Exercise is important for everyone, no matter your age. It can keep your cardiovascular system healthy, your bones and muscles strong, help you get better sleep and benefit your mental health.
The official physical activity guidelines for Americans recommended that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity (like brisk walking or bike riding) or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity (like running or swimming laps) each week.
These guidelines apply to adults of all ages, but a new review published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that older adults who follow the 150-minute aerobic activity guidelines each week lessen their all-cause mortality risk by 31% when compared to people who do not exercise.
Researchers collected data from previous reviews and meta-analyses that focused on physical activity’s impact on health conditions common in older adults. The authors found that not exercising is a risk factor for 30 chronic conditions, such as heart failure, diabetes, dementia, osteoporosis, dementia, depression and more.
By committing to 150-minutes of exercise each week, older adults can cut their risk of developing these conditions or slow down their progression if they do get diagnosed, according to the report.
Not only does an adequate amount of exercise help with general longevity and disease prevention, researchers found that by doing regular exercise, older adults are more able to perform necessary tasks that keep them functionally independent.
“There’s a statistic in this paper that said in 2014 … one out of three older adults in the U.S. fall in any given year,” said Dr. Phillip Yun, a primary care sports medicine physician at UChicago Medicine. (Yun was not affiliated with the study.) A fall for someone who is young and healthy may not be a big deal, but for an older adult who may have less muscle strength or brittle bones, it can be hugely detrimental and lead to surgery, rehabilitation and a host of issues down the road.”
“There’s a lot of complications that can be associated with something as innocuous as a simple fall,” Yun explained.
Exercise can help improve your balance, so you’re less likely to fall altogether, and can also bolster your bone and muscle health, so if you do fall, you’re less likely to get seriously hurt.
Researchers also found that exercise can benefit your cognition. Exercise in older adults was found to lessen the chance of developing cognitive impairment and could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease as well. It’s also good for mental health and mood, and can help lessen the likelihood of depression and anxiety.
What’s the difference between moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and vigorous exercise?
Generally, moderate aerobic physical activity includes exercises like brisk walking, dancing, gardening and playing doubles tennis, but Yun said exactly what is moderate and what is vigorous varies from person to person.
A good way to tell if you’re doing moderate aerobic physical activity is to try the “talk test” as you exercise. “The talk test basically is you’re not able to sing, but you’re still able to talk and complete sentences and have a full conversation — that is moderate aerobic physical activity,” Yun explained.
Another way to measure your exercise intensity? Quantifying it. With moderate activity, you should feel like you’re exercising at a 5 or 6 on a 1 to 10 scale, Yun added.
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How can you add moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity to your routine?
You shouldn’t try to get in all 150 minutes of weekly exercise in one day. Instead, you should break that up into at least three days each week, Yun said.
Thirty minutes of exercise at a time is generally a good place for folks, he noted. But if you’re just entering your workout era, you could start with something small like a 10-minute walk twice a day.
“I generally recommend for most people to start off with walking because it has a low barrier of entry, and I think it’s something that you can often do on your own or with people,” Yun said.
If walking isn’t for you, Yun recommended you find something that you enjoy doing. This way, you’ll be more likely to continue the exercise as time goes on. That could be gardening, cycling with friends or taking up a dance class.
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If you want to take your fitness one step further, Yun said you can try resistance training, too, which is associated with health benefits such as better bone health and muscle development.
“As someone who is new to resistance training, like weightlifting or resistance band exercises, I generally recommend working with a personal trainer or a physical therapist in order to learn how to safely weight lift,” he said.
Yun added that you should clear any exercise with your doctor, particularly if you have a chronic condition that requires medication. Exercise is beneficial to everyone, but not all types of exercise are safe for everyone. You can work with your physician to figure out your best workout regimen.