Further to this recent post on how exercise can boost immune protection healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo... here is a 90 minute video or audio (your choice, but there are a few interesting graphics) from Dr Peter Attia about starting or returning to an exercise routine for the over-50s peterattiamd.com/exercisefo...
NB This is not a typical fitness video, giving you a programe of specific exercises to do. Rather, it is a discussion about why we should care about getting enough of the right kind of physical exercise when we are in our 50s/ 60s/ 70s/ 80s/ 90s... "Exercise variability and movement quality will always trump volume, load and intensity" according to Attia, citing complex movements in more than one plane as an example of neuromuscular training.
If you have any doubts about the value of increasing your VO2 max, take a look at the video at 38:00, where the presenters talk you through a graphic comparing hazard ratios for various groups based on their comorbidities and various groups based on their VO2 max performance. The 12-month all-cause mortality risk for smokers vs non-smokers is 41% higher; for below-average VO2 max vs above-average VO2 max is also 41 % higher!
Regarding strength training, Attia believes this to be indispensible to retaining muscle strength, balance, mobility and bone density into old age. When he talks about the importance of lifting weights at 1:01:00, that includes using muscles to raise your own weight and using resistance bands, in addition to (or maybe in preference to riskier) dumb bells and the like. Study participants in their late 70s and early 80s achieved a 78 % increase in muscle strength after a 6 week program of resistance training. It's never too late to start!
Topics covered in order:
Key points about starting exercise as an older adult [2:45];
Why it’s never too late to begin exercising and incorporating the four pillars of pillars of exercise [5:45];
The gradual, then sharp, decline in muscle mass and activity level that occur with age [10:00]; *
The decline of VO2 max that occurs with age [15:30]; *
Starting a training program: exercise variability, movement quality, realistic goals, and more [18:30];
Improving aerobic capacity: the malleability of the system, the importance of consistency, and setting long-term fitness goals [25:15];
Starting cardio training: base building, starting with low volume, and zone 2 training [30:45];
The critical role of Vo2 max in longevity [36:45];
How to introduce VO2 max training to older or deconditioned individuals [46:15];
Options for performing zone 2 and VO2 max training [53:45];
The ability to make gains in strength and muscle mass as we age [57:00];
How to implement strength training for older individuals [1:01:00];
Advice for avoiding injury when strength training [1:07:30];
Risk of falls: the devastating consequences and the factors that increase fall risk [1:12:15];
Mitigating fall risk: the importance of foot and lower leg strength, ankle mobility, and balance [1:19:45];
Improving bone mineral density through resistance training [1:24:30];
The importance of protein in stimulating muscle protein synthesis, especially in older adults [1:31:00];
Parting advice from Peter [1:34:00]
* above:
The two graphics discussed in the 10-15 minute time slot concern the pattern of decline seen in both fat-free muscle mass and VO2 max, in both sexes, with age. The gentle downward curve between the ages of ~ 20 and 75 becomes a sharp drop thereafter. It is emphasised, though, that at the individual level a steep decline is likely to be the result of one or more medical setbacks following which the individual never really regains their former fitness. Aerobic and strength exercises reduce the likelihood of such setbacks.
