The Aging Dance

Let’s be honest, aging is not for the faint of heart. We spend most of our time as kids wishing we were old enough to do the things we want to do, go the places we want to go and make our own decisions. Then, once we reach a certain point, we spend time being envious of our younger years - when we could eat what we wanted to, stay out until the wee hours of the morning (and still have energy to take on the next day), and run around or do a new activity with no training and not be too sore to move the next day! Our health and fitness also didn’t seem to slide backwards quite so quickly when we took time off. Now it doesn’t seem to take long at all for our body to misplace the gains that took months for us to get. Injuries don’t heal as quickly and we need to make more of a conscious effort to stick to our healthy habits in order to see the benefits. You could say it feels like we must constantly swim against the tide that’s trying to pull our bodies down. 

So what’s up with our body needing so much babysitting when we get older? Like most things, it’s a combination of factors. We’ve often accumulated a fair bit of stress and a least a little bit of emotional trauma, so we’ve likely got a bit of inflammatory chemicals on board. We’re often juggling a medical condition or two. Our body is not quite as forgiving when it comes to overuse injuries as it seems like they are quicker to appear - and take their sweet time healing. And sometimes, we let the tide of ageing pull us into not doing much anymore, and we know by now that when we sit around and don’t stimulate our mind or our body, our fine oiled parts start accumulating some rust - that applies not only to our joints, but to the gears in our brains as well! Do nothing and we let our reduced ability to heal quickly, our slower metabolism and increased cell breakdown get the best of us. Pretend like we’re 20 and we’ll wind up exhausted, injured, frustrated and out of commission. So while it is important to acknowledge that we may need to modify our expectations for our body and give ourselves a little grace and a lot more time for preparation, we must also be sure that we aren’t just allowing ourselves to be pulled down by the tide of the aging process. Like most things in life, the answer to aging optimally lies in a balance.

Here’s just a few thoughts to keep in mind to help you swim against that tide!

Maintain/Gain strength: One of the most important aspects of fitness that we need to keep in mind as we age is the importance of strength training. Maintaining our strength as we age is critical, not only for injury prevention but eventually also for independence. Once we have lost our ability to stand up out of a chair and walk a few steps, the tide starts coming in on us quickly. So spend a bit of time at least a couple days a week on strengthening exercises, especially those that focus on the big muscle groups - like squats. If you can, mix in some balance training with your strength training. This can be slipped in easily by doing some upper body exercises while standing on one leg or on a bosu ball - or just take a few minutes to work on your balance during your warm up or cool down. 

Stay loose: Flexibility is an important aspect of fitness that is often overlooked - until we reach that point when we feel stiff all the time! When we’re young, it seems our tissues are a bit more supple, so as we flip the pages of the calendar, we need to spend a bit more time on flexibility by adopting a stretching routine or perhaps participating in practices like yoga or tai chi. If we can’t achieve this on dry land, aqua therapy can be incredibly beneficial (especially when first starting out) as we have a bit less gravity to contend with.

Do weight-bearing exercise: Maintaining bone density is important to reduce our fracture risk as we age - especially for women as hormone changes are linked with reduced bone building and faster bone breakdown. This means we can’t always be fish and exercise in the water. Weight bearing exercise and strength training, combined with taking a complete bone supplement (not just calcium) is the best recipe to stave off osteoporosis. 

Cardio: we may need to modify our aerobic fitness choices from when we were young: perhaps going for a run every day is not in the cards. Activities with less impact on the joints such as walking, hiking, biking or swimming and aqua-fit can offer the ability for great exercise with less pounding on the joints. Getting in a bit of higher intensity exercise at least a few times a week can help keep your heat and lungs functioning in top shape. If you are unable to perform higher intensity exercise for a period of time, perhaps due to illness or injury, then try some breathing exercises to ensure that you are completely filling (and emptying) your lungs. It seems bizarre but it is possible to improve your lung function, even while on bed rest. Trying long slow inhales and exhales along with some forceful breathing can help stave off stasis in fluids in the lungs, and can actually help with your aerobic fitness. That way when you’re ready to get back in the game you’re not stating at zero again!

Recovery: We may need some more time to recover between activities or ensure we are participating in a variety of different activities to help prevent overuse injuries. It simply takes your body longer to recover when you’re 70 compared to when you’re 20. So be patient with yourself and build this into your expectations. What you eat matters too -especially as you age. Pizza and hot dogs might have been ok to get you through a high energy birthday party as a kid, but they are not going to be the fuel your body needs to power your activity and recovery now.

Keep your mind sharp: Social interactions and learning new things keep our wiring sharp. Studying an area that interests you, having coffee with friends or doing things like puzzles, sudoku and cross-words can all help keep your mind sharp - use it or lose it doesn’t just apply to the body!

Finally, as an over-arching piece of advice I’d like to suggest that one of the best ways to prepare for getting older, is by staying younger now (no matter what birthday you might be celebrating this year!). If you’re fit in your 20s, your 30s will be easier and if you’re active in your 70s then the 80s aren’t going to phase you quite so much! The best part is that you can always start now to set yourself up for a better year next year. Just because your birth certificate says you’re a year older, doesn’t mean your body needs to feel like it! The hurdles will be there my friend, and I’m not going to sugar coat it and say it will be easy, but it is possible to embrace aging while also fighting the tide that comes with it. Whatever your age, it’s got pros and cons that no other age has so don’t be jumping too far ahead or looking longingly behind. If your body feels old today, listen to what it needs to help you feel younger tomorrow. If you feel young today, then consider what you need to keep doing (or what you need to stop doing) so that you’ll still be feeling young tomorrow too!