Move More, Age Better: How Exercise Can Slow Down the Aging Process

The small things you started doing differently

You take the handrail now. You think about the step down off the curb. Getting up off the floor after playing with a grandchild takes a plan and a nearby chair.

None of that arrived on a particular day. It crept in, and the easiest explanation was the one everybody offers: you are just getting older.

Age is real. It is also not the whole story, and it is not the part you can do anything about. The part you can change is what you ask your body to do this week.

What actually changes with age

The population is getting older fast. By 2050 the number of adults over 65 is expected to double to 1.5 billion, and the number over 80 to triple to 426 million. That makes honest guidance on aging well more useful than it has ever been.

Left alone, several things drift in the same direction:

• Muscle loss. Sarcopenia shrinks and weakens muscle, which makes daily tasks harder and raises the risk of falls, fractures, and lost independence.
• Stiff, sore joints. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis make movement harder, so you move less, which makes the joints stiffer still.
• Heart and metabolic risk. Cardiovascular disease and conditions like diabetes become significantly more likely with age.
• Memory and sharpness. Cognitive decline tends to arrive gradually, making simple tasks feel harder.
• Balance and frailty. As strength, balance, and flexibility fade, getting around takes more effort and sometimes takes help.

What movement does about it

The anti-aging aisle is full of supplements, tonics, and creams. We are in no position to judge those. We can say that one intervention has a mountain of evidence behind it, and it is free: movement.

A recently published study describes exercise as working like medicine for aging bodies, changing what happens inside cells and slowing the process down. Practically, here is what it buys you:

• Stronger muscle and bone. Resistance work builds muscle and loads bone, and that is what keeps stairs, groceries, and getting off the floor easy.
• A protected heart. Regular activity lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Anything that raises your heart rate counts.
• A sharper brain. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and improves memory and thinking. Coordination-heavy activities like dancing and tai chi have been shown to help protect against memory problems.
• Better balance. Balance work, from standing on one foot to yoga, improves stability, and stability is what keeps a stumble from becoming a fracture.
• A better mood. Activity lifts mood and reduces stress, anxiety, and depression, all common in later life.

How much, honestly

Health organizations generally recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate activity each week, brisk walking for example, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity like jogging. Add strength work for the major muscle groups twice a week, plus something regular for balance and flexibility.

Do not let the numbers put you off. Aerobic activity includes gardening and housework, and starting under the target and building up beats not starting.

When to get it looked at first

• Pain that has already changed how you walk, or how far.
• A fall, or a near-fall you have not told anyone about.
• Dizziness or unsteadiness when you stand up or turn your head.
• A knee or hip that hurts every time you try to do more.
• Weakness on one side, or a leg that feels unreliable.

Any of those means the plan needs building around you rather than copied from a leaflet. In Louisiana no physician referral is needed to start.

Whether you are in your 50s, 60s, or well past that, it is not too late to begin. Another year of taking the handrail is not a plan.

See how we treat balance and gait disorders and arthritis, read about therapeutic exercise, or request an appointment and build your program one-on-one with a licensed physical therapist.