By Richard Tardif
I am planning to live into my nineties, and I hope you are too? I’m also picturing myself biking, hiking and exercising, what I’m doing today, and also into my nineties. I’m not placing anything on my retirement shelf until I’m called away to the great beyond. I won’t be rocketing to space, as Astronaut John Glenn did at 77-years old, but move over Father and Mother Time, none of us over 50 to 100 are taking life lying down.
But we need to move fast.The over 50 to 100 years are the largest overweight cohort. Globally, data on body mass index, overweight or obesity in adults, revealing 61.8 percent of males and 46.2 percent of females fit into one or more of these categories. Shockingly, males 65 years and over hit the 65 percent mark, with females at 54.2 percent. The heaviest group is males between the ages 45 to 64, weighing in at almost 70 percent. Since 2010, these numbers have trended upwards.
The study was self reported and in many cases when it comes to fitness or body weight, humans underestimate out of embarrassment the true nature of their situations. It seems the older we are, the faster we give up on exercise. Many people assume that we are too out-of-shape, or sick, or tired, or just plain too old to exercise. They’re wrong.
A lack of exercise or activity during adult life is associated with deconditioning, fatigue, weakness, decrease in one’s physical and mental health and wellness, the onset of disease, loss of self-esteem and self-efficacy, and an increase in depression and anxiety. The one intervention proposed to have the most preventative and therapeutic impact on these age-related changes is physical activity.
Reporter’s notes: Read about George Sperzel 63, who estimates that he’s run over a hundred competitive races over the last few years. Read more
Physical activities for the elderly needs to take into account the individual’s health status, fitness level and age. This is a complex relationship. Health, fitness and wellness professionals should not view the elderly as being a one-size-fits-all group. Indeed, literature has coined a few categories of seniors; old-old, or frail old, who are over 75 years of age; young-old who are persons between 65 and 75 years; and athletic-old, elders who have maintained a high level of fitness throughout their life.
People from 50 to 100 years run marathons and are bodybuilding. Many symptoms we associate with old age, such as weakness and loss of balance, are actually symptoms of inactivity.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008 indicates how certain problems associated with old age can be largely attributed to myths surrounding the aging process. Here are a few.
Myth 1: Exercise isn’t safe for someone my age Studies show exercise can reduce your chances of a fall. Exercise builds strength, balance, and agility.
Myth 2: I’m sick, so I shouldn’t exercise. On the contrary, if you have a chronic health problem exercise is almost certainly a good idea. Exercise and physical activity is almost like a silver bullet for health problems.
Myth 3: I’m afraid I might have a heart attack. Being a couch potato is actually more dangerous than being physically active. We’ve all heard of those who have had heart attacks while exercising. This is rare, though, and often sensationalized by the media.
Myth 4: Exercise will hurt my joints. Studies show that exercising helps with arthritis pain. One study of people over age 60 with knee arthritis found that those who exercised more had less pain and better joint function. There are other myths and I see any point in addressing. Live your life.
Richard is a certified individual fitness coach, bodyweight, joint mobility and emotional motivation coach, and a health reporter. You can reach him at tardifrichardg@videotron.ca, or at www.richardtardif.com, or at MOUVNation in Dorval.
