The Most Important Exercise As We Age
We're all getting older... here's the most important exercise to make sure we do it gracefully.
In this edition of Momentum you’ll learn about the most important exercise to do as we get older to maintain function, health, and independence.
No one beats Father Time.
He’s a bastard and coming for us all.
Oh… Happy Friday…
As I’m moving from my early thirties to my mid thirties I think a bit more about aging and how what I do now, and have been doing, will affect me later on.
People talk often about training and dieting for longevity.
What is longevity? A long life.
But… that’s not really what we want. We don’t want to be clinging on in a nursing home where we can’t do anything for ourselves.
We want a long healthspan.
Your healthspan is how long you are healthy.
Now, I frequently argue that exercising is one of, if not the most, important things we can actually do to increase our healthspan.
So, what exercise is most important to do as we age?
All of it.
That’s right folks, you heard it here first.
You should be doing some type of strength training, some type of conditioning, and some type of mobility training consistently in your youth to better your odds of a long healthspan.
Your future you will thank you for it.
Here’s why:
Strength Training for a Long, Healthy Life
New research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) coined the term “strengthspan” to discuss the importance of strength training for healthy aging.
We know that strength training has a massive benefit on our health right now, in the short term. It not only benefits our muscles but also improves the health of our bones and joints, heart, lungs, and brain and improves many metabolic diseases like diabetes.
Regular strength training is associated with decreases in all-cause mortality rates and increases in physical function.
While starting to strength train at any point in life can be beneficial, there is extreme benefit to developing a large “strength reserve” early in life and then maintaining it as you age.
You see… weak children become weak adults. Not that we necessarily needed verification of this but Australian scientists figured it out.
And, unless you do something about it, your body will naturally lose muscle and strength as you age.
It happens faster than you think, if you aren’t strength training.
Starting at around age 30, we naturally lose between 3-8% of our muscle mass every decade with this rate increasing the older we get.
But, here’s the great thing.
This doesn’t have to happen.
If you give your body a reason to hold on to its muscle and strength, it will.
And, even older folks can still build muscle. This study put some geezers on a muscle building program and they experienced gainz at the ripe ages of 65-85+
By increasing your strengthspan you increase the likelihood that you will not only live longer but will be independent, function safely, and do the things you want to do until late in life.
Here is the minimum amount you should be strength training now.
Conditioning for a Long, Healthy Life
The leading killer of Americans is still cardiovascular disease.
Adherence to the guidelines for cardio and conditioning can reduce your risk.
Along with dietary changes, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, and not drinking excessively regularly doing cardio exercise will reduce your chances of developing various types of cardiovascular disease.
VO2max is a measure of cardiovascular fitness. Probably the best measure we have to truly measure someone’s cardiovascular health and performance.
Sadly, VO2max decreases gradually with advancing age at a rate of about 10% per decade after the age of 25 and faster as you get older.
But, just like with age related muscle loss this can be stopped with regular training.
Here is the minimum amount of conditioning you should be doing now.
Mobility Training for a Long, Healthy Life
So, this one I have no formal research on. Just a lot of practical experience.
Every single day I see patients who’s primary complaint isn’t pain or even loss of function; it is stiffness.
This isn’t just in older people, this is in people of all ages.
I have found that doing regular mobility exercise is extremely important as we age to just feel good and move good.
The best part is, you don’t need to spend all day stretching. I don’t, and I feel loosey goosey.
If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while you probably know what I’m going to say…
Strength training through a full range of motion with a pause in the lengthened position of the muscle is just as beneficial to muscle flexibility and joint mobility as stretching.
Now… you could stretch and do yoga. There’s nothing wrong with that! But, you don’t need to.
Here is the only mobility work you’ll ever need.
Wrapping Up
Regularly meeting the current exercise guidelines for both strength training and conditioning is the best thing we can do to increase our chances of a long healthspan and strengthspan.
Want Guidance in the Gym? Check out my training programs.
The BREAKING GAINZ FOREVER program.
Follow along with my exact workouts
These training programs vary based on the time of year and my goals. Sometimes we do powerbuilding style training and other times we do a full on hybrid athlete program.
The BGZ POWERBUILDER program.
This program gets you seriously strong
This is BREAKING GAINZ style training that focuses on strength in the squat, bench, and deadlift and full-body muscles
The METABOLIC GAINZ 1.0 program.
This classic BREAKING GAINZ training format gets you jacked, strong, and fit
Combine strength training with metabolic conditioning for the best shape of your life
The METABOLIC GAINZ 2.0 program
If you’ve progressed beyond MG1.0 and want more then this program is for
This is another classic BREAKING GAINZ training program that gets you jacked, strong, and fit
The BREAKING GAINZ LITE program
If you’re newer to weight training or want a great program to do in the comfort of your own home then look no further!
Get in great shape with just your bodyweight and a pair of dumbbells
Want one-on-one training?
I have limited availability for one on one coaching. You can inquire by emailing me at nickotrainingsystems@gmail.com.