In the aging process, men and women are confronted with a gradual decline in cognitive functioning and physical capabilities. Decrease in bone mass, osteoarthritis, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and diabetes are some of the more prominent degenerative disease processes that increase with age. Exercise programs can help you to avoid and or decrease the severity of these and many other health problems.
What Is an Older Adult?
In 2007, the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine defined an older adult as men and women who are 65 years or older. Adults age who are 50 to 64 years and have chronic conditions functional limitations also fall into this category. In their recommendations for physical activity for older adults, the AHA and the ACSM emphasized an increase in general physical activity and strength training.
Exercise Is Rejuvenating
Although heart disease, high blood pressure, decreased insulin sensitivity, osteoporosis and arthritis are associated with aging, they are made worse by a sedentary lifestyle. In the article titled “Prescribing Exercise for Older Men,” published in Clinical Geriatrics, Tinna Traustadóttir, PhD, and Panayiotis D. Tsitouras, MD, describe exercise as a “powerful intervention strategy” for many of the degenerative effects of aging. The article also reports that exercise is useful for improvement in overall health.
Sarcopenia
Sarcopenia, or decrease in muscle mass, is a process that begins during the age range of 25 to 30 years. Mass is not the only quality of muscle that decreases with age: Muscle strength and power also decrease. Decline in muscle mass occurs most rapidly after the age of 50, so that by the age of 80, 50 percent of muscle mass has been lost. Loss of muscle strength due to aging is greater than the loss of muscle mass, and loss of muscle power exceeds the degree of loss for both muscle mass and strength. Both endurance exercises and strength training cause improvement in muscle mass, strength and power. Strength training also improves bone density which helps to reduce the risk of bone fractures.
Endurance and Resistence Exercises Benefit the Health of Older Men
The Department of Kinesiology and the Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium published the results of a study designed to evaluate the effects of different types of exercise on the health of 55 to 75 year old men. Duration of the study was 20 weeks. The categories of exercise studied included endurance training or aerobic exercise, endurance plus moderate resistance or weight training, and endurance plus low resistance training. Parameters examined for impact were: resting heart rate, work capacity and recovery, insulin response, waist size, and knee-extensor strength. The results of the study showed that a combination of endurance training combined with resistance training is equally as effective as endurance training alone. The study also showed that moderate vs. low resistance training combined with endurance training also has significant positive effects on health of men.
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