It’s no shock to anyone that exercise is good for us.
What does shock me, however, is that many people strongly believe you should exercise less as you get into your later years.
Worryingly enough, one in three men and one in two women over the age in 75 do not engage in any physical activities.
It’s common to hear some of my patients describe how they are ‘taking it easier’ as they progress through life. The notion of avoiding any risk of hurting one self is prevalent amongst the older generation.
However, the science disagrees.
In this article I would like to show you why exercise is not only enjoyable, but actually important for you as you age, and may even add a few extra years to your life.
1. Regular exercise can reduce the risk of hip fractures
Hip fractures are most common amongst the older generations. In fact, approximately 80% of people hospitalised for hip fractures are 65 years of age, or older. This is because bone strength decreases as we age, and therefore reducing the risk of hip fractures must address this issue.
One way that is proven to slow bone loss (a natural occurrence of aging) is exercise, and the National Osteoporosis Foundation goes on further to say that high-impact weight bearing exercises such as dancing and hiking are especially helpful.
The reasons exercise helps prevent bone loss is because exercise, especially resistance training, stimulates the production of ‘osteoblasts’ which are essentially cells that build bone tissue, thereby counteracting the effects of aging (loss of bone tissue).
However, you don’t have to do highly difficulty or challenging exercise to help reduce your risk of hip fractures.
A study by the American Journal of Public Health confirms that just walking can reduce the risk of hip fractures by a staggering 43%.
This is why at our Physiotherapy Crawley Clinic we recommend everyone, and especially over 65’s, to make walking a part of their daily routine, whether it’s to/from work, or as a form of exercise itself.
2. Regular exercise can improve your heart health
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S., and the science suggests the situation can be made better if we all exercise.
The Cardiovascular Health Study, which included 4,200 U.S. adults, analysed the relationship between exercise and heart health.
The average age of the participants in the study was 73. The participants were followed up after a 10 year period, from 1989 to 1999.
The study found, as the article states:
“After analysis, researchers found that higher and more vigorous levels of physical activity were associated with significantly lower risk for heart events, even in adults over 75 years old.”
The reason exercise helps improve heart health is because exercise improves muscle strength and quality. Remember, the heart is also a muscle. So exercises causes the heart to becomes stronger, resulting in increased blood flow to the rest of the body, deliverin key nutrients to the required tissues and organs more efficiently.
Also, as the heart becomes stronger, it can deliver this blood with less strain. Exercise also decreases inflammation in the arteries, and helps to keep blood vessels flexible and open.
3. Regular exercise can increase your lifespan
Arguably the most important effect of exercise, although not widely known, is it’s well documented impact on longevity.
Exercise doesn’t just make our immediate life better, but actually increases the number of raw years we may live.
Hard to believe?
Well, a team of researchers lead by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) examined data of over 650,000 individuals and found that you can gain as much as 4.5 years from leisure-time physical activity.
The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), therefore recommends 2.5 hours of moderate activity per week.
However, I still think this is an extremely low bar to set yourself. Given you have no significant medical conditions, exercising every single day of the week should be your goal.
In fact, the research even knows this is true.
As you can see from the graph below, taken from the NCI study, people who exceeded the government recommendation of exercises by 200% increased their lifespan further than those who simply followed the guidelines:
So when you have those tough days where you just don’t feel like exercising, remember, your life depends on it (literally!).
4. Regular exercise can improve your mental health
Many people know that exercises makes you happier, but it’s not only an emotional response we have to exercise, but a physiological one, that has further benefits many people don’t know about.
The research has concluded that those who engage in higher amounts of leisure-time physical activity have less work stress.
Exercises also reduces the risk of depression and dementia by 20-30% This study looked at data from 3,210 people who had cognitive decline and concluded:
“The present results suggest a significant and consistent protection for all levels of physical activity against the occurrence of cognitive decline.”
Exercise is always well known to book self-esteem, improve your memory and become more productive.
All in all, exercise is an extremely important aspect of a balanced lifestyle, and it’s as important, if not more, to exercise as you get older as it is when you are younger.