Exercise & Age
Keeping fit and healthy as we get older
Hello everyone! My name is Matt, and I’m one of the new recruits to team BBG. Many of you have already given me a very warm welcome, so thank you very much! I now feel well and truly settled in, and for those that haven’t gotten to know me yet, I thought I’d reach out with my first blog post. The subject is something that affects us all – how to slow down the clock and make ourselves feel strong and able in our later years.
Our population is a top-heavy pyramid. We’re now living longer than ever before, something we’re all too aware of with retirement age slipping further away as we speak it seems. And the result is a society made up with more elderly people than those more youthful. According to the office of statistics, care for the aged will increase six-fold by 2040. And whilst care for the elderly will always be important, maybe there’s something we can do to combat the march of time ourselves.
Loss of muscle mass (sacropenia) might begin a little younger than you think too. We can expect a loss in power from the age of 40, and by 52 we’ll be experiencing a 1.2% annual loss in strength, which accelerates at 60. Sacropenia causes a loss of strength, power and muscle function. This greatly reduces our ability to carry out daily tasks like taking things down from cupboards or shelves in shops, carrying the shopping or just having a good old kick about. Additionally, losses in power and strength greatly increase our chances of falls and injuries, such as hip fractures. 20% of hip fracture patients do not regain the full ability to walk, significantly reducing their quality of life.
Time is always going to catch up with us in the end, and the onset of sacropenia is almost inevitable. But we can slow it down, and even fight it. The Cochrane review (a randomised control trial), demonstrates that by following three different exercise programmes, significant improvements in functional upper body movement, lean muscle mass and perceived quality of life were achieved.
The three exercise programmes were functional strength training, traditional strength training and endurance training. But whilst these all improve aspects of our fitness, what about in the real world? Will exercise training reduce our chance of falls and injury? The simple answer is, yes! There’s no guarantee we won’t fall, but exercise has been proven to increase our balance and reaction speed. In the study, one of the most notable improvements was in those who fell regularly prior to the exercise programme.
So if there was just one message I wanted you to take away from this, it is that exercise is important for anyone of any age if we want to feel stronger and more able later on in life. My advice to you is to try to minimise sedentary behaviour and take part in regular structured training to improve your strength and cardiovascular activity. The benefits are numerous;
• Helps maintain cognitive function
• Reduces cardiovascular risk
• Maintain the ability to carrying out daily activities and stay independent
• Reduces the chance of falls
• Improves mood, self-esteem and quality of life
Just remember, it’s never too late to start exercise and we are always here to help you through every step of the way! If you or someone you know could benefit from a tailored programme to prevent sacropenia and a decline in quality of life, we have a number of 50+ exercise classes during the week, and either myself or any one of us here at BBG would be more than happy to take you through an assessment and put something together for you. Ask for your free consultation at reception or by calling 01732 451 979.
Stay fit and strong BBG family,
Matthew Fish
