The benefits of physical activity for the elderly have long been recognized. Three recent publications, summarized here, reinforce the advantages of being physically fit, with regard to your quality-of-life, health and long life.

As we age, so our cardiovascular system ages. The sitting heart rate decreases, the amount of blood pumped by the heart decreases, the arteries harden and the blood pressure (at least the upper reading) rises. Importantly, the maximum amount of oxygen that can be carried to the organs (the VO2max) is limited. These changes lead to a reduction in our ability to undertake many of the usual activities of daily living. For instance, the simple act of dressing or undressing for an 80-year-old woman can demand as much as 50 percent of her physical capacity. No wonder that old folk complain that they tire easily.

Most of these changes can be reversed by an appropriate exercise program. The first article describes how endurance exercise in older people has beneficial effects on cardiovascular performance - slower heart rate, increased blood output by the heart and some softening of the arteries. In particular, the VO2max is increased, which obviously improves performance of daily activities. ¹ Endurance training for older people is discussed further on another page on this site - Exercise Program - a Primer .

• improved blood cholesterol levels
• reduced accumulation of abdominal fat
• lower blood pressure in patients having high blood pressure
• lowered risk of developing diabetes and heart disease

The risks of endurance exercise are slight. However, you shouldn't start a program without consulting your family physician.

The second article reported a study on over 1,500 university alumni, grouped according to their risk of ill-health, based on their smoking status, degree of obesity and their exercise patterns. ² Their day-to-day activities were scored to give a disability index, and after eight years their "cumulative disability" was calculated (this was the sum of disability indices over the previous eight years).

The study showed that people with lower health risks (i.e. non-smokers, not obese, exercisers) didn't develop disabilities until, on average, five years after people with high health risks. Moreover, the low-risk group had half the cumulative disability shown by the high-risk group. This means that disability was postponed, and compressed into few years at the end of life in those people who practiced a healthy lifestyle -- control of smoking and body weight, and regular physical activity.

The third article examined fitness in over 20,000 men who were allocated to 3 groups according to their amount of body fat - "lean", "normal" or "obese". Fitness was measured using a treadmill exercise test, with the results dividing the participants into "fit" and "unfit" categories. ³

Analysis of the results after an eight-year period showed that fit men had lower death rates than unfit men did, irrespective of whether they were lean or obese. However, lean but unfit men had twice the risk of death than lean, fit men. In other words, being thin is not enough. The health benefits of leanness are limited to fit men, whereas obesity is not necessarily a great risk if you are fit. It sounds complicated, but the bottom line is that fitness saves lives, whether you are fat or thin.

The common theme of these three articles is physical activity. There is every reason to try to be as fit as practicable - if you want to live a healthy, disability-free life for as long as possible. Endurance training is the starting point for fitness, but resistance (weight) training has its place for the older person. Stretching, balance training and calisthenics also form part of an all-round fitness program. There are several other pages on this site which enlarge on the topic of physical activity:

• Exercise Program - a Primer
• Resistance Training How Much

Source

Physical activity and cardiovascular health in the elderly.
A. Cerubini, DT. Lowenthal, LS. Williams, Clin Exp Res , 1997, vol. 10, pp. 13--25

Footnotes

1.

Physical activity and cardiovascular health in
the elderly.
A. Cerubini, DT. Lowenthal, LS. Williams, Aging Clin Exp Res, 1997, vol. 10, pp. 13--25

2.

Aging, health risks, and cumulative disability.
AJ. Vita, RB. Terry, HB. Hubert, JF. Fries, N Eng J Med, 1998, vol. 338, pp. 1035--1041

3.

Cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in men.
CD. Lee, SN. Blair, AS. Jackson, Am J Clin Nutr , 1999, vol. 69, pp. 373--380