Physical activity in old age - How to get fit and feel great

No matter when you start, physical activity will always be effective in improving your physical abilities, boosting self-confidence, and elevating mood, while significantly improving overall health. It helps improve physical capabilities and maintain a healthy weight, reduces risks of chronic diseases, strengthens the immune system, and improves mental and emotional functioning - as long as you persist and adjust the effort level to your health condition rather than your physiological age. With the help of Dr. Itai Ziv - professional manager of advanced training courses for fitness instructors at the Levinsky-Wingate Academic Center, we debunk a series of myths on the subject and explain how you can achieve great fitness even over the age of 60.

Myth: It's forbidden to train intensely at an older age

Many older people don't train with sufficient intensity. For example, some perform very light exercises, in studio classes or at home, characterized by low intensity and a number of repetitions that is not suitable for achieving training goals. As a result, the workout doesn't sufficiently contribute to reducing physiological age, improving strength and muscle mass, maintaining bone health, increasing metabolism, or weight loss. It's important to remember that with age, the basic metabolic rate (BMR) decreases, leading to lower caloric expenditure. Additionally, the availability of options for physical activity decreases, and an unbalanced diet including eating out and traveling abroad contributes to weight gain and increased subcutaneous fat percentages. This obesity affects quality of life, impacts physical aesthetics, and can lead to deterioration in balance, coordination, and cause clumsy movement, which increases the risk of falls and related injuries.

So what should be done? It's important that workouts in the gym, studio, or at home include exercises with appropriate load and correct number of repetitions, which doesn't always happen. It should be noted that there's no problem performing different types of workouts, such as weight training, weightlifting, or exercises in parks, on the beach, or at home. The main thing is not the location or equipment, but the type of exercise, load level, frequency, and scope. It's important to avoid low-load workouts or overly simple exercises, and to use weights that require real effort, making it difficult to perform 20, 25, or even 30 repetitions.

Myth: All types of yoga contribute equally to improving physical ability

Relying on Pilates, yoga, and Feldenkrais as the main workout in old age - these workouts can certainly improve physical abilities in old age. At the same time, it's important to remember that not all types of yoga contribute equally to physical improvement. There are more challenging methods, such as Ashtanga yoga. This is a dynamic and intensive yogic method that focuses on practicing a fixed series of exercises performed at a fast pace. It includes a combination of physical movements, precise breathing, and mental concentration, aiming to improve strength, flexibility, endurance, and a healthy lifestyle. Alongside it, there are other methods such as Sivananda, which are not necessarily suitable for strengthening the musculoskeletal system or increasing basic metabolism. This method focuses on reducing stress and improving overall health through a series of basic exercises, breathing techniques, and guided imagery. It's considered a more relaxed approach, with emphasis on physical strengthening, flexibility, and mental relaxation. Sivananda yoga also includes elements of meditation and balanced diet.

Pilates is also a very effective tool for improving physical fitness, but it's important to understand the purpose of the workout and which exercises are used to achieve it: if focusing mainly on stretching and less on strengthening, it will be difficult to achieve goals such as increasing metabolism and positively affecting bone density.

So what should be done? Adapt the method in which you train to the defined need, with the help of a professional and a professional trainer.

Myth: It's forbidden to perform high-pulse workouts

There's a prevention of performing high-pulse workouts in old age due to a dramatic increase in the risk of cardiovascular events: such as heart attacks or strokes.

So what should be done? There's no prevention, to also perform high-pulse workouts, above 75% of the maximum, if there's no limiting health problem, workouts such as uphill training, stairs, fartlek (changing running rhythms) and more. The improvement in aerobic physical ability can be dramatic and there will be an impact on many other components. In these workouts, we also activate much more the white muscle fibers that are so important to preserve because with age not only does their number decrease - but also their function. If appropriate quality workouts are not performed, the white muscle fibers will not function as before.

Myth: Complex exercises such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, and standing rows with a bar are necessarily not suitable for older adults.

Squat is a very common resistance exercise for strengthening the lower body. It's a complex (multi-joint) exercise that activates the ankle, knee, and hip joints when performed. The main active muscles in the exercise are the quadriceps and the gluteus maximus. By adding weight using hand weights or an Olympic bar, resistance can be increased, thereby raising the difficulty level when performing the exercise. As mentioned,

So what should be done? Contrary to the mistaken belief, in practice, these exercises themselves are not problematic, but rather the chosen load. When the load is properly adjusted, there's no prevention to performing these exercises on a regular basis. It's also important to prefer standing exercises rather than sitting or lying down, unless there are medical limitations requiring it. Additionally, it's important to include exercises aimed at preventing falls and strengthening stabilizing muscles. Performing 2-3 quality strength workouts per week can lead to excellent results even among older adults. Along with this, with advancing age, the rate of deterioration in the function of various body systems may be faster. Therefore, it's important to be aware of physical and health changes and perform regular check-ups. Blood tests, for example, are recommended once a year, and stress tests and bone density tests should be performed on average once every six months. It's also recommended to monitor metrics such as lean/fat body mass, body weight, and circumferences every two weeks with a professional. This way, problems can be identified at an early stage, when treatment may be simpler and more effective.

In conclusion, the medical team of the luxury retirement home network, 'Ad 120', unequivocally states that consistent performance of physical activity is a 'huge' gift you can give yourself. There's no better time to start than now. Not tomorrow, but - right now.

This article was written in cooperation with The AD 120 Chain of Retirement Centers for Senior Citizens