By: Joann Bally CSCS
The Physical Activity Guidelines we discussed in the last article have their own version for older adults. This was not in the 1995 recommendations. They are similar but not identical to the general recommendations, as you see below.
1. Maintain a physically active lifestyle.
2. Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for at least 30 min. 5 days/week or vigorous activity 20 min. 3 days/wk. On a scale of 0 (sitting) to 10 (all-out effort), moderate would be 5 or 6, producing noticeable increase in heart rate and breathing, and vigorous is 7 or 8, with a larger increase in HR and breathing.
3. Moderate and vigorous can be combined, as in the general recommendations, and these activities are in addition to light activities of daily life.
4. At least twice a week, on non-consecutive days, do muscle strengthening exercise. Effort should be moderate to high; recommendations are 8-10 exercises of 10-15 repetitions.
5. Older adults who wish to can do more than the minimum requirements for further improvement in fitness and reduction of disease risk.
6. Older adults should do activities that promote flexibility at least 2 days a week for at least 10 minutes/day.
7. Those at risk of falling should do exercises that maintain or improve balance.
8. Those who have medical conditions for which exercise is therapeutic should perform physical activity in a way that safely and effectively treats the conditions.
9. Older adults should have a plan for obtaining sufficient activity to meet each recommendation.
The major differences with the general recommendations are adding flexibility, adding balance and therapeutic exercises for those who need them, using more reps in strength training, and using the scale for aerobic activity. We should be careful of assuming that something changes making a person more fragile on their 65th birthday. There are people in their 80s who run marathons or enter power lifting competitions, and there are younger people who can hardly walk a mile without being exhausted. The use of the scale for aerobic activity is so you can judge what is moderate or vigorous for you. This is appropriate for younger people who are out of shape for whatever reason, and the master’s athletes can just keep on with what they are doing.
These recommendations do not give specific guidelines for weight gain or loss, but the text of the article refers to some from the Institute of Medicine report and International Association for the Study of Obesity. It boils down to this: moderate activity of 45 to 60 minutes a day, plus calorie control, is necessary to prevent overweight or obesity, and 60-90 minutes moderate (or less if vigorous) activity is required to keep from regaining substantial weight lost. So if you’ve read that it’s been discovered that 30 minutes/day isn’t enough to prevent obesity, it wasn’t meant to; it’s for health and disease prevention.
There’s another recommendation worth noting that is not in these guidelines but we have written about it before: 10,000 steps a day. This is popular, and if that is what motivates you, keep it up. If you achieve this goal, there are many health benefits and you can keep your weight in check.
Almost everyone, excluding those with certain medical conditions (ask your doc), should exercise, no matter how old you are or how long it’s been since you’ve done anything active. Find what you like, work up slowly if you’re out of shape, and be consistent. No excuses.
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