a little lostor feel a bit confused,
you know that route so well
that it's sort ofingrained in your memory.
Do you feel that way?
- Yes, very good question, Jim.
(19:03):
When I was talking aboutwondering about, you know,
my situation with my possible Alzheimer's,
we have a very large garden,
and even out in that very large garden,
if I was bending down doingsomething, I'd stand up,
and I didn't quite knowwhere I was in my own garden.
(19:27):
And then, if I wasrunning out in the forest,
I would have to bethinking about where I was.
If I'm thinking about whereI am, then my running,
I may trip and fall, or some other thing,
so you are so right.
I have this very regular route,
(19:48):
and everybody in ourvillage knows that there's
that mad woman
- There's Heather
- Who lives there, she's running again,
and that's where she runs.
And I have a bottle of waterplaced under a gum tree
at every four kilometres distance,
so I stop and have a drink there,
(20:09):
and then, I run to thenext bottle of water.
- That's so smart to do it that way,
so as you have some sort offocus how far you are getting
around the route, andyou've also got a little bit
of refreshment there to keep you going.
Have you got a little bit ofan addiction now to marathons,
because I believe you've signedup for a marathon this year,
(20:29):
is that right?
- Yes. I think unless you have a goal,
you can cheat.
- Heather's right.
Unless someone else is holdingyou accountable, it's easy
to let yourself off the hook,and just stop exercising.
(20:50):
That's why I personallysee my trainer, Nick,
so let's go back to thegym with Nick and Hamish.
- Alright. To start off,
We will go, keep it niceand simple to start with,
we won't have any things to pick up,
but I want you to start on this end.
Now, as you go through, I only want you
(21:11):
to step on green and red.
- So there's an exercisethat you do with Jim
where you lay out plates on the ground,
with different marks on themthat are different colours.
And then you give him,basically, a code to walk through
the little field of mats.
- I only want you to step on green,
(21:33):
and let's go blue, green and blue.
- What's that about?
- Yeah, that's, again, another fun one
that I like to use with Jim,so the idea behind it is
it's a motor planning challenge for Jim,
and to a certain extent,there's also a bit of memory
and a recall involved in it as well,
so what that sort ofentails is we'll set up with
(21:55):
I guess, as you mentioned,different coloured plates
moving along the floorfor about five metres,
and before Jim takes off,I'll give him instructions on
what colours he's allowed to stand on.
And then, again, if youwant to sort of make
that a little bit trickierand progress things,
I'll usually chuck things out on the floor
where I'll instruct Jimbefore he takes off.
(22:16):
When you get to the other side,
you've got to pick upthis, this, and this,
ignore this one, so yeah,
Jim's got to essentially picka direction where it can go,
so he is got to plan it in that sense,
and then he is got to execute it
and remember the instructionsat the same time,
so there's a bit goingon in that exercise,
but again, it's a really goodone where you can regress
and progress to the individualand how they're going.
(22:37):
- You know, I suppose there's another way
of looking at all of this, Nick, which is,
this is a guy that'sbeen dealt a tough card.
He should have sympathy,
he should be wrapped up in cotton wool,
he should be looked after, doted upon,
and here you are, flogging him on a bike.
- It's just tough love. It's tough love,
it's the best way to go about it.
So, no, I think it's, I knowhe doesn't like it at the time,
(22:59):
but I know it's all out oflove, and it's good for him,
so I make him do it.
- And on a more, I suppose,serious kind of personal note,
chatting to Jim on the wayhere, he was talking about,
you know, an idea he hasin his mind of his life,
and his trajectory in life, and you know,
really wanting to seehis grandkids grow up,
(23:20):
and convincing himself,actually, he can in some way
beat this.
Are you kind of on board with that project
of like giving hope, I suppose?
- I think right from thatsort of first initial session
I had with Jim, and hewas quite aware that
there's no way you can undoor reverse the condition,
but it's all about ensuring that, I guess,
(23:41):
Jim can live the best quality of life,
and do everything that he wants to do
for as long as possible.
And the way to do that is addressing
those focus areas mentioned before.
So, things like balance,things like strength,
things like gettingyour cardio activities,
all your cognitive tasks.
Those are the ways you're goingto be able to address that.
(24:04):
- Even though I dread it, Iget back on that exercise bike
because I know stayingactive will help me enjoy
life for longer.
Heather's found acceptance ofher diagnosis through exercise
and it's something she works on every day.
- My husband and I wentstraight into Dementia Australia
(24:24):
office when I had the diagnosis,
I think it was even on the day.
And we went in and we said, "Help!"
And they provided us with booklets,
we then did a course with them.
It was a course as acouple, and that was good.
Then, I saw Lisa every once a month,
(24:48):
she's a counsellor.
Lisa said to me, "Heather, I'veworked with a lot of people"
she said, "I've workedwith a ballet dancer who
was very, very, verygood in her profession,
and she'd have to give up,and she found it really good,
she put cards all around her,
(25:11):
and she wrote acceptance on these cards."
And being quite a visual person,
I like colour, and I likepaintings, and art, and things.
I thought, "Yes, right."
So, I went home and gotlarge sheets of paper,
double fools cap size,and I wrote very, very big
(25:33):
and very thick text, "acceptance".
And I pinned it up onthe kitchen pinboard,
I put one in the bathroombecause you go into the bathroom,
and you look in the mirror,and there's your mother,
and you go, "What areyou doing in there, mum?"
So you need acceptance of how you are
(25:55):
and just how you feel.Where else did I put it?
I put it where I strugglewith the computer terribly,
I could no longer type.
And now, when I do, I type (laughs)
a bit like an orangutan, you know?
I look at the keys and that's how I type.
(26:16):
So I put acceptance up therejust under the computer screen.
So acceptance, acceptance,all over the house,
and more or less hitting myselfover the head with this fact
and once I'd accepted it, I could move on.
(26:39):
- For Heather, exerciseis full of rewards,
far greater than just therush of finishing a marathon.
- I went for a run this morning
and I was just trottingalong, and as I went,
there were beautiful Frangipani flowers
scattered on the footpath.
Some were white, and then Icame upon another large tree,
and they were pink.
(27:00):
And I just enjoyed that so much.
The beauty of nature, theperfection of each one
of those flowers, all with that touch
of yellow in the Frangipani,all beautifully shaped,
everyone quite perfect, all the same,
millions of them.
It's just a wonderful world,please go and have a look.
(27:27):
- Whether you've alwaysbeen a long distance runner
like Heather, or you just want to keep up
with your gardening routine,
you can call the NationalDementia Helpline
for advice tailored toyour specific diagnosis.
- Hi, I'm Kristin. I work onthe National Dementia Helpline
as an advisor, you can giveus a call with anything
(27:50):
that you're thinking about,
and we'll have a chat with you about
whatever's on your mind.
You might wonder how exercisecan help with your dementia.
Sure, might make youfeel physically stronger,
might help if you're worried about falls,
but more than that, it canhelp build your confidence.
(28:11):
You can start to meet newpeople at a shared activity
that you like.
If you start swimminglaps at the local pool,
it doesn't have to be difficult.
The types of exercise that youdo really comes down to you.
What sorts of things do youenjoy? What do you love?
What makes you smile and feelgood and strong and confident?
(28:33):
If you've run marathonsbefore, that's great,
you can keep running.
But if what you really love is dogs,
walk yourself up to the local dog park,
throw a couple of ballsfor the dogs there.
It's really about finding whatmakes you feel good inside,
doing a bit more of that.
And if you're the adventurous type,
you could try something new,
(28:55):
something you've alwaysbeen interested in.
Look in your local council for something
that might be going on, like Tai Chi,
if you've never tried that,
you could give something new a try too.
What's really important isfinding an exercise that you like
to do, something that makes you feel good,
that makes you feel strong,and that you enjoy doing.
(29:16):
If anything you've heardtoday has prompted questions,
or you're interested in knowing more
about keeping active with dementia,
you can contact theNational Dementia Helpline.
We're here 24-hours aday, every day of the year
on 1800 100 500.
(29:45):
- Hold the Moment is a podcastfrom Dementia Australia.
It's produced by Deadset Studios.
You can find more episodes and resources
through the Dementia Australiawebsite, dementia.org au.
Now, don't forget tofollow Hold the Moment
on your podcast app, soyou don't miss an episode.
The show is hosted by me, Jim Rogers,
(30:05):
- And by me, Hamish MacDonald.
The executive producers areKelly Ridden and Grace Pashley.
The producer is Liam Ridden,sound design by Sean Holden.
A special thanks to the wholeteam at Dementia Australia,
and to all the advocates
who shared their stories on this podcast.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.