see the report here<\/a>.<\/p>\nDavid Nieman, DrPH, a professor in the Department of Health, Leisure, and Exercise Science at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, recommends moving throughout the day, in addition to exercising. <\/p>\n
\u201cProlonged sitting has been related to chronic disease now in a growing number of studies,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cExercise is like medicine. You can\u2019t get the immune system going without exercise. You can\u2019t get your blood vessels more pliant without exercise. Your bones can\u2019t be thicker without the weight lifting,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019ve just got to keep doing it all your life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cAmericans are so sedentary that the ramifications of the aging process are starting earlier and earlier,\u201d says Nelson. If you\u2019re approaching your 40s or 50s and haven\u2019t been active, \u201cyou better start now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exercise\u2019s Effect on Disease<\/strong><\/p>\nMost people 65 and older have at least one chronic condition. But exercise can knock out a lot of risk factors for many of those diseases.<\/p>\n
Heart disease? Exercise can improve your cholesterol, blood pressure, blood-vessel health and heart health.<\/p>\n
Type 2 diabetes? Being active improves your blood sugar and insulin usage.<\/p>\n
Alzheimer\u2019s disease? Exercise may help you prevent it or at least slow down its progression.<\/p>\n
Certain cancers, such as breast, lung and colon? Not only can exercise help prevent them, but it can help you survive them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s heart disease, diabetes, cancer, those that are active\u2014once they are healthy enough to become active again\u2014have much better outcomes and survivorship,\u201d Nelson says.<\/p>\n
Exercise may also help prevent colds and the flu, in part by revving up the immune system. (Though intense exercise, such as running a marathon, can have the opposite effect.)<\/p>\n
And being fit can lengthen your lifespan\u2014by about three years on average, says David Nieman, DrPH, a professor in the Department of Health, Leisure, and Exercise Science at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. <\/p>\n
For example, in a 2009 study published in the British medical journal BMJ<\/em>, Swedish researchers administered questionnaires to 2,205 50-year-old men, then repeated this periodically for 32 years. They found that when inactive or somewhat active men became highly active in their 50s, they were half as likely to die after more than 10 years as they would have been otherwise. This put them on par with men who had already been highly active at 50. According to this study, you may need to keep up this high fitness level for five to 10 years before your mortality risk decreases. The researchers defined \u201chighly active\u201d as doing heavy gardening or recreational sports for at least three hours a week, or regularly engaging in hard physical training or competitive sports.<\/p>\nCertainly genes also have an effect on longevity and your likelihood of getting some diseases. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut for the most part, exercise\u2014even with a poor genetic makeup\u2014does really optimize your health,\u201d Nelson says.<\/p>\n
Exercise\u2019s Effect on Mobility<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen Sid Heller of Boulder, CO, turned 100, he said his three keys to a good, long life were music, love and walking.<\/p>\n
Heller has always been active. In his 20s, on his way to work, he\u2019d get off the bus a few stops early and walk. Later, while raising a family, he worked out at the gym, bicycled, hiked and swam.<\/p>\n
Heller kept swimming into his 90s, stopping only because getting to the pool became difficult. These days, at 104 years old, he attends seated fitness classes at his independent living community. And every morning after breakfast, he takes his walker for a stroll outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do it because I just feel like doing it,\u201d says Heller, who hasn\u2019t visited a doctor in over a year. \u201cI think it\u2019s necessary for feeling good.\u201d According to the experts, he\u2019s right\u2014in more ways than one.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s inactivity, not just aging, that causes many of the changes in muscles and bones that people tend to see as they get older, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Exercise can reduce your risk for falls and injury and keep you as independent and active as possible.<\/p>\n
Though muscle and bone mass seem to peak around the mid- to late 20s, \u201cthe good news is you don\u2019t necessarily have to just lose it after age 30,\u201d says Stephen W. Farrell, PhD, science officer in the division of education with the Cooper Institute, a fitness-focused research and education organization in Dallas. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot we can do to hang on to what we have and even increase bone density and muscle mass beyond the age of 30.\u201d<\/p>\n
One key to having strong muscles and bones is resistance exercise. That can include things like lifting weights, doing floor exercises such as sit-ups and push-ups, and engaging in manual labor\u2014like digging or splitting wood\u2014Nieman says. <\/p>\n
Changing Needs\u2014and Motivation<\/strong><\/p>\nThough exercise gives big benefits, aging does bring some unavoidable physical changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we get older, we can\u2019t necessarily do the same quantity or quality of exercise that we once could,\u201d says Farrell, a former competitive runner. For example, most people gain at least a little weight as they age. \u201dSo if you\u2019re doing a high-impact sport like long-distance running on concrete, you might be more susceptible to things like tendonitis and stress fractures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Repercussions from previous injuries can also take a toll. And your body may take longer to recover from both injury and heavy exercise.<\/p>\n
All this can do a number on your motivation\u2014perhaps even cause you to stop exercising. But changing your focus can combat that, Farrell suggests.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think as we age maybe we ought to think a little bit less about exercise as a means to athletic performance and focus a little bit more on exercise and health,\u201d he says. Also, think beyond the exercises you\u2019re used to, Farrell advises. \u201cBe a little bit more open-minded about all the different activities out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what if your problem isn\u2019t changing motivation, it\u2019s never having been motivated in the first place? Well, perhaps you just haven\u2019t found the right activity yet. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think you\u2019ve got to bring the fun back into being active,\u201d says Nelson, who\u2019s the founder and director of the StrongWomen Program, which organizes community exercise programs that bring women together for their health. Try dancing or playing with your children or grandchildren, for example.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think of it as part of life and not as a duty,\u201d says Heller, of Colorado. \u201cI just enjoyed it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Caldwell enjoys being active as well. \u201cOn a bicycle, you can see everything,\u201d he says. \u201cI found things in Pontotoc County I hadn\u2019t seen in 40 years.\u201d He also likes meeting people who have similar interests when he\u2019s out and about.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number one reason people report for why they keep exercising on a regular basis is that they feel better mentally,\u201d says Nieman, who\u2019s also director of Appalachian State University\u2019s Human Performance Lab. In fact, in addition to its physical benefits, exercise may also help prevent depression and anxiety and may make you sleep and think better.<\/p>\n
Is It Ever Too Late?<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen Caldwell confronted his unhealthy habits at around 40 years old, he decided to make some changes.<\/p>\n
He quit smoking and started biking. Then, thanks to a relatively new product from Nike called running shoes\u2014this was the mid-\u201880s\u2014he discovered that he could run without pain. The shoes provided cushioning and spring for his polio-affected leg and flat feet. This newfound ability, along with a talent for swimming, led to triathlons starting at age 42. <\/p>\n
Now 68, he no longer does marathons but remains quite active, with a resting pulse below 50 and healthy cholesterol levels.<\/p>\n
Over the years, Caldwell has had some bicycle accidents, but \u201cif you\u2019re active, you\u2019ve built some strong bones, you can avoid a lot of fractures. I sprained an ankle but didn\u2019t break a bone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon, he\u2019ll have hip replacement surgery. His shorter leg made for a bad footfall, leading to hip degeneration. But his doctors tell him he\u2019ll have no problem with the surgery, due in part to his fitness. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing was it turned out to be fun,\u201d Caldwell says of his exercise habit. \u201cI enjoy it because I know it\u2019s good for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though it\u2019s best to be active throughout life, it\u2019s never too late to begin, says Nelson, who was vice-chair of a committee that helped develop the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s what you do now that matters.\u201d<\/p>\nNieman compares starting exercise to quitting smoking: benefits start quickly and increase as time goes on. Then again, \u201ceverything is so quickly reversed when you change the habits the wrong way,\u201d he says. \u201cYou need to make exercise like eating and sleeping. It\u2019s just something you have to do.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harrison Caldwell had a good excuse for not being athletic: one of his legs was about a quarter inch shorter than the other, thanks to a childhood bout with polio. Plus, his feet were so flat that the Army turned…<\/span><\/p>\nRead more It\u2019s Never Too Late to Exercise\u2014but Starting by Midlife Is Best<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":null,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":null,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-getting-older","category-healthspan"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"wps_subtitle":"How much Is enough?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4953,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions\/4953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}