STAY FIT AT ANY AGE
Don’t let years limit you
Seventeen per cent of Canadians are 65 or older — a figure that’s expected to balloon to more than 20 per cent by 2026. With the population of older Canadians growing, it’s more important than ever to promote healthy aging.
Defined as the ability to live independently and free of chronic disease, healthy aging is enhanced by good sleep habits, a nutritious diet and accumulating at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week. Thirty minutes of purposeful exercise most days of the week improves balance and cardiovascular and metabolic health, slows the loss of valuable muscle mass and enhances mental health. And when done in a group setting, physical activity provides a social network that combats the type of loneliness and isolation that affects so many seniors living alone or caring for an ailing partner or parent.
Despite the numerous benefits of being physically active, Statistics Canada lists adults 65 and up as the least active segment of the population (based on self-reported claims of accumulating 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week). This prompts the question: Why do so few older adults exercise regularly?
Health and fitness professionals should be aware of this phenomenon, especially since the last of the baby boomers — those born in 1964 — will all have celebrated their 60th birthday by the end of 2024. Clearly, there’s a large demographic that continues to be underserved and under-represented in the fitness industry. Instead of focusing primarily on the young and fit, fitness clubs should be more welcoming to boomers looking to hold on to the vigour of their youth, and to those older exercisers who may need an extra push in order to become more active.
To be fair, not all fitness clubs have been ignoring the needs of older exercisers. And it’s worth noting that boomers are quite diverse as a group. Some feel comfortable working out alongside their younger counterparts in a competitive gym atmosphere, while others question their physical capacity to engage in any form of sustained exercise.
It’s not just fitness professionals who aren’t sure how to deal with older exercisers. Healthcare professionals such as doctors and physiotherapists have been known to assume that anyone over 60 needs to dial down the frequency and intensity of their workouts — a belief that not only limits those who are physically and mentally strong, but helps perpetuate the outdated notion that age and exercise don’t mix. It’s this kind of stereotyping that two researchers from Texas A&M wanted to explore by searching professional journals for references to ageism in the fitness and health industries.
Their review confirmed that exercise stereotypes related to aging are alive and well. The researchers also stated that among the older population, attitudes about physical activity were either self-imposed or “other-directed” — meaning seniors themselves often have traditional views on what type of exercise is appropriate for older adults, as do those around them, including fitness instructors, health professionals and family members.
The purpose of highlighting exercise-related ageism is to encourage more seniors to be physically active and to set goals based on individual levels of fitness and athletic ability, not chronological age. In other words, not everyone over 60 should be streamed into classes or workouts designed for seniors, but should instead be able to choose workouts based on their health, wellness, fitness and athletic ability. When family members and fitness and health professionals have predetermined views of what types of exercise older adults can and can’t do, it infers that there are limits to challenging or improving the physical capabilities of the older members of our society.
“Age-related stereotypes in the fitness and health arena prevent older adults from active physical activities, as well as diminish their quality of life,” suggests the research team from Texas A&M.
The other reason to change how we view exercise among older adults is to dispel the oftenheld belief by seniors themselves that age is a barrier to being physically active. The Texas
A&M researchers suggest that “older adults rarely challenged age-related stereotypes when exercising because they considered their reduced physical capabilities as being unavoidable.”
Yet exercise physiologists who study aging suggest that reduced levels of physical activity are responsible for much of the physical decline traditionally linked to aging. While aerobic power and muscle mass naturally decline with age, maintaining a regular training regime can slow down age-related physical decline substantially and preserve a quality of life similar to individuals decades younger.
Interestingly, older adults who ignore social norms and pursue an active lifestyle boast a greater sense of self-worth and are more confident in their abilities to achieve exercise goals. It’s this kind of confidence in achieving even modest fitness goals that needs to be instilled in all 6.5 million Canadians 65 and older. The bottom line is that we all need to look beyond the visible signs of aging and champion the endless potential of adults of all ages to pursue fitness goals that keep them coming back for more.