Growing Young through Exercise with William Dooley

Welcome to the Living to 100 Club Podcast. Here's our host, Dr. Joseph Casciani.

Well, hello to everyone joining us today on our podcast. You're listening to one of our Successful Aging episodes this month on the Living to 100 Club program, and I'm your host, Joe Casciani. Each week, our conversations educate and inspire, helping you get the best out of all the years we're given, regardless of what comes our way. This Living to 100 Club podcast returns to the topic of exercise and physical activity with our guest, Bill Dooley. Bill has developed a series of exercises for the 65 and over age group in his native Australia. His company is Growing Young, an online program providing a collection of 200 short exercise videos, especially targeting the senior audience. We explore not only the physical benefits of exercise, but also the psychological and social aspects of exercise. This conversation also addresses Bill's emphasis on physical activity, falls prevention, and strength training. You can start at any age, as Bill says, whether you're doing fun runs or simply chasing after the grandkids. Be sure to tune in for today's talk. Just a little background. Bill Dooley is an accredited exercise scientist, author, teacher, and lecturer who has been helping people exercise for almost 20 years through one-on-one, small group, and online sessions. Almost 8 years ago, Bill started Growing Young, which is a face-to-face and online exercise program specifically designed to help and keep the 65 and over strong, upright, and functioning like someone 20 years younger. Well, welcome to our program today, Bill.

Thanks for having me, Dr. Joe.

Yeah, you're very welcome. I'm looking forward to our conversation. I always open by asking our guests to tell us maybe the highlights that took you to where you are today. What brought you to this place today, Dr. Joe?

Well, I'll give you the short version. The long version might put some people to sleep. The short version is, look, about 8 years ago, my mum had a few falls, my mother, and asked me to help her get a little bit stronger. And I developed a series of exercises for her to do at home, and she, over a period of time, really benefited from those. And essentially, that Growing Young was born from there, and those same exercises have of course evolved into a full series of exercises that I thought others could benefit as mum did. So yeah, that's, that's pretty much it. So from there it's been a journey to grow that to, to what it is now. COVID of course had a big part in the online side of things.

Sure.

Because many who were doing the program course couldn't come into the gym face to face, so I developed that online presence, um, to help them and also others. I've got a Facebook page which I was putting up videos a couple of times a week. It was quite funny that my— I was in the bedroom at home. I'm very, very much a beginner with regards to videoing and recording, Dr. Joe, but I'd put— we've got a young family, so I'd put my young boys to sleep, and I'd head into the bedroom as quietly, quietly as I could and film these videos and put them, put them online. And everyone— look, the feedback I got was terrific. Everyone was very grateful and benefited from those. And, and then, and here we are today.

Wow. Okay, so that's an important ingredient that precipitated the start of helping your mom, and you developed some programs for her and that grew and expanded. Now you've got 200 videos. We'll, we'll talk more about that in a little bit. But how did your mom respond to the training, to the support? How did she do?

Oh, look, Mom— oh, terrific. Look, Mom— and Mom won't mind me saying that she's a reluctant exerciser. So a lot of the, the techniques we use, and I'll talk about later on with regards to you know, uh, behavioral sort of theories that I've learned over the years and then that I taught at university and things like that, I used with Mum and just to help build up her confidence essentially. So once Mum could see that she was capable and it was helping her, she was really— she brought in a lot more, if that makes sense. So, and, and has been doing them since then. So, and, and functionally speaking, has benefited greatly And she does. And my mum and dad are terrific. They're both in their mid-70s now, but they do have lots of grandchildren and are quite active. So it really— the flow-on effect essentially of, of exercise and getting stronger and healthier is to make your life outside of the gym or outside of exercise better.

Sure.

And mum has seen that, which for me, it makes me happy to see as well.

Have you taped a nice testimonial from her about your, your, the effectiveness of your program?

I have actually on the website. There's some testimonials from my online, the people have helped exercise online over COVID, and they were terrific. Mum, I actually did, actually, I, I wrote a small book a few years back around the conversation I had with Mum leading into the program, the exercise program. And, and so, and I've got the approval from Mum to do all that. And so all these things, when I talk about Mum, I have her, her blessing to do so, which I asked for straight away, of course, before any of this started up. And, and Mum was only willing to say yes, of course.

So I, I'm curious about the types of clients that you work with, Bill. I know you do these in person and you do online as well. So tell us about who, who comes through your doors. What are they looking for? What ages? What physical shape? Tell us about that.

Yes, absolutely. So typically speaking, the people who come to see me, uh, in their 60s, 70s, 80s even, and older. I have now developed, I suppose, a reputation or a niche to be, um, in this particular demographic. A lot of my— I don't, I don't like to use the word clientele, sounds a bit clinical— the people who I help exercise, a lot of those people are referred to me, um, through others that have done the program or are currently doing it. So that— but they all have different goals, of course. They have different bodies, different requirements and different exercise histories. So look, some people with regards to their goals might have a trip coming up that they want to get a little bit stronger for, or they just, they feel they might be just those things around the house, those ADLs we call them, or activities of daily living, they're just getting a little bit harder to perform. You know, getting up and down off the couch or out of bed or in and out of the car. So they just, they know that their strength maybe has diminished. They've felt it. I mean, you can read about it in books and know it's happening, but to feel it's a different thing. So they come in to essentially, there's something that's brought them in and that's different for different people, of course. But basically the overall underlying reason is that they want to improve in some way.

Mm-hmm. Do you have people coming in that are post rehab that are maybe recovering from a fall or a— you know, a broken leg or something?

Yes, good question, Dr. Joe. I have people that come in who have a surgery booked in, so they'll come in pre-op or pre-surgery to just get a little— they've been advised to, look, you just get a little bit stronger, which will help you recover. So I'll see them, or even recovering from a surgery operation. So there's people, without naming names of course, There's people at the moment doing the program who have had hip replacements, knee replacements, shoulder reconstructions or surgeries. Knees and hips seem to be, and ankles, because they're all weight-bearing, of course, they are quite common. So yes, so it's, they do present quite, quite often. And a lot of times they're referred to me through a general practitioner or, or someone like that, or even a physiotherapist or a physical therapist after their operation will, will refer them on to me as well.

Yeah, it sounds like you really have this specialty in the 65+ age group, and that's, that's good to hear. I, I think that's really important because we are living longer and we want to live to our fullest, right? So we don't want to be slowed down if we're having some balance problems or weakness or fatigue. So I think that's really good. When you and I spoke, you talked about an initial assessment when someone comes in. What, what areas of functioning do you look at in order to plan your approach?

Well, I advise people before we, we talk about anything to do with training, I generally get people to come in and have a look at where I run the programs. I meet them at various points. So they look more so so they can get a feel for the place, become familiar with it. They might not like it or like the look of me as well. So I say, look, come and meet me, we'll have a chat, no obligation. And they'll get a feel for— and I'm lucky in a sense that not a lot of people have come in and met me and decided they didn't want to come back, which is good. But then look, once we've had that initial chat, and also it gives me a chance to create a rapport with the person. So once we come back for that initial assessment or consultation, I'll look, I'll talk about goals and what, what they're essentially, what's driving them to come in, important. And then we get down to the nitty-gritty of, you know, what any history of illnesses or injuries, have they got current issues. We go through what they've done in the past with regards, like I said, about their exercise and how often and what intensities have they done it. Some people have walked into the gym and wouldn't know a dumbbell from a fitball. And have done absolutely nothing. So in a lot of ways, that can be a benefit to someone who's, who's helping them exercise, because you, you're starting with a clean slate, so to speak. But you also have to be mindful of starting off at a safe intensity and progressing from there. And then we just go through a screening system, and, and I do some testing for strength and balance and range of motion and posture and all these sort of things, just to give me a good grounding on, on where they they are with their health, and then we take it from there.

Mm-hmm. Sure. Yeah, a good comprehensive picture. I like that. So with this older age group, seniors, older adults, what are the special considerations? I mean, we know there's obvious ones with some muscle weakness and balance problems. What are the really special areas of attention that you look at with 60, 70, 80-year-olds?

Oh, that's a good one. Look, there's a twofold answer. So firstly, there are obviously— I'm guided mostly by the goals of the particular person. So what would you like to happen coming in? But in the back of my mind, I'm mindful that there's things that we need to look at and address that are sort of not negotiables, but they're going to be present in most people in that sort of age bracket, if that makes sense. So The first thing is the strength and where they're at with their strength. So if I had to pick one area that's the most important with regards to someone who's mid-60s to 70, 80 would be to make sure that you maintain your strength or build it up if you haven't done that sort of training before. And why I've chosen or lent towards the sort of 65-plus, what people ask, well, why? Have you chosen that sort of age? Like, it's— or why is it 65 and not 60 or 70? Or, you know, which, which I get quite common, that question is quite common, essentially, with regards to strength. And we, you know, say we peak at 30 with regards to strength, which is generally the, the age. From then on, we sort of get a little bit— we lose a little bit of muscle, a little bit of strength over the years, which is not a surprise to people, that's common knowledge. But it's sort of like, if you can say, for those out there, it's in a linear So the strength's quite linear, the strength deficit. So it, it's consistent up to a certain point, which is about 65, okay? And that's when it sort of starts to drop off quite a bit more, quite dramatically. And so I call that the tipping point. And sort of that starts to impact your balance and your walking, you know, along the footpath and all those sort of things. So 65 is the age that I sort of thought, well, that's where if people haven't looked at it up to that point, that's when it'll start to make a difference in their life, if you know what I mean, Joe.

Sure.

Or Dr. Joe, I should say. No, Joe's fine. So that's, that's one look. And then of course you want to make sure the heart and lungs are functioning well and they're moving around, so the aerobic side of things are important. Balance and strength are quite closely related, so balance is certainly assisted or helped through an increase in strength, but you need to do some specific balance exercises to improve that side of things. And of course, moving around is a lot harder to do when you're quite inflexible or you haven't got that mobility. So that's another area that can be improved too at any age. So it's, it's not like any of these things— this— and I get it a lot where people say, ah, well, what's the point, you know, I'm 70, how can I improve? And I'm like, Well, it's not my opinion, it's all evidence-based. And of course people can, and they have, and I've seen it, and I've read it, and there's been research. Then it's— if you do it and put the time in consistently, it'll happen for you in most cases. So hopefully that answers your question.

Sure. Yeah, I think that's such an important area because, like you say, sometimes you get the question, what's the point? Why am I you know, trying to do something I'm really too old for. And your point is, well, it's never too late. It— we start where— wherever you're at, right? Whether it's balance or muscle or strength, wherever they're at, this is the point you try to move them from, right, toward the next level.

Yeah, absolutely.

That's sure. Yeah.

So look, I— it's, uh, I mean, you have to— it's a funny thing because exercise And I try and be positive about it. And of course, I know the negative connotations or the outcomes if you don't do it. But when people come in, I focus more on what they're getting out of it and, you know, the benefits of coming in. And if that makes sense. And, you know, and I mean, you're very well experienced in this area as well. You know, what happens if we don't do it? And but I don't focus on that more so. I focus on the journey, like what will be happening when they do do it. And I think that, that really helps people with regards to that, their adherence to exercise, you know, like buying in and, and, and coming back consistently, because it only will happen if people do it often enough. And that's the thing is, I see— I have— and it's, it's great to see, but I have people who might see me once a week. I have to see people that see me 3 times a week. I have people who want to see me every day. And I think that's apart from my poor suffering wife. I think no one needs to see me every day. Um, so I, I have people who come and see me, but I give them things to do at home or, or a general— and if they've got the, um, signed up for the online version of the program, there's something they can do every day on that. So because the consistency of movements where you find the benefit from—

sure.

But yeah, so that getting back to that point, it's the The focus on the benefit and the positive side of what's going on, not so much on trying to avoid what can happen if they don't do it.

Yeah, yeah, the consequences of not doing it. That's, yeah, I can see that. Let's take the spotlight off of that and put the spotlight on how we can improve, what the benefits are. I like that.

Yeah, yes, exactly. And one of those, and I know that it's important for you to touch on, and I hope I'm not jumping the gun with regards to the questioning, is there's a social benefit exercise, which—

Yeah.

Is often overlooked by a lot of people. And I've seen it happen over many years, the connections people make with the ones they're training with, or even with family members that they've started to train with their daughters or sons, or even grandkids. And it's a way— and a lot of people in this particular age bracket might live alone, and unfortunately they may have lost a partner, or by choice. And it's a way of reducing that social isolation for them and in turn, you know, reducing a sense of loneliness that they might feel. So those social connections are very important. I've had people who have met through the program who are now lifelong friends.

Oh, there you go. Yeah.

They go away on holidays together, which is fabulous for me. I mean, they met 15+ years ago through the program and all through training. The program itself is sort of only was born about 8 years ago, but through their exercising with me, they'd never met before, hadn't, hadn't met at all until they walked into the gym. And now they're lifelong friends and meet, you know, a few times a week for coffee, train together there, which is fabulous. So, you know, the The sort of creating a sense of community as well through the program and exercising and the fundraisers we're involved in and charity events. I remember just pre-COVID, dear lady who trains with me who had a stroke some time back organized the— well, it was a fun run or fun walk. And there were obviously those who suffered from stroke who had mobility devices and things like that or wheelchairs. Around the local park just to raise money and awareness. And we were involved with that, which was quite inspirational, really, to be honest. And, you know, that's the greater— if you threw the net out a bit wider there, the benefits of exercise can be social and physical as well.

Yeah, yeah, the unintended, unexpected benefit, that social connection. So I'm sure it kind of affects their motivation as well. They're more committed to the physical activity, and the more physical they become, more social. So it's really, uh, they complement one another. I could see that. Yeah. And I'm sure you've seen the boost in mood too, and attitude, and psychological benefits. Not just the reducing social isolation, but that kind of mental attitude too, the mentation, the, the outlook about, gee, I'm feeling better, I'm feeling stronger, this is making a big difference. So the person feels more empowered.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there— you can't stop it. They can't— once you start moving at a certain intensity, a lot of those hormones that you know well about, you know, endorphins and, you know, the dopamines and the serotonins and all those neurotransmitters that are released through exercise help increase, you know, mood, you know, reduce stress. Create a sense of well-being, and, and that's happening every time you do it. So of course it is a well-known mood enhancer exercise, which is also a benefit as well. And I do, and you see it, and people, you know, they'll send me a message and they get home and, and later on that day or next morning telling me how much better they feel for coming in, which is whether it's physical or an emotional or a mood enhancer, the one One of the things I say to people is, as long as you leave feeling better or being better for coming in, then that's the, you know, that's an important part of it all.

So yeah, that was a successful day.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, yeah. So let me ask you about the self-efficacy piece here. What are you thinking about there? What— yeah, I know, because you mentioned that's an important component. What— where does self-efficacy come into the picture?

Uh, thanks, Dr. Joe. I touched on this when I went through and did my undergrad degree, the exercise science course, which was exercise psychology and psychology, sorry. And it got me— that side of the, the course I found really interesting, the psychology of exercise. And I then had the pleasure of teaching exercise psychology a little bit later. I was asked back to do some teaching and lecturing at, at the university and touched on the self-efficacy as well, which, look, it's, it refers— oh, look, I'll go right back. So that was introduced by a psychologist and a Canadian-American psychologist called Albert Bandura, and this was in the late '70s. So he introduced it as part of a It's a behavioral theory that refers to a person's belief in their capacity to carry out behaviors necessary to sort of produce, you know, success and certain achievements and things like that. So basically, if a person has high self-efficacy, then that can fuel their motivation to carry out exercise behaviors and be successful and achieve their goals. That's basically it. So where does it come into the picture for me, or how does it all tie in regards to exercise and moving around? Look, as a trainer, I can help sort of fan the flames and build someone's self-efficacy in a few ways. So basically, if someone masters a certain exercise or, or feels like confident they're achieving something, that can help. Also, this is all part of that particular theory that self-efficacy is part of. Observing others or role models who have succeeded in the program can get people thinking, "Look, if they can do it, then, you know, why can't I?" So that can certainly help as well. Positive reinforcement for me, or verbal persuasion, which I use a lot, of course, can be quite powerful in increasing someone's self-efficacy as well. But certainly it has to come from a credible source. That's the thing. So hopefully they see that in me, which is nice. But it also can come from, from others as well, as long as in their eyes they see them as someone held in high regard with regards to what they're doing. So yeah, so essentially, look, to wrap it all up with self-efficacy, it's part of a behavioral theory from a psychologist, and I use those sort of things or those sort of theories or parts of, and I see the positive impact it can have on people sticking with their exercise and adherence. So if you can increase someone's self-efficacy, sorry, goes a long way to keeping them on the right track and keeping them exercising so they can benefit long-term from it, essentially.

Yeah, yeah, I remember the work of Albert Bandura years ago when I was in school too. And you know, the beauty of what you're talking about here, Bill, is all of this applies to the older adult, and it's not just for middle-aged adults or young adults. What you're really talking about is all of these achievements, this feeling of success, and I call it mastery over one's environment. All of these benefits can be reached at any age. We shouldn't poo the notion of starting this in our 70s or 80s, because if anything, it's probably more effective, more powerful as we start later in our life, because we're going to have the more benefit. It might take longer, but it's going to reach that mental and physical feeling of control and autonomy and mastery, as I said. Yeah, yeah, that's the beauty of this.

Absolutely. And yeah, it's not, as you said, it's certainly not age-specific. And if anything, sometimes when someone comes in in their 70s or 80s, they have a big wall to climb with regards to that mental or some sort of negative connotation to exercise, because they might have— might have particularly grown up with it, it might have been something that they did when they were younger, and they have a certain aversion to it because they don't think it's something that'll help them. And that couldn't be further from the truth.

Are there people who, uh, should really not be, uh, considered a candidate for this? Any kind of physical exercise? I mean, who do you rule out? Obviously someone who's maybe severely bedridden or have a severe stroke, but can you shed any light on this? Who do you rule out as a candidate for these programs?

Yes, so look, it's part of the— particularly the face-to-face is a little bit different. The online program, I have a a screening system sheet that someone's encouraged to fill out before they start. And if you go through that, there are— when I say certain criteria, there are things with regards to any conditions or ailments someone has that they need to obviously— and it goes without saying, if they see me face to face or online, that they may need to go and see their GP or medical professional before kicking off. But with regards to the program itself, there's elements of it that can be taken away whether you're more mobile or whether you have a mobility device or wheelchair. So a lot of them can be done seated or standing regardless— or with regards to your mobility levels. There are occasions where someone may not be appropriate for that time, but it will be later on. But I guess that particular person thinking about their health and they can come back to the program. They might need to address a few things, or they might have a condition that they need to address first and reintroduce the program. So it's very rare that someone just— I just say to people, look, that's— look, I'm sorry, but we can't help you. In fact, over the course of— I've been doing this a while now. There's not many people that I have I've certainly picked up a lot of things just through talking about health that the person might not have been aware of and have gone and addressed a certain health-related issue and have come back and have been thankful for the fact that they, they had— they didn't realize they needed to do that and then started up the program. But so it was the delay more so than a, than a stopping completely, if that makes sense.

For sure.

Yeah, but not with regards to age. There's not a lot of— I haven't said to someone, look, it's not appropriate for you, I'm sorry, because I've seen the benefits. And I'll tell you a story in a sec, actually. I'll go off and— but I, I've seen the benefits in, in those in advanced years, and, and you can tailor it to suit someone, the program, from beginners. So essentially it's designed for someone who is starting completely from scratch or has gone away and has had a long break from exercise. And of course, you progress as you go along, and I have obviously progressions and programs for those that are doing quite well and, and things like that. So, but getting back to— so I'm getting back to this story. So I was having a bit of a read. I jump on and have a bit of a read of things, and I came across this particular story from the Harvard Medical School So where's Harvard? Is that Boston? I think at your Boston, Massachusetts, I think. Um, so a professor there— this is through the Harvard Medical School website, just reading about seniors' health and fitness and things like that. And this particular professor, who, who's a professor of medicine, physical medicine and rehab there, described the case of 101-year-old man, mind you, so 101, who wanted to increase his strength just to be able to wheel himself down to read the newspaper, wheel himself down the hall to read newspaper. So he started on a strength program. So in time, he essentially got to the point where he could use a walker to go down and read the newspaper. So he completely ditched the wheelchair and was walking himself down with a walking aid, a walker, to read the newspaper. Now that had far surpassed his original goal, which was amazing. But, and I know that's an extreme example, of course, but I think I'll make the point, it's a quite a powerful one too, that even at 101, this gentleman improved his strength enough to walk himself down and completely ditch his wheelchair altogether. So, so that's the thing, is it too late to start? No, it's not.

And of course, you know, age, let's take age out of the equation altogether, I think, right? Because it doesn't tell us anything Somebody might have trouble at 60, somebody might not have any trouble at 95. So let's take, let's take the number out of the picture because it's— I think it causes more trouble than it— than the positives we get from an old age. So yeah, that's a great story. I like that, and exceeding his own expectations and getting to that newspaper. So for our listeners, Bill, how can someone get started? What What kind of programs do you offer? What's the package like if you wanted to describe someone who can't get to Melbourne and they're in Boston? How can they get started?

Well, if they're willing to, they can fly me over to Boston. I'm more than happy to, to help them with their exercise face to face. Um, and I would love to visit Boston. It would, uh, certainly one of the cities I would love to visit. But look, sorry, that's a bad joke, but—

No, no, it's a good joke. That might not happen, but it's a good joke.

I don't like my chances. But look, so through my website, it's easy to remember. So it's www.billedooley.com, B-I-L-L-D-O-O-L-E-Y.com. So if you jump on there, and go to the Growing Young program, you can follow the prompts there and sign up. There's a members area. There's some exercise sample ones you can click on and have a look at and get a feel for what, you know, the sort of things you'll be doing. But in the members area, there are a number of programs, and I'm adding to them consistently. The first, the beginner program, which is Beginner 1, essentially, caters for those that have done nothing at all. So they're like, okay, I really want to start doing something. I've set up the programs and the exercises so they can do them at home or anywhere. Essentially, they can do them on holiday, they can do them in a gym, they can do them in a hall, they can do them in a park, they can do them in the backyard, they can do them in the front yard if they like. So, so essentially I wanted to design a program that someone didn't need a lot of fancy gym equipment to do. They could use anything around the home, and they can certainly— if they have gym equipment, then terrific. If not, then that, that does not matter at all. So essentially, it's caters for those that, like I said, haven't exercised at all or have come back into it after a long absence. And then from there you progress through the progressive exercise program. So each exercise program is a little bit more challenging than the previous one. If you do have a little bit of experience, as I said, you can start at the beginner 2 or 3 as your base starting point and, and progress from there. So, but it's an evolving thing, the programming. I, I do that, and so I add programs and change programs and as we go along just to obviously keep people improving and being challenged and enjoying it. So down the track, it's just me, but down the track I might get someone younger and better looking to do the exercise videos, but the jokes might not be as good. Yeah, it's like, we'll probably be a lot better. But, uh, but anyway, that's the— that's the— you get lumped with me to start with, so hopefully that's okay with people as as well.

Okay. BillDooley.com. And people can send you questions if they have some questions, they can contact you through your website.

Yes. Yes. They can certainly do that or email me. The website has the email address on it. So you can certainly contact me if you have any questions about anything we spoke about today, or just, you know, it doesn't have to be to start up. It just could be something that is playing on their mind, or I'm happy to help in Look, if it gets someone thinking about being more active or exercising, then I'm happy to help.

Sure, yeah, yeah, I can appreciate that. I know our listeners will appreciate that. Just to direct any question or thoughts or concerns they might have, so www.billedooley.com. Okay, well, Bill, looks like we're out of time for today, but before I wrap up, I just wanna remind my listeners to visit my website, livingto100.club, sign up for my email list, and download a free copy of my 9 Tips to Make Living Longer Enjoyable. It's a PDF, you can print it off on your printer. And you'll also see an option to contact me with your questions and comments. I really enjoy people commenting, and I welcome your feedback. So, Bill, thanks very much for being a guest on our show today, and BillDooley.com is your website, and people can access that and learn more about your programs. Thanks very much.

Thanks, Dr. Jai, it was a pleasure. Thank you.

Yeah, you're most welcome. And thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in. Hope to see you next time. Hi, I'm Laurie LeBay, and I wanted to tell you about Alzheimer Speaks, which is another great podcast. You see, my own mother lived with dementia for 30 years, and I felt lost. Did you know every 3 seconds someone in the world is being diagnosed with dementia? Odds are it's going to hit your families too. We want to help you connect to to services, products, tools, research, and stories so you can be prepared. Please subscribe to Alzheimer Speaks on your favorite podcast platform.