Exercise at Any Age

“If one thing is becoming clearer than ever, is that we need to throw out the idea that exercise and fitness are the preserve of the young, and that older generations should be putting their feet up. Keeping fit and strong into old age brings innumerable physical and mental benefits.” (New Scientist Essential Guide No 16)

 

Older people tend to reduce the amount of physical activity because of perceived diminished capabilities, as well as increased fear of injury. It’s not uncommon to hear individuals of a certain age say that “I’m too old for that”, which is, in fact, simply a case of mentality or attitude.

 

There is no doubt that physical exercise, especially the vigorous type, becomes more challenging as we grow older, but we need to understand that the older we get the more active we should be.

 

Obviously, no one should expect individuals in their late 50’s to perform exactly as they could when in their 20's or 30's. But, even though an elite 45-year-old professional athlete may not be able to perform as an homologous 25-year-old athlete, it is certainly possible for a person, at any age, to improve and eventually perform at an age-proportionate 'elite fitness level'.

 

“Gennaro Boccia, Associate Professor (Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences) at the University of Turin in Italy, estimated that "in the general population, you only start seeing a decline in your [physical] performance after [the age of] 40” – but still, there is no good reason to stop or even slow down when it comes to physical exercise. Let's consider, for example, actual athletes (past and present) performing at top professional level after the age of 40 (and the list below could go on and on):

 

• Satchel Paige (baseball) retired only at age 59 from professional league

• George Blanda (American football) played professionally until he was 48

• Pete Rose (baseball) retired only at age 45

• Robert Parish (basketball) retired at age 43

• George Foreman (boxing) at age 45 won the unified WBA, IBF, and lineal heavyweight world championship titles by defeating 26-year-old Michael Moorer, and retired at age 48

• Martina Navratilova (tennis) retired at age 49

• Dara Torres (swimming) retired only at age 45

• Oksana Chusovitina (gymnastics) stopped competing at top level only at age 46

• Venus Williams (tennis) is still actively competing at age 42

• Jaromír Jágr (hockey) is still actively competing at age 50

• Kazuyoshi Miura (football) still plays professionally as a forward for Japan Football League club Atletico Suzukaat aged 57

 

Even though our body starts to slow down there is no reason to stop working out, much by the contrary. It is not just a coincidence that our physical and mental decline becomes more prominent when we see ourselves as less capable. As soon as we start believing that we are “too old” to do something, the less we try, then the less we do, and the less we do the quicker our bodies start the process of shutting down.

 

The manifestation of “USE IT OR LOSE IT”

 

“Scientists have found that a major reason people lose muscle is because they stop doing everyday activities that use muscle power, not just because they grow older. Muscular atrophy is the decrease in size and wasting of muscle tissue. Muscles that lose their nerve supply can atrophy and simply waste away.” Add that to the inevitable deterioration caused by the natural ageing process and, in your mind, you can certainly see how essential physical activity is as you grow older.

 

“The principle “use it or lose it” [also] explains how neural circuits that are not actively engaged in performing tasks for an extended period of time begin to degrade. Quite literally, this means if we do not use an area of our brain for a prolonged time, we will lose the function that was previously stored there.” (Principles of Neuroplasticity: Use it or Lose it - NeuroLab 360, Mount Sinai)

 

Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that regular physical exercise is safe for both healthy and frail older people, and the risks of developing major cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, obesity, falls, cognitive impairments, osteoporosis and muscular weakness are decreased by regularly exercising - ranging from low intensity walking through to more vigorous sports and resistance exercises. Mobility, stability, strength, endurance, power, speed and agility can be gained or improved literally at any age. (reference: USA National Library of Medicine / National Center for Biotechnological Information / Physical activity in older age: perspectives for healthy ageing and frailty, 2016 March)

 

So, considering that the established benefits of physical exercise translate into increasing quality of life* at any age and, potentially, even prolonging life span*, why should we not “just do it”? (apologies to Nike for using its trademark).

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*N.B.: to achieve this, physical exercise must be part of a healthy lifestyle, which must also include a healthy diet and not using harmful substances (ex. tobacco, drugs and excessive consumption of alcohol).