An introduction into why exercise is important as we age

Many of us consider exercise as training for a sport, such as running, swimming and cycling.

When we were young, some of us may have competed in these sports, I was a swimmer back in my day, but as I aged competing was less of a priority, and school, college, uni, then work and family seemed to get in the way and my levels of exercise diminished, I'm sure it's a similar story for many of you.

In recent years my health also declined (my health debacles), with a less-than-optimal diet exacerbated this decline in health but also because of my diminished exercise regime and sedentary work life - I had a desk job!

Our bodies are adaptation engines, we can build muscle for example to move and build shelters, increase stamina to run and walk long distances, and we can lose those adaptations as survival pressures change - evolution shaped us this way so we could deal with an array of challenges, and it worked - we're still here.

However, in our modern society, we have less of the survival pressures to adapt to the challenges nature throws at us, so we have this thing we call exercise to fill in the gap. Without this survival pressure, we tend to be lazier physically than our hunter-gatherer ancestors and because we're lazier our bodies adapt to these new pressures at the detriment of our health - muscle wastage (atrophy), loss of strength in our tendons, diminished cardiovascular fitness, obesity, lack of flexibility and so on.

This lifestyle then increases our chances of suffering from Cancer, Neurodegenerative Diseases (Alzheimer's, Dementia), Metabolic Disorders (type 2 Diabetes, Gout) and Heart Diseases and our body will become weaker, frail, inflexible, unstable and therefore prone to injuries, many of which will be life-altering as we age.

Hopefully, I've painted a not-so-sunny picture of what the future may look like for many of us if we don't take charge of our own health.

The sports we did in our youth are simply a warm-up for a bigger game, to the most important game of all - life! We need to train to increase the chances that when we cross the finish line, we can look back and think, I did the things I loved till the very end - Peter Attia calls this the Centenarian Decathlon, I call it training for life.

Physical Activity and Exercise

A couple of terms to think about:

Physical Activity

This is all movement that increases energy expenditure, including everyday tasks and recreational activities - walking the dog, cleaning the house, the commute to work and so on.

Exercise

This is a planned and structured form of physical activity with the specific aim of improving physical fitness.

3 pillars of Exercise

There are 3 pillars of exercise we need to pay attention to when training for life:

Strength

As we age, we lose muscle mass (sarcopenia) and bone density (osteoporosis), and we need to train for strength to maintain and ideally improve our muscle mass and bone density to reduce the risk of falls, and fractures and maintain mobility.

Strength is important for daily activities and therefore to also maintain our independence - lifting objects, climbing stairs, walking to see friends and carrying groceries.

Stability

Hand in hand with strength, stability enhances the body's ability to maintain balance and spatial awareness. By stabilizing muscles supporting joints, improving mobility, reducing pain, and enhancing the connection between the nervous system and muscles. This is done through stretching and mobility exercises to maintain joint range of motion, aiding in daily activities.

Aerobic Fitness

As we age our aerobic fitness naturally deteriorates, leading to higher risks of mortality.

Carrying out aerobic exercises like brisk walking, running, cycling and swimming strengthens the heart muscle, improving its efficiency, and lung function, lowering blood pressure, increasing insulin sensitivity and reducing the risk of stroke.

There are two main areas to focus on, Aerobic base, which is also known as Zone 2 (where you hold a conversation but people will know you're exercising) and this increases your stamina. Then there's Aerobic Max (VO2 Max) which is also known as Zone 5 and is 90-100% of your max heart rate and highly correlated with longevity.

When we train with these 3 pillars (and more info on them in upcoming articles), we reduce the risk of injury and reduce the risk of developing one of the non-communicable diseases of our time (Cancer, Neurodegenerative Diseases (Alzheimer's, Dementia), Metabolic Disorders (Type 2 Diabetes, Gout) and Heart Diseases). When this is mixed with a healthy diet and sleep, our chances of crossing the finish line with a life full of the things we love to do increases dramatically.

Reference

• Andy Galpin, PhD
• Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. Dr Peter Attia
• The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers. Richard B. Lee, Richard Heywood Daly, Richard Daly