There is a difference of opinion of how much exercise we should pursue on a daily or weekly basis. As observed, 75% of the Elders in my research were pursuing physical activity six or more days a week and regularly they would undertake more than one physical activity in one day. Remembering that these Elders were between the ages of 80 and 106, with an average age of 86. The longest-lived people on the planet, the Okinawans, the people of the Hunza Valley, the long-lived people in Sardinia, and others in the blue zones, were pursuing physical activity from dawn till dusk. My philosophical approach is we need to adopt the perpetual motion approach to our lives. Walk where possible and include different physical activities in our day. Our body thrives on exercise, and we should help our bodies thrive!

The Australian Government Department of Health and Age Care (AGDHAC) recommends adults you do either 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate-intensity physical activity, such as a brisk walk, golf, mowing the lawn or swimming. Also, it suggested that 1.25 to 2.5 hours a vigorous intensity physical activity such as jogging, aerobics, fast cycling, soccer or netball should be pursued. Interestingly, this standard does not change for persons over the age of 64. The helpful part of this recommendation is “building activity into your day” Bike instead of a car, use the stairs instead of the escalator or lift. How many of us do that? The American most frequently occurring guideline is 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity five days per week, which is approximately 30 minutes five days week. More recently, these guidelines have been modified to include two days of strength training. In my view this is certainly better than nothing but generally inadequate.

In our time poor society, HIIT programs and gymnasiums with F45 have become very popular with younger persons as they claim to be a complete workout in 45 minutes. However, in my opinion, they are less suited to persons over the age of 65. While there is no difference in the recommended amount of exercise for older persons, there is a greater need for warm up and cool down before and after exercise. Also, at age 65 and over our muscles and skeletal structure is deteriorating quicker than at 35-year-old, so an older person needs to work harder to retain muscle mass, bone density and cardiovascular fitness. Also, during a 60-minute gym session many younger persons spend more than half that time on their phones. At 35 to 40 the body needs to work less to achieve a reasonable level of fitness skeletal and muscular framework. At that younger age, our bodies are still in semi- growth mode and muscles and cells respond and recover more quickly. As a competitor, in my 30s and 40s I could recover after competition in a day or two. However, in my 70s it takes longer to recover, but we do recover because our body is designed regenerate, to a limited extent. My theory is the more we get used to recovering and regenerating, the better we become at it!

I have always valued the knowledge gained from reviewing studies that have been undertaken. However, frequently these studies have several controls that might be difficult to adapt to our own situation. Therefore, over the years I have made direct observations by experimenting and documenting research on your own body. My conclusion is the more we challenge our minds and bodies, at any age, the better they respond.

My extended theory is, if a healthy older person is pursuing vigorous activity daily your mind and body, is continually in recovery or in growth mode. If you exercise hard, you stress your muscles, drain them of stores and you injure them slightly. The stress of exercise is good as it tears you down to build you back up a little stronger.  In other words, we are tricking our body and mind into thinking that at 60 or 70 years of age we’re not dying, we are still growing, and cells and superstructure need to respond accordingly. It is argued by Crowley and Lodge (2004), that this process makes the tiny blood vessels inside our muscles stronger and our bodies younger. I now believe that maintaining and building strength, is achievable even more important at my age. This year, I set a medium-term strength goal to lift my body weight in a dead lift at age 79. I have never done deadlifts before! After a three month build up and some guidance, I managed 5 repetitions at 80kg. I also set a second goal to leg press twice my body weight. After a similar build up, I managed 5 repetitions at 160kg. For the record my body weight at the time was 77kg.

In contrast, an 80-year-old sedentary male has lost about 50% of strength and muscle mass. If we are sedentary, our mind tells our body there is no need for rehabilitation of muscles damaged during exercise and therefore they start to shut down, our muscles begin to atrophy, and this is followed by the onset of sarcopenia. If our bodies aren’t growing and renewing, they are dying. Dying is a default response our mind and body has to being sedentary. If we are sitting for long periods each day, we have lost many of the benefits we may have gained from our morning vigorous exercise. We need to ensure that we punctuate out time in front of the computer by standing and moving regularly. An interesting read is Sitting Kills Moving Heals (Vernikos, 2011). I now have a stand-up desk, it is awesome!

Strength is only one aspect of exercise, although there are many ways we can get stronger. The type of exercise we pursue is clearly a function of our preferences. If you are a runner, swimmer, ski paddler or rower, you will probably be achieving an acceptable level of cardiovascular exercise. A ski paddler and rower will also get some additional strength benefits. However, if you are a walker, you will need to introduce some short runs, stairs or hills to raise your heart level. My theory is, with any of these activities you will still need at least two days of strengthening exercise. The old adage applies doing something once a week you won’t improve, twice a week you will maintain, and if you perform an activity three times a week you will improve.

Finally, many of the people I grew up with have decided they are too old to exercise. My belief is you are too old when you are dead. There are many examples of fit and strong 70-, 80-and 90-year-olds, doing serious exercise. The oldest competitor in the Gold Coast marathon is a 97-year-old lady who is competing in her 7th marathon, and she is in remarkably good condition. Remember your positive attitude will largely determine whether you continue or begin physical activity; if you think you can or if you think you can’t you’re probably right!

The level of fitness you achieve, at any age, will be a function of how programed, how often, and how hard, you train. If you have a medical condition check with your GP before commencing, but don’t accept a recommendation to do nothing!

My pen-ultimate comments are, any exercise is better than none, the more you do the greater the benefit, the more vigorous you train within your personal exercise program (PEP) the better you will feel.

It is never too late to start!

Exercise – how much, how often, how hard??

In my humble opinion, you should try and achieve at least 60 mins of (cumulative) physical activity per day of moderate and vigorous exercise on at least days 6 Days = 360 MINUTES/WEEK

In my opinion your PEP should be geared to achieve your

short, medium and long term goals and include:

.

• 3 Sessions - Strengthening, with heavier rather than lighter weights,

  after a warmup, followed by a cool down.

• 3 Sessions - Flexibility, balance, Abs, stretching, yoga, or Pilates.

• 3 Sessions - Cardiovascular, any of the following, swimming, running, spin sessions, HIIT sessions, ski paddling, or tennis, golf or walking (include hills or stairs).

• You will note there 9 sessions above, which are the optimum. If you complete 6 sessions (comprising of 60 minutes of the above) you are doing well! If you complete 9 sessions, you are moving toward excellent.

• If you have an event or something you are training for, coming up it is good to have a taper, so your body can recover and peak. In any case, it is good to reduce your training effort for one day/week and one week/month to allow for recovery. Also, change or vary, your routine every couple of months.

• Moderate Exercise = able to speak a full sentence – About 70% maximum heart rate (This may depend on medication)

• Vigorous Exercise = Not able to chat during efforts –About 80% maximum heart rate and approximately 150 mins vigorous intensity/week

  Your Heart rate is about 220 minus your age