Exercise- The Fountain of Youth

Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Seniors/fit, Spiritual/Emotional, Sports, Travel/fit | (0) Comments

Many recent studies have shown that the key to healthy living into your senior years is more dependent on exercise and diet (IE, lifestyle) than on anything else. So it is no surprise that a new study released last month by The Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine shows that exercise keeps seniors younger and allows them to compete in sports well into their 80’s. This is good news for those of us who are over 50 and are concerned about quality of life as we age. While a lot of people simply want to stay young by taking a pill or shot (see my previous post), the evidence suggests that diet and exercise are really the magic formula. No big surprise, but it does mean that we are going to have to get people moving. Not an easy task considering how sedentary our culture has become. Add to that the general attitude that retirement and senior years are for resting, and the problem becomes even bigger.

From Dr. Mirkin:

Athletes who compete into their eighties suffer few medical problems, but those who lapse into inactivity regress toward the general population norms for fitness, weight control and health problems, according to a study in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine (November 2008).

People who compete into later life in sports such as running or cycling can maintain their competitive edge into their eighties. Each muscle is made up of millions of muscle fibers. With aging, particularly after age 50, you lose muscle fibers so you become weaker. You cannot slow the loss of muscle fibers, but you can compensate for the loss of fibers by increasing the size of each remaining muscle fiber with regular vigorous exercise. If the results of this study can be extended to all regular exercisers, you can also expect to live longer and suffer fewer health problems than your non-exercising peers.