Want to feel younger? Train for it
Tweaking intensity might keep you feeling youthful in later years
At 48 years old, Russ Hepple is getting faster — not slower — in the pool. He recently swam 50 metres butterfly, touching the wall in 33.5 seconds, a time he says he couldn’t match even in his youth.
An exercise physiologist in the department of Kinesiology and Physical Education at McGill University, Hepple studies aging; in particular, the effects of aging at the cellular level. He’s also part of a new demographic that doesn’t want to spend the second half of their lives with their feet up.
There’s a growing population out there who are pushing not just their physical boundaries but the boundaries of what we know about aging.
The fastest-growing age groups in both marathons and triathlons are the 40-plus crowd. In the Ironman category (3.86 kilometres swimming, 180.25 km cycling and 42.2 km running), the number of finishers over 40 has increased from 25 per cent to 50 per cent in the last 25 years. And runners over 40 currently make up 50 per cent of marathoners in the U.S.
Even more amazing is that this older crowd isn’t shuffling along at the back of the pack. A recent study of more than 900,000 marathon participants revealed that onequarter of runners in their mid- to late 60s posted faster times than half of the runners age 20 to 54.
Researchers believe that running times for men over age 64 and women over 44 have yet to plateau, which means their best performances are still ahead of them.
Triathlon times have seen a similar trajectory, with a seven- to eight-per-cent time improvement for all age groups over 45.
The idea that age isn’t a barrier to athletic success is relatively new and one that health advocates think has benefits beyond the ability to beat a field that is a decade or more younger. The most important aspect of staying competitive is maintaining health and a high level of physical function as the years add up.
So while the traditional view of aging was based solely on chronological years, most experts now consider three distinct variables when evaluating aging; biological, lifestyle and disease.
The biological rate of aging used to be considered fairly consistent regardless of lifestyle. Heart rate slowed, muscle was lost, body fat increased, bones got thinner and connective tissue less compliant, hence the gradual slowing down of a body that was no longer functioning at its peak.
Yet a growing body of active older adults have demonstrated that while physiological changes are inevitable, lifestyle plays a large role in just how quickly and to what degree those age-related changes start happening.
Hepple says inactivity, not age, is at the core of what we previously chalked up to “feeling our years.” And while health advocates have largely touted the diseasefighting benefits of regular exercise, we now know that physical activity can do more than ward off heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
What older athletes are making abundantly clear is that getting better and getting older are not mutually exclusive. And that there’s no expiry date on training like an athlete. In fact, some of the latest research suggests that training like an athlete is what keeps them young.
So while current exercise recommendations promote moderate levels of exercise, age-related physiological decline is best combated by exceeding the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week currently in vogue.
Before you groan, it’s not the amount of exercise that needs adjusting, it’s the intensity that needs tweaking. Higher-intensity exercise will result in stronger bones and muscles as well as less of a decline in aerobic power, as compared to more moderate exercise.
For boomers who are already active, this means turning up the intensity a notch. And for those who have yet to embrace an active lifestyle, it’s not too late to reap the benefits of exercise.
A large survey of runners indicated that up to 25 per cent of marathoners and half-marathoners in their 50s and 60s started training within the past five years. It also indicated that they did it by investing not much more than what the current exercise guidelines recommend. Seventy per cent of the runners surveyed trained an average of three to four times a week for about an hour.
Where does that leave you? Well, if you’re already active, keep it up. The benefits of regular exercise fade quickly, even among those with a lifetime of physical activity in the bank. And if you’re not active, start.
The second recommendation is that you begin adding bursts of high-intensity exercise to your routine. Do some speed intervals during your weekly runs, bike rides or swims. Pick up a heavier pair of dumbbells and try some explosive exercises like box jumps and burpees. Just make sure you add the intensity gradually so that the extra effort isn’t too much of a shock on a body used to a more moderate pace.
It won’t be long before you realize the extra effort is worth it. You will feel more youthful, which is bound to rub off on your outlook on life. Remember, it’s not the number of years that count, it’s how you use them that matters.