WHY EXERCISE IS ESSENTIAL, FOR MEN OVER 40: BE ONE OF THE RARE SIX OUT OF A HUNDRED
BE ONE OF THE RARE SIX OUT OF A HUNDRED…
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2020, “about one-quarter of adults aged 18 and over met the physical activity guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities.” Even more distressing, only “6.8% met only the guidelines for muscle-strengthening activity, and 46.3% did not meet the guidelines for either type of activity.”
That’s 6.8% out of 100%. Around 7 men over 18 years of age out of 100, do any significant muscle strengthening activity. ONLY 46% DO ANY AEROBIC OR ANAEROBIC ACTIVITY!
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition, recommends that adults perform “at least 150 minutes (2 hours 30 minutes) to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour 15 minutes) to 150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity.” Apparently that’s not happening.
YOU DON’T NEED TO BE A BODYBUILDER, BUT YOU DO NEED TO LIFT!
And, for muscle and strength, its recommend that moderate or greater intensity workouts, involving all major muscle groups, happen on 2 days a week or more. Also not happening.
There are numerous reasons you need to include strength training in your life as a vintage male. For one, as you sit, you burn more calories, up to 15% in fact. In one study, men who performed 20 minutes of weight training per day, had significant decreases in that dreaded age related spare tire and pot belly fat. Which, apart from not looking great in your summer speedos, taxes your ticker, making heart issues more likely down the road.
Muscle tissue has a high metabolic level, so it helps control blood sugar and lowers insulin resistance. It even helps prevent type 2 diabetes – a major risk factor for heart disease.
POOR FITNESS – IT’S A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM
A worldwide study by The Lancet Global Health Journal, showed that men across the WORLD showed a high prevalence of insufficient physical activity in older age groups. As years pass, there shows a “gentle increase in insufficient physical activity prevalence until approximately age 60 years, followed by a steeper increase.”
The key point? It’s clear across many legitimate studies that, “nearly a third of adults globally do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity.” With most countries not coming close to meeting future health and fitness standards.
Harvard University Health state my point in a nutshell. “The clock ticks for all men, and with each tick comes change. For men who manage to avoid major medical problems, the changes are slow and gradual, but they do add up. Here are some things that aging can do to you — if you give up and let Father Time take his toll.”
THE DALLAS BED REST AND TRAINING STUDY
A significant study by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School called The Dallas Bed Rest and Training Study, basically they took 5 men in their 20’s and had them do nothing but rest in bed for 3 weeks. Health statistics were taken after the sedentary 3 weeks. Results?
“In just three weeks, these 20-year-olds developed many physiologic characteristics of men twice their age. Fortunately, the scientists didn’t stop there. Instead, they put the men on an 8-week exercise program. Exercise did more than reverse the deterioration brought on by bed rest, since some measurements were better than ever after the training.”
The same men were consulted 30 years later at age 50. All five remained generally healthy, however, in 3 decades, “the men gained an average of 50 pounds, or 25% of their weight at age 20. Their average body fat doubled from 14% to 28% of body weight. In addition, their cardiac function suffered, with a rise in resting heart rate and blood pressure and a fall in maximum pumping capacity.”
ENDURANCE IS KING
Here is the kicker! Regular, endurance exercise proved the best way to improve cardiovascular function, keep the heart muscle supple and the arteries flexible, lowered the resting heart rate, and boosted the heart’s peak ability to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the body’s tissues. Hence a significant fall in blood pressure.
The researchers put the 5 men on a fitness regime. Six months of walking, jogging, and cycling.
The results were astounding, “their heart’s maximum pumping abilities were back to their baseline level from age 20. All in all, exercise training reversed 100% of the 30-year age-related decline in aerobic power.”
No, the aerobic exercise did not take the men back to their peak performance after 8 weeks of intense training at age 20. However, it’s undeniable that regular, steady aerobic exercise can reverse adverse fitness levels, then slow ageing significantly. YOU CAN SLOW THE MARCH OF FATHER TIME.
EXERCISE AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED UPON IT
There we have it, from Harvard. “Endurance exercise is also the best way to protect the body’s metabolism from the effects of age. It reduces body fat, sensitizes the body’s tissues to insulin, and lowers blood sugar levels. Exercise boosts the HDL (“good”) cholesterol and lowers levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and triglycerides.”
Harvard go on to say, “The same types of activity will fight some of the neurological and psychological changes of aging. Endurance exercise boosts mood and improves sleep, countering anxiety and depression. In addition, it improves reflex time and helps stave off age-related memory loss.
So, basically, many of the changes that physiologists blame on aging are actually caused by disuse. “Using your body will keep it young.”
If that doesn’t convince you to exercise, think of this…sedentary men who begin exercising after the age of 45 enjoy a 24% lower death rate than those who remained inactive. “The maximum benefits were linked to an amount of exercise equivalent to walking for about 45 minutes a day at about 17 minutes per mile. On average, sedentary people gained about 1.6 years of life expectancy from becoming active later in life.”
Volumes have of information exists showing that regular aerobic and muscle strengthening activity reduces chances of strike, heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, back issues, hips troubles, knee issues, and a slew of other age-related ailments that grace the latter years of our lives.
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE, SO START NOW
The same Harvard study is adamant.
“Men can benefit from exercise at any age, though senior citizens do need to take extra care, especially if they are just getting started, in 87- to 90-year-old nursing home patients who were put on a weight-lifting program. This study evaluated muscular function, but the Harvard Alumni Study examined mortality. The latter study found that previously sedentary men who began exercising after the age of 45 enjoyed a 24% lower death rate than their classmates who remained inactive. The maximum benefits were linked to an amount of exercise equivalent to walking for about 45 minutes a day at about 17 minutes per mile. On average, sedentary people gained about 1.6 years of life expectancy from becoming active later in life.”
Other studies from Norway, and England all confirm the benefits of exercise later in life, which confirms the wisdom of the Roman poet Cicero, who said, “No one is so old that he does not think he could live another year.”
Check out Airforcefiredawg Training for more fitness information and inspiration for men over 40.
See you at the next roll call.
Shift dismissed!
SOURCES/CITATIONS
- https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db443.htm#section_1
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercise-and-aging-can-you-walk-away-from-father-time
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(24)00150-5/fulltext
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/can-stronger-muscles-pump-up-your-heart-health