Experts strongly believe that older adults need more incentive to do physical activity, because simple exercise can have significant effects on their health and ability to withstand illness. This fact motivated a group of researchers to see if there were psychological issues in the works that resulted in older adults leading sedentary lives. Sure enough there was. Seniors who think their health will decline as they age no matter what are far less likely to do regular physical activity. The result? Low expectations for health equals a more sedentary lifestyle.
Researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles believe that this way of thinking is a barrier preventing older adults from being physically active. It’s not they can’t get some exercise, but rather it’s that they believe it won’t do them any good because their health will deteriorate due to the aging process anyway. Research has proven that fewer than four out of 10 people over the age of 65 exercise on a semi-frequent basis. Combine this exercise apathy with the fact that many people in this demographic think that their health problems are due to “old age” and we have an easily reversible situation. Because it’s illness that affects old adults, and it’s illness that can be prevented through routine exercise.
Basically, believing that illness is inevitably associated with old age is not correct and avoiding exercise because of this misapprehension is downright dangerous. The researchers proved this with a survey of more than 630 people aged 65 and older who answered questions on their aging expectations and how many minutes they spent doing a variety of aerobic exercise per week, such as walking, swimming, biking, etc. They found that 40% of seniors said they did less than 30 minutes of this kind of activity during the previous week and 20% said they’d done no exercise in the past week.
Boiling down the results, the researchers found that those who expected their health to decline as they grew older were more likely to spend less time exercising. Not surprisingly, these same people had poorer health, less function, more pain, more fatigue, and generally looked older. All of this could improve by simply engaging in a bit of activity every day.
Old age is a poor excuse for not exercising. If you are interested in exercising more, but your health is not in tip- top form, it’s important to speak to your doctor about activities that are safe and effective to do. Together, you and your doctor can come up with a fitness plan that works. It will be well worth it.
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Tags: age spots, exercise
