Can exercise capacity 'predict' longevity? After the age of 65, what can you gain from exercising?

Lao Li is 65 years old this year. Since he retired, he has lived a very comfortable life and has a healthy diet, but in the eyes of his wife, he has a very bad habit - that is, he does not like to exercise.

Every time my wife wanted to take him to the morning exercise, he would shirk him in every possible way. One would say, "Life lies in rest, what if I get injured while exercising." Another would say, "Look at how slow the tortoise crawls, the longevity of life. But it's so long." His wife was very helpless about this.

Is it good for the elderly to exercise? Is life in movement or in rest?

1. Harvard study: exercise can prolong life!

A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health, published in the American Heart Association, analyzed two large prospective studies involving mortality verses and medical records of 100,000 adults over a 30-year long-term follow-up. The final result found:

• Doing 2-4 times the recommended amount of exercise per week has the lowest risk of death;
• 15-300 minutes of vigorous exercise per week can reduce the risk of death by 21%-23%;
• 300-600 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week was associated with a 26-31% lower risk of death.

In addition, persistent exercise can reduce the risk of death and prolong life, and it can also play an anti-cancer effect.

A 2022 study published in the National Cancer Journal found that when individuals performed moderate-intensity aerobic exercise several times a week, more cancer-fighting molecules were released in the body, which inhibited the functioning of abnormal cells and promoted DNA repair has a positive effect on inhibiting the occurrence of cancer.

Second, exercise ability can see the length of life?

Recently, a video of an 80-year-old teacher playing basketball in colleges and universities with a flexible body was liked. Many netizens said that it would be nice if they were still so flexible in their 80s...

When people get old, there is always a feeling of powerlessness. The ability to exercise will weaken with age, and it may even be related to the speed of lifespan decline.

A study published in the British Medical Journal by a research team led by French scholar Benjamin Landre shows that once people pass the age of 65, their athletic ability will get worse and worse. Consequentially, the risk of death also increased, and from the first 10 years of death, signs of decline in exercise capacity appeared.

Judging whether a person is aging generally includes 4 exercise indicators, namely:

Walking speed : If the walking speed of the elderly is lower than 0.6 m/s, the risk of death increases;

Grip strength : For every 5kg drop in grip strength, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease increases by 17%;

Sitting and standing ability : the elderly have difficulty sitting and standing ability, indicating that the muscle decline is serious;

Daily life : Limitation of daily activities such as dressing, cooking, going to the toilet, etc., indicates a sharp decrease in muscle mass.

Some middle-aged and elderly people may think that "rest is better than exercise" when they get older. Is this really the case? Several studies have found that after age 60, older adults who continue to exercise can reap the following benefits:

1. Reduce the risk of dementia

Researcher Ding Ding's team from the Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, joined a multi-national and multi-research team to conduct a study on the relationship between physical activity and dementia risk.

The results of the study found that relatively inactive people, those who exercised 3.1-6.0 hours per week, had a 38% lower risk of dementia.

2. Prevention of cardiovascular disease

A large South Korean study of more than 1 million people found that people who exercised moderately as they got older had an 11 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease. That is, maintaining moderate exercise can effectively prevent the occurrence of cardiovascular disease.

3. Increase bone density

A survey shows that elderly people who practice Tai Chi for a long time have half the risk of developing spinal osteoporosis compared with elderly people who do not exercise much.

Regular exercise can improve bone blood circulation, enhance material metabolism, prevent muscle atrophy, and help the elderly to prevent arthritis.

4. Improve digestion and absorption

The digestive function of the elderly is weakened. If coupled with insufficient exercise, the appetite will become very small, leading to a vicious cycle of difficulty in digestion and absorption.

Moderate exercise can consume excess body heat, stimulate the body to "get hungry", and at the same time promote gastrointestinal motility and improve digestion and absorption.

3. What is the "best exercise" for middle-aged and elderly people? recommend these 2

The physical benefits of exercise are self-evident, but not all sports are suitable for the elderly. Some excessively intense exercise will damage the cardiovascular or joints. So what kind of exercise is best for middle-aged and elderly people?

• 'The best sport in the world': walking

Experts and academicians have said that walking is the best sport in the world. A set of data from the World Health Organization is also that, walking for more than 4 hours a week in the elderly can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease by 69% .

For the elderly, various functions of the body decline, and walking is suitable for most people. The Chinese Dietary Guidelines also recommend that walking more than 6,000 steps per day is more suitable.

For those who are obese, have arthritis, or are physically weak, don't walk too much , just maintain proper walking and exercise.

Matters needing attention : The elderly should not exercise for more than 1 hour. Due to the weakened body balance, it is best to avoid walking obliquely, backwards, and slopes during exercise.

• "The most life-extending sport": playing ball

A study published by the National Cancer Institute in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity found that the sport that best helps middle-aged and older adults live longer is playing basketball .

When playing, it is not only a simple swing, but it also mobilizes the muscles of the whole body; when chasing the ball, it needs the strength of the legs and cervical spine; when watching the ball, it also exercises the eyesight, and the running and jumping movements are also conducive to reducing fat. And whether it's singles or doubles, it gives people a sense of participation and can enhance communication.

Precautions : Before playing, you should prepare for exercise, stretch the heels, ankles and other parts that are prone to injury. Too little playing time can easily cause arthritis. Therefore, pay attention to control the time, and pay attention to stretching and relaxing the joints after exercise.

No matter what kind of exercise, as long as you move, it is better than lying down or sitting. For middle-aged and elderly people, it is more important to pay more attention to weekly exercise and choose moderate, moderate and timely exercise to achieve longevity.

References:

[1] "Harvard University finds the best time for exercise to "extend life", and the weekly amount has the lowest risk of death. Medical Novi. 2022-10-06

[2] "After the age of 65, your lifespan depends on this "ability", 4 methods to measure the strength of yourself". Life Times. 2021-08-24

[3] "Study of 270,000 people in 12 years: see which exercises can best help middle-aged and elderly people live longer! 》. Health Times. 2022-09-07

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