Historically, humans needed to be active to hunt and gather food, escape predators, migrate from place to place and do strenuous activities for daily living. Over time, the need to be active for basic survival decreased creating the need build activity into daily life. This generally is promoted as exercise- discrete and planned bouts of activity. Most people, however, do not get the recommended amount of activity for better physical and active health. And some people wonder, if exercise is only for the young. But you can exercise at any age.
Physical Activity Declines with Age
If you’ve noticed your activity and exercise levels have changed throughout your life, you’re not alone. With all the transitions life brings (moving from home, relationships, school, career, family), it’s hard for anyone to maintain the same level of activity. In fact, activity is highest as a young child and declines from there until it plateaus during middle age before declining again. However, what’s most striking, is moderate and vigorous activity declines at a rapid pace from young childhood into one’s 80s. This is the type of activity needed for most physical and mental health benefits.
The proportion of people meeting the activity guidelines also changes with age. It tends to peak in early adulthood at around 50%-60%. But for people 65 and older, it’s only a third of that. Most of the decline in activity with age isn’t a conscious choice. You may have been more active in your 20s because you didn’t have a car, walked around a large college campus, played sports and/or had a more active job.
As one gets older, the opportunities to play sports decreases, jobs become less active and schedules busier. But there are times when people make choices that further reduce activity. Retirement can lead to less activity if one doesn’t make up for the activity done at work. People downsize their house, lose the yard and/or the stairs, meaning less activity at home. As a result people feel as they get older they’re less able to be as active, so decide to do even less, creating a spiral of less and less activity.
Why People Exercise
Because activity goes down in most people as they get older, we see it as normal. But what’s normal, or common, doesn’t mean it’s ideal. The decrease in activity with age can have devastating consequences on one’s physical and mental health. Most common diseases (type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, mental illness) are associated with being inactive.
However, the reasons why people exercise (or not) often have nothing to do with health. And these reasons change with age. In young adulthood, people exercise for fitness goals such as improving strength, performance and looks. Rarely do people in their 20s exercise to prevent type 2 diabetes in their 60s or dementia in their 80s. With age, the focus shifts towards socializing, preventing or treating disease and maintaining independence. This can include being able to carry daily activities such as grocery shopping and chores without help.
Even if the reasons why someone exercises may change with age, the benefits are constant. Exercise improves physical and mental health, as well as quality of life and brain function regardless of age. And the more years you exercise, the greater the benefits.
Be Active at Any Age
If the benefits of exercise accumulate over the years, is there an ideal time to start? Regardless of your age, activity routine or fitness, the best time to start exercising is now. If you’re just starting out, then it’s good to have a plan with a goal in mind. But there isn’t a time at which it’s too late to start. Or an age when you can’t get any benefits from exercise. Even if you were never active before. In fact, people who became active in middle age had a 35% lower chance of early death compared to people who stayed inactive. This benefit was similar to people who were lifelong exercisers.
Numerous studies have also shown substantial benefits in people who start exercising in their 60s. This includes improved brain function, strength and fitness, as well as prevention of many diseases. Even in people with diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and depression, exercise is considered part of their treatment.
If you start in your 70s and 80s, there are still many benefits. And plenty of inspirational stories, such as Joan Macdonald who began strength training at 71 years old and is now a bodybuilder. And there doesn’t appear to be a difference in how your muscles respond to exercise. Whether young or old muscles adapt in the same way. Even people over 90 years of age can benefit. In this study, strength training improved the ability of participants to get up and out of their chair. For many of us, that may seem like a simple task now, but struggling to get up out of a chair is common in later life and limits a person’s independence and quality of life.
Starting Out
If it’s been a long time since you exercised (or maybe you never did), start out slow with something you enjoy doing. Activities such as walking, swimming or water aerobics are ways to be active without putting much work on your joints. You may also want to talk to your family doctor or have an exercise stress test. Plus there’s lots of helpful advice on this website like how to set goals, how to fit in activity, strength training and when to increase the intensity of your activity. Above all, enjoy yourself when doing it.
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