FitnessWise Personal Fitness Training and Post-Rehabilitation

Fit for Life: What Older Adults Can and Need to Do

by J.P. Montalván, M.S., C.S.C.S.
Executive Director, FitnessWise™

Bill H, age 62, asked me once about giving up jogging, an activity he has enjoyed for
some 28 years. He, and many others, are concerned about the impact of exercise on
our aging bodies.

While slowdowns are typical in 60+ bodies, we do not need to suspend activities we
enjoy as we age. I run in 5Ks and 10Ks every season with categories for runners 70+, and
I am encouraged by the growing numbers and enthusiasm of older runners (particularly
those who beat me). While running is not fun or appropriate for everyone, all aerobic
exercise can improve our quality of life as we age.

I strongly suggest everyone, particularly older exercisers, add strength training to
workouts. In part, we at FitnessWise see many older people's problems as
strength-related. Studies show by age 70, we lose 40 percent of our muscle and 30
percent of strength across the body, a phenomenon known as sarcopenia. Today,
many people over age 60 ignore muscle strength and endurance and concentrate
solely on cardiorespiratory fitness. With a complete exercise program, we can reverse
any decline and develop muscle to enable us to run, shovel snow, lift suitcases, and
move furniture, as well as reduce arthritis pain and osteoporosis.

In a University of Western Ontario study, sedentary men ages 60-70 raised their aerobic
fitness by over 12% in nine weeks by walking or running for 30 minutes four times per
week. A study led by W.R. Frontera showed thigh strength increases of 107-227% after 12
weeks of high intensity training weight training in men ages 60-72.

Here, we see studies refute two common misconceptions about exercise and aging.
First, "significant and rapid cardiorespiratory improvements" and strength increases are
possible; seniors need not resign themselves to steady cardiorespiratory or strength
decline. Second, the men exercised at normal to high levels of intensity, not at reduced
intensities usually advised for people over age 60.

Trevor Smith of the American Running & Fitness Association has made several excellent
comments about running and aging:

It may be that [older runners] fail to change their training programs to allow for effects
of aging, or simply don't run as much as they used to. Others may simply run short on
psychological oomph.

Michael Pollock, PhD., at the University of Florida-Gainsville, suggests "the better your
training intensity the less you will lose as you turn calendar pages."

While in a road race I can see the finish line, I look at our exercise programs as a race
without a finish. I encourage all of you to look at exercise and aging not as what you
can't do, but what you can do.

Exercise for Life

by J.P. Montalván, M.S., C.S.C.S.
Executive Director, FitnessWise™

On April 1, 1996, John McSherry, a major league baseball umpire, collapsed behind
home plate and died of a heart attack. The story shook the nation, and newspapers
and TV news programs across the country chronicled McSherry's tragedy.

McSherry, 51, well over 300lbs, left a game in 1991 when he felt dizzy and ill. In 1992, he
collapsed during the third inning of midsummer ballgame. That year, news services
reported McSherry was under doctors' observation and "was not believed to be in any
danger or seriously ill."

In 1990, the National Public Health Service, with help from the President's Council on
Physical Fitness and Sports and others, published Healthy People 2000, a report on the
nation's health goals for the decade. The President's Council recently reminded me just
how ill McSherry was by paraphrasing Healthy People 2000:

If we could increase physical activity and decrease obesity...much of premature death,
disease and disability of high risk populations could be virtually eliminated.

To be blunt, most of us die because we ignore modifiable behavioral risks in our lives.
The American Medical Association attributes 22-30% of cardiovascular deaths, 20-60% of
cancer deaths, and 30% of diabetes deaths to dietary factors and sedentary lifestyle. We
must quit smoking, poor diets and sedentary lifestyles and include physical activity and
proper diet in our days.

Unfortunately, most people are quick to ignore physical activity, for supposed lack of
time or will. We who exercise are also guilty -- we extol exercise and proper diet for their
improvements in our appearances. In the end, we usually forget physical activity and
good nutrition are central to our well-being and longevity. We can't afford the time
NOT to exercise or eat right!

Eric Gregg, an umpire since 1975, took a leave of absence on April 9 to lose weight and
get in shape soon after McSherry's death. "My goal is to be a major league umpire for
many years...and to accomplish that I need to take a closer look at my overall health."

We can all follow Gregg's example. And as always, I hope we at FitnessWise can play
our part.