The good news is that the very best time to start exercising is now. Research from the United States and the UK reveals that middle-aged and older adults can reduce their risk of death by becoming more physically active, irrespective of past physical activity levels.
Why We Exercise Less as We Age
Hidden among these statistics on physical activity is how much it decreases with age. As an adult, our activity usually peaks in our 20s. After that, there is a steady
decline in vigorous activity (exercise that increases heart rate) throughout life, while light physical activity (such as easy walking) stays relatively constant until around 60 years of age and then declines. In addition, sedentary time increases.
Many will argue that this is part of the aging process: we get weaker as we age and therefore we can’t do as much vigorous activity.
Much of this decrease in activity is due to conscious and unconscious changes in life circumstances. In our 20s, we’re more likely to have been engaged in competitive and recreational sports, rely more on transit and active transportation as we can’t afford our own car. Our entry-level jobs are more active, but as we progress up the career ladder, we’re likely to spend more time sitting at a desk.
Downsizing to an Early Death?
Retirement is also another significant stage at which time most people experience a further decrease in activity. Even if one’s job was sedentary, it usually provides a small amount of activity. So unless a conscious effort is made to keep some form of activity up in retirement, it will be lost.Many people also downsize their home in retirement, perhaps moving to a one-story apartment and losing their yard. While there may be good reasons for downsizing, it also results in further decreases in activity, as there are no stairs to take or yard to manage. Some people downsize purposely, thinking they should be doing less activity.
As activity decreases, so do our fitness and strength levels. Because of those changes, we become even less capable of doing activities we did when we were younger, so we further decrease our activity, and the cycle continues.
As a result, risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity, and high blood sugar may appear, further increasing our risk for disease and early death.
It’s Exercising Now That Matters
However, it’s not all bad. Our body can also adapt to increasing activity. And when it comes to exercise and health, what you have done lately is more important than what you did years or decades ago.A
study of more than 300,000 men and women aged 50 to 71 living in the United States divided participants into
maintainers (high level of activity during leisure time throughout life),
decreasers (high activity in teens and low in later life), and
increasers (low activity in teens and high in later life).
Of the three groups, maintainers had the lowest risk for early death, but the increasers had a similar benefit. The decreasers didn’t fare much better than people who were inactive their entire life.
Again, what mattered most was how much activity people were doing most recently, not 25 years earlier. Those who increased their activity had the lowest risk for early death, even if their previous activity levels were high to begin with. In addition, people with heart disease or cancer also benefited to the same extent as those without.
Walk for 20 Minutes a Day
Beginning, or even restarting, an exercise program in middle-age or later can be daunting. From time to time, we hear inspiring stories of people running their
first marathon in their 70s, but these people are the exception, and not everyone needs (or wants) to be exercising that much.
The greatest gains come from doing nothing to doing something. And
every little bit helps throughout the day, not just the time you go to the gym or do a run. Taking the stairs, going for a walk on your lunch, or parking farther away all add up.
Scott Lear is a professor of health sciences at Simon Fraser University in Canada. This article was originally published on The Conversation.