Somehow we've come to believe that if
we're not natural athletes or haven't made exercise a habit before middle
age, the door to getting fit has closed behind us.
That perception is being shattered.
Not only is it never too late to begin exercising, but
some late-comers to physical fitness achieve the best shape of their
lives in their 60s and 70s.
As their ranks increase, seniors are proving to themselves
— and to those who have years to go before retirement —
that it's possible to reinvent the body even after decades of indulgent
meals and little exercise. And for them, as for their younger counterparts,
the health and psychological benefits are enormous.
Walk into the Sports Club/LA in West Los Angeles almost
any morning and you can't miss John A. McMannus, who at 76 routinely
puts men half his age to shame. He bench-presses 300 pounds, pedals
a stationary bike at one of the hardest settings, sets the treadmill
at a brisk 5.5-mph pace (with a steep incline), and crunches his already
toned abdominals.
"With me, it's all competition with myself,"
says McMannus, a retired airline pilot who got the exercise bug at 50.
Now at an age at which many seniors' shoulders already slump, he stands
ramrod straight and has the light step of a younger man.
Such vigor and strength in the elderly didn't always
seem possible, except for perennial exercise icons like Jack LaLanne.
Just 10 years ago, at 72, Jack Palance riveted an Academy
Awards audience with a series of one-armed push-ups the night he won
a best supporting actor Oscar. At the time, he was pointedly defying
Hollywood's ageism — and the stereotype of a cane-assisted senior.
But that stereotype is rapidly becoming obsolete. As
Americans live longer, and more healthily, than ever before, seniors
are realizing that fitness doesn't have to decline with age. Their doctors
and exercise physiologists agree. Most relatively healthy men and women,
they say, need not be limited by age.
"Most fit older adults have at least one to three
chronic diseases. We still call them a normal, healthy adult even if
they have cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis," said
Miriam Nelson, a nutritionist and director of Tufts University's Center
for Physical Activity and Nutrition in Boston.
McMannus, for example, has overcome chronic back problems
and underwent quadruple bypass surgery seven years ago, although he
was back in the gym 17 days later. He even has macular degeneration
and, by chronicling his symptoms while working out, is trying to help
doctors understand the effects of intense exercise on that problem.
One recent day he came home from a doctor's visit and
recited his enviable numbers: blood pressure, 126/54; pulse, 47; and
body fat, 10 percent to 12 percent.
"As a general view, there seems to be very little
evidence that older exercisers — however you want to define that
— have to do something different than younger exercisers,"
said Michael Hewitt, an exercise physiologist who oversees medical,
behavioral, nutrition, and exercise physiology activities at the Canyon
Ranch health resort in Tucson, Ariz.
The resort emphasizes health, stress reduction, and
fitness, even for those with physical limitations.
As landmark studies with nursing home residents and
other sedentary seniors have shown, you can build muscle late in life
and maintain it. No matter how lofty an older exerciser's goals, he
should begin with conditioning, general strengthening, and flexibility
and consult a physician before proceeding.
But, Hewitt said, "the biggest mistake that most
people tend to make is not to challenge themselves."
Just as it does for younger people, aerobic exercise
strengthens the heart and cardiovascular system, reducing the risk of
heart attacks. It improves sugar metabolism, reducing the risk of developing
diabetes or helping to control glucose levels in diabetics. It improves
balance, reducing the risk of falls.
And weight-bearing exercise helps build bone mass to
avoid osteoporosis and fractures of the hip and back. It can reverse
bone loss in those whose bones already have become brittle.
Do nothing, though, and, beginning at age 35, "you
lose a quarter to a third of a pound of muscle every year and gain that
much body fat," Nelson said.
Despite all the attention to cardiovascular fitness,
strength-training is critical to preserving muscle mass.
"Research is showing us now that over two decades,
from 50 to 70, those doing some strength training along with aerobic
training don't lose muscle."
Of course, fit seniors' less-than-bulging biceps can
be deceptive. They may not be as enlarged as those of a younger person,
but those muscles are working much more efficiently.
In the course of her research in several key senior
exercise studies, Nelson observed that "once these people started
getting stronger, they naturally took up a more active lifestyle."
Among the evidence that seniors are achieving higher
levels of activity is the increasing rate of sports injuries. The Consumer
Product Safety Commission found a 54 percent increase in such injuries
among people 65 and older from 1990 to 1996.
In that same 1998 report, the agency found a 29 percent
increase in sports injuries among those 75 and older. The majority of
the injuries occurred during activities such as biking, skiing, tennis,
and skating.
The report also found a 173 percent increase in injuries
related to exercising (including weight training), such as falls, tripping,
and strains.
But injuries are no more common among seniors than younger
people, and they heal just as well, says Dr. Walter M. Bortz II, a geriatric
specialist, author of Dare to Be 100, and a marathon runner.
Bortz, 72, and his wife, Ruth Anne, 71, recently became
the first couple older than 70 to finish the Boston Marathon. She was
the only woman over 70 to cross the finish line; he finished 26th among
the 29 men over 70 who completed the race.
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