Mature Adults

Approach

Mature Adults for the purpose of planning exercise and nutrition are defined as those above the age of 50; a group I am happy to belong to and one that requires greater focus on specific needs. I understand and appreciate that you may not want to “smash it!”, “beast yourself” or engage in any exercise style that leaves you unable to walk the following day! Different bodies recover in different ways and will adjust to different training loads; steady, incremental building is often more effective.

While everyone matures at a different rate in different areas, both mentally and physically, the ageing process in general is characterised by progressive loss and decline in the functioning of the skeletal, cardiovascular and neuromuscular systems. These natural changes affect fitness potential and safety during exercise and adaptations may need to be made to training sessions to accommodate specific needs.

The Effects of Ageing

These are highly individual in that people of the same age will not necessarily have the same loss of function. Although most individuals start to notice the effects of ageing around the age of 50; with effects becoming more noticeable and apparent around the age of 65, depending on lifestyle choices and any health conditions, the effects of ageing can show much earlier or later. The progressive decline in functioning can lead to reduced mobility, loss of independence, increased frailty and increased risk of falls and, due to reduced bone density, increased impact from such falls.

The effects of ageing can be detected in all of the body systems with a corresponding decline in physical capacity of 1-2% per year once the process has begun. A decline in things such as flexibility, stability and mobility can make everyday activities harder to perform which will, in turn, likely contribute to the reduction in activity levels.

Ageing is not a disease but simply describes the inescapable (and rather annoying) fact that, with advancing years, the systems of the body start to break down faster than they can be rebuilt. This results in declines in physiological and even psychological fitness which can adversely affect exercise ability and performance. Eventually, these losses lead to increased frailty and an inability to respond to stress and disease.

While even the best exercise program and the healthiest diet cannot halt the ageing process it can be slowed significantly. Sadly, not enough people are taking the right steps to do this.

A Few Facts

Despite the fact that “exercise is good for everybody’s body”, a study by the Health Education Authority (HEA), now called The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence revealed the following:

90% of adults believe that exercise is important however only 40% actually do it
Most adults believe they are active enough to keep fit
80% of adults do not know how much exercise they need to do
70% of men and 80% of women are not active enough to benefit their health
2/3 of women and 1/3 of men find walking briskly uphill for a few minutes very demanding
1/3 of men and 1/2 of women aged 65 to 74 do not have enough strength to lift 50% of their body weight, making everyday tasks like climbing stairs and walking very demanding if not impossible

Recommendations

The amount of exercise necessary to benefit health or benefit health and fitness are two very different things.

Health is an absence of disease whereas fitness is more to do with performance and the ability to perform physical work. It is possible to be very healthy but not fit and fit but not especially healthy so accordingly the exercise prescription for health and fitness differs significantly.

Health (To Reduce Mortality)

Frequency: 5-7 times a week

Intensity: Moderate or 50-70% MHR (Maximum Heart Rate)

Time: 30 minutes in total per day

Type: Any sustained, physically demanding activity using large muscle groups. (Simply being physically active for 30 minutes or more a day provides health benefits e.g. gardening or walking for transport or leisure.)

To Improve Fitness and Reduce Mortality

Frequency: 3-5 times a week

Intensity: Vigorous 60-90% MHR

Time: 20-60 minutes in total per day

Type: Sustained exercise using large muscle groups e.g., jogging, cycling etc.