Exercise and Aging

A personal trainer in Toronto makes a plea on behalf of your future self

As a personal trainer who has watched loved ones age there is one thing that keeps coming up for me: if they had’ve started exercising earlier in their life, they would be in much better shape now. And it goes deeper than being in better shape and being able to continue to do things with some verve going into later life.

Better movement mechanics are crucial regarding aging. We can radically alter how well we age by learning how to move well earlier in our life. Without further ado - let’s get into it. I will try and convince you to get on movement and good movement hygiene now so you can grow old with as much aplomb as maximally possible.

A personal trainer in Toronto starts with the science

Dr William Buchan, a Scottish physician from the 18th century nailed it when he said “Of all the causes which conspire to render the life of a man short and miserable, none have greater influence than the want of proper exercise.” And a couple of hundred years later, science backs him up. I think most of us would rightly add diet to this equation as well but that is a post for another day.

There are innumerable things that can happen with us physiologically as we age. Most of these changes come from a lack of sufficient physical activity and issues with our diet over the long term. Focusing on physical activity, let’s take a look at some of the things that tend to go wrong: increased resting heart rate, a decrease in the maximum heart rate and maximum pumping capacity, an increase in heart , muscle and blood vessel stiffness as well as blood pressure, a decrease in maximum oxygen uptake, calcium content in the bones, muscle mass and strength and metabolism, an increase in body fat, blood sugar, insulin levels and bad cholesterol.

Doesn’t sound awesome does it? And that is a very partial list. Like truly that’s only about half of the kind of fun you can look forward to.

A personal trainer in Toronto comes with the good news

But here’s the thing: everything that I just listed, exercise helps with (and more). Sometimes the capacity for exercise to help is minimal but in other cases the shift is truly dramatic. Regardless, we can take that same list and say the opposite in terms of exercises impact. Exercise decreases resting heart rate, increases maximum heartrate and maximum pumping capacity, decreases heart muscle and blood vessel stiffening, decreases blood pressure, increases maximum oxygen uptake, calcium content in bones, muscle mass and strength and metabolism, decreases body fat, blood sugar, insulin levels and bad cholesterol.

So I don’t know is it me? This all seems pretty obvious. When you exercise consistently, the likelihood of you living well into advanced years seems a lot more likely. Period. When you throw in some dietary changes to that you are likely gonna have a much easier go of it than some of the people around you.

But that is just the blatant physiological differences. There’s more. Much much more.

A personal trainer in Toronto makes their pitch

Let’s breeze past the fact that (as covered in a post a couple back) exercise helps greatly with anxiety and depression, something that can definitely effect older folks. Learning movement and movement skills can help your joints stay in much better condition as you age and then once issues begin to set in, you have a much better chance of navigating those physical issues well.

Let’s take two easy examples: balancing and squats. Balance can become a real issue as we get older and falling can be horrendous to folks of advancing years. Working on balance now can make a massive difference later on. Allowing you significantly more freedom and confidence and potentially sparing you a life changing accident.

Learning to squat well now (and heavy) can make a massive difference regarding how well you age. First of all, getting on and off the toilet might seem a breeze these days but the day will come when it will not. That day can be pushed much further into the future by getting your squats in now. It’s not just about the strength it’s about the technique. You know how to get into and out of the pocket of a squat. So when it gets a little more challenging you know what to do. Screw your feet in, lean a little more forward… squatting will pay off huge the older you get.

And lastly, it is likely that things will go wrong - none of us are immune no matter how hard we try. But those of us used to exercising on the regular won’t find it that much of a stretch to do the physio or the rehab. We’re used to a diet of movement. I’ve watched people who didn’t exercise earlier in life have to do physio everyday and I am convinced the mental side of it (and the physiological side) would be much much easier had they had a background in pushing themselves physically.

A personal trainer in Toronto really hopes you heard that

People think they have a choice about how they move and how they eat. I disagree. Both impact everything now AND later. So seriously, DO YOUR MOVEMENT!