PART 3: Getting fit after 50 is all about the little things.

Why do resistance training?

Aging is associated with a decrease in aerobic capacity and muscular strength. Exercise can reverse both conditions. Performing aerobic exercise can increase aerobic capacity in the elderly by almost 25% according to Lambert and Evans in their book Adaptations to aerobic and resistance exercise in the elderly. Several studies designed to measure strength gains from resistance training in the elderly demonstrated an average increase in strength of 40 to 150% in just three to six months. Muscular growth may be slightly less in older subjects compared to younger, but strength gains are similar in both age groups when first starting out. The harder the older subjects were pushed in these studies, the more their bodies responded with muscle and strength gains.  One of the many benefits of such training is that balance is improved in exercisers, which can lead to fewer falls and hip fractures, and decreased death rates from their complications. Exercise also dramatically improves the ability to perform daily functions, allowing a longer life of independence.


If I lose weight at my age will I also lose muscle?

When older people gain weight unintentionally, more body fat is gained than lean mass, which is similar to what happens with younger people. Up to twenty-five percent of intentional weight loss  in older people is from lean mass and seventy-five percent is from fat, which is also similar to young people. This loss of lean tissue from dieting can be reduced significantly by resistance exercise, bringing the percentage of weight lost as lean mass to between 0 and 12%. Sarcopenia is age-related loss of lean mass and is not associated with intentional weight loss or dieting. Resistance training is the antidote for sarcopenia.

Final Note

Keep in mind that beneficial exercise can be as simple as moving. In fact, walking is the most common form of exercise. Diet changes can be as simple as reducing the portions of the foods you generally consume.  Therefore, for those of you just contemplating a fitness routine; don’t be put off or say you’re not ready because you believe fitness requires a complete lifestyle change or hard work.  Fitness is really a matter of minor lifestyle adjustments. The food you eat is your diet and your life is exercise. Are you interested to see what can happen?

CONTINUED: Getting fit after 50 is all about the little things.

Hasn’t my metabolism slowed so much that weight loss will be almost impossible?

Losing weight at an advanced age should not be any more difficult than for the younger population. In fact, weight loss should be easier for seniors because they generally have more time to increase their daily movements than busy younger family members (don’t get mad at me if this is not you). And no, one’s metabolism is not the problem.

Your metabolism, or 24-hour energy expenditure, is the total of all the processes in the body that require energy. The biggest part of the body’s total energy expenditure is called the resting metabolic rate (RMR), which is the number of calories required to run the body when sitting quietly. The RMR usually makes up two-thirds to three-fourths of the total calories burned daily. The remaining energy expenditure includes the calories required to move throughout the day (which is the part that we all have total control over) and calories burned to digest food (called the thermic effect of food, TEF). Aging can slightly decrease RMR mostly due to the loss of lean muscle over time. But this is generally offset by total weight gain – i.e. the heavier you are the more calories you burn, even if much of your body weight gain is mostly fat. In any case, the more significant decrease in total energy expenditure in the aging population is caused by the reduction in total daily activities/movement. Again, this is something we do have control over. Unfortunately, as we age we get tired easier, lifestyles change, and it often hurts to move. These are all conditions that lead to less movement thus less 24 hour energy expenditure (calories burned). This is what the average person incorrectly attributes to a slowing metabolism.

Exercise can increase RMR by helping one build lean muscle and therefore offsetting the slight muscle loss attributed to aging. At worst, exercise can prevent the decrease that occurs in one’s resting metabolic rate by helping to maintain lean body mass. Of course the act of exercise (or any additional increases in daily activities) dramatically increases the calories you burn daily. So there you have it, you have almost complete control of your metabolism no matter how old you are (unless you have a diagnosed metabolic deficiency). And remember, standing burns almost twice as many calories as sitting and walking nearly three times as many.

Getting fit after 50 is all about the little things.

A Beautiful Baby Girl and Another Year Without Blogging!

As I look back over the last 2 years, I am realizing that time goes by faster and faster. As I approach 30, which by the way is definitely not old, I am starting to make tentative plans based on the level of health I desire in my 50's and 60's. When Elijah and Emma are graduating high school, 50 will be right around the corner. I have a great desire to be competitive athletically when my kids are (if they are). Maybe some of you are in the same boat as me and want to start planning a strategy of attack. Maybe some of your boats are far ahead of mine and need to make some immediate changes. And quite possibly, there are those way off in the distance who need help bailing water out of their boats. So, as always, let's do this together.

This next series of posts will be focusing on getting fit after 50. Weight loss and increased fitness are desirable at any age, but we tend to think these goals are harder to achieve as we get older.  Are they really? Most people are probably primarily motivated to “get in shape” because they want to look better, so what happens when appearance no longer seems so important?  There are numerous benefits from exercise and weight loss later in life. This article will explore the relationship between aging and fitness, body composition, and metabolism, and the small lifestyle changes one can make that help fitness become a reality.

Can I lose weight?

Older individuals may have different reasons for pursuing fitness, but they often have the same goals: less body fat, more muscle, greater strength and endurance. Although men and women of any age can lose weight and become more fit, the concern is often how difficult it will be. Many people believe that after a certain age the body slows so much that losing weight is an arduous task. The reality is that nothing precludes elderly people from weight loss; their bodies still respond to a calorie deficit. However, creating a calorie deficit may seem harder simply because it’s not as easy to move more. Conditions like arthritis make taking the dog for an extra walk or parking further away from your destination s little less appealing. Also, there is a tendency to be more “set in their ways” when it comes to eating habits.

At my age I am not so concerned about my appearance so why lose weight?

Being overweight is associated with a significantly increased risk for many diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Overweight and obesity in the aging population has a few added problems--it is associated with increased fat stored in muscle and around the organs (visceral fat) in addition to the usual storage place under the skin. As people age, they lose muscle and gain fat in multiple places, which makes older people fatter at the same weight. In addition, visceral fat and intramuscular fat tend to be more active forms that promote certain diseases.  The mechanism is that adipose tissue (fat storage tissue) is metabolically active and can release peptides and cytokines that increase inflammatory signals and exacerbate diseases such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis and rheumatologic disorders.  These chemicals are also associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance, and blood clots.  The good news from current research is that moderate diet changes and exercise can reverse most of the above-mentioned negative effects and reduce disease risk by up to 50%. You don’t have to become an athlete to reap the benefits either. Older people who lose just 5 to 10% of their starting weight through a simple calorie reduction see significant improvements in cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood sugar, breathing and tolerance of exercise. And the other good news is that weight loss itself trumps the method. In other words, other than liposuction, it doesn’t matter how you lose the weight or how you choose to approach your diet.