I see some old people having difficulty walking down the street. One foot moves a few inches, barely getting over the ground, then the other foot. Others, similar ages, just as old, have barely any (apparent) difficulty.
I’m 22 years old. Fifty years from now, I want to be able to walk around easily and be able to get out of a chair without needing a hand, etc. In short, I want to be spry when I’m old.
What should I do? I want to know what current medicine says. For example, I have to imagine that exercise is a good idea. But is running a few miles every other day a bad idea because of the strain on knees and joints?
What about nutrition? Activities like yoga? Is stress believed to be a factor? Is this the sort of thing that’s like 90% genes, or is it 50% or 10% or what?
Enlighten me. I realize that answers will not be perfect, but I’d like to know current opinion.
I had a physical therapist for a shoulder issue. I noticed that a lot of people in the waiting room with me were older. So I asked her, what did the old people do who were in the best condition? She said: Yoga, pilates, walking, swimming, tennis, golf, running. Keep moving, and stretch. Strength and flexibility are harder to maintain as you get older, but it’s important to do so.
Don’t smoke.
Don’t trash your joints. Stay moderately active. Light running is fine, especially if you are a lighter and smaller build. It won’t add anything that moderate walking does not.
Don’t get fat.
Don’t have bad genes. Don’t get bad glucose metabolism.
Don’t smoke.
Until we sort things out better, emphasize high-fibre, low-carbohydrate foods; fresh colorful veggies (not overcooked) over starches and easy on the animal fat particularly if it’s been fried and/or burned.
Within the next 20 or 30 years we’ll have much better drugs and regimens to keep your bones and muscles healthy, particularly with respect to replacing the hormones you lose as you get older. We might even have some preventive approaches to keep your brain from deteriorating. So in the meantime keep the baseline in good shape.
Don’t smoke.
I want to put in a shameless plug for one sport which appears to have a very large number of older people participating in it and staying fit - fencing. I cannot count the number of folks in their 70’s and 80’s who can still get out on the strip and have a reasonable chance of defeating someone in their 30’s or 40’s. My instructor is in his mid-70’s and he can kick the ass of anyone in his classes.
Fencing is good for keeping you fit as you’re older for a few good reasons:
There is a focus on stretching and flexibility, and any good program teaches you some extensive exercises to work flexibility every day.
The foundation of fencing is balance, and every exercise includes a strong component towards practicing maintaining balance at all times, which translates into a situational awareness outside of the sport in keeping your balance. It even changes the way you stand in line, as well as walk, climb stairs, etc. Given the propensity for the elderly to suffer serious injuries from falls, I think preventing the falls in the first place must be key.
Hand-eye coordination and reaction time are also skills which can be built really well in fencing.
Fencing is a sport which can consist of either short bursts of high energy, or moderate levels of moderate energy, so you can adjust how much effort you need to put out quite easily. You are not pounding constantly on joints like running.
It has a very low serious injury and death rate compared to other sports, with the primary injury being pulled upper body muscles (in women) and lower body muscles (in men). I have some hard citations on this in my notebook, but IIRC it has a lower injury rate than most NCAA sports.
Fencing has some disadvantages - it’s asymmetrical unless you actively train with both hands, which is much harder to do than it sounds. You can practice by yourself and get a great workout, but it’s not as good and decidedly un-fun. It costs money to belong to a studio.
Yoga and Tai Chi have been used by older folks to stay flexible and fit for a very long time, and may be a better option to get into.
Another thing to do is to consider your health investment as something like compound interest. Positive, persistent, long-term changes to your diet, weight, habits, and activity done when you are in your 20’s may seem stupid, but they help cut down on the accumulated interest of health problems later in life. At 22 you are in the perfect place to start a plan to be “active at 100” provided you have a good plan and you keep to it. Keeping your weight down is going to be key to avoiding long-term health problems, as will be avoiding things like cigarettes, environmental pollutants, etc. I’m in my 40’s and I wish I had started in my 20’s instead of my 30’s on a plan to be fit. But then I suppose it’s like planting a tree - the best time to plant it was 20 years ago, the next best time is right now.
Thirding the parents, moderate exercise, and keeping the weight off. I’ve been having trouble with (and treatment for) bad feet for years and now the problem is creeping up my legs and into my hips and back.
!. Genetics. Can’t do much about that.
2. Do Not Smoke.
3. Exercise.
4. Take care of your teeth. Dental health is extremely important.
5. A healthy diet.
Most people who have been doing yoga since an early age seem to retain flexibility even after developing arthritis. It certainly can’t hurt. Wish I’d done it.
There sure is an element of luck (genetics, and accidents) involved. However, even if your genetics aren’t steller eating well (real food), staying active (don’t sit down all day), not smoking, not drinking to excess, and keeping your body fat under control (once you get fat, it’s very difficult to get thin again, much less maintain it) will take you pretty far.
Most important: strength train. Weights and body weight exercises - the more physical type of yoga are good. Build and maintain as much muscle as you can. Continue to do so as long as you are physically capable, and barring accidents or illness you will remain much more fit and energetic than other people your age. There have been a lot of studies done on the amazing effects of weight training on health - even people in their 80s and 90s can see huge health improvements after starting a weight training regimen.
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When you want current opinion, the “In My Humble Opinion” forum is probably a better choice than “General Questions.”
Thread moved.
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As a 51 year old fitness … eh hobbyist, enthusiast is too strong a word … I would echo this. Middle age and over WILL result in muscle loss unless you take very active measures against it. Medically that process, the baseline default state of 0.5 to 1% muscle mass and strength loss per year, is called “sarcopenia”, and while aerobic exercise is still an important part of overall fitness as we age just like it is when we are younger, preventing that muscle and strength loss from middle aged on, staying “spry”, requires resistance training too, with much greater emphasis than when you were young. And, IMHO, mixing it up lots is always a good idea.
I read the OP as “I want to be sorry when I’m old. What do I do?” Well, have I got some ideas for you!
My ideas - not smoking, not getting fat, staying limber and active. I’m pretty active (for someone who dearly loves to just sit around), but I’m not limber. I was born not flexible, and I’ve stayed that way. I probably could have worked on it a lot more than I did - I have problems with almost all of my joints now.
Do not do things that will stress your joints.
I work on machinery. I have used my hands rather than a rubber mallet to align a motor and pump. Or hit a wrench to loosen a bolt. I now have arthritus in my hands.
Years ago going into a ships engine room I would put my hands on the unpainted handrails of ladders and slid down to the next level. Dropping 10 feet onto a steel deck. Feet, Knees, Hips and back.
My hearing is shot because we did not wear ear muffs in those days.
Walk a lot. All the old people I know who are “spry” now, did things like parking a ways away from the store. The gimps now are the ones who spent time searching for the closest spot. Even people my age (mid-40s) who do that are in generally better shape than the ones I know who try to park close.
