EXERCISE IS A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY FOR OLDER ADULTS
But does age warrant a new set of guidelines?
It used to be that the golden years were all about putting your feet up and taking it easy. But that was before exercise was linked to a reduced risk of chronic disease and increased longevity. Being physically active is now considered a vital component of a long and healthy life, and is especially important for older adults, including those who have yet to jump on the exercise bandwagon.
But there's no clear consensus as to what type of physical activity is best suited for older populations looking to take advantage of all that exercise has to offer. Is the non-age-specific recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week the best option? Or are there workout routines that offer better results for older exercisers?
A team of researchers set out to get answers by comparing the long- and short-term results of three exercise routines on a large group of Norwegians aged 70 to 77, divided into three groups. The control group (780 people) was asked to follow the national guidelines for physical activity, which in Norway call for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise most days of the week. The second group (387 people) swapped out two days of the general 30-minute workouts for 50 continuous minutes of exercise performed at an intensity equivalent to 70 per cent of their maximum heart rate. The third group (400 people) was also asked to swap out two days a week of the 30-minute workouts, but their routine consisted of four high-intensity intervals of four minutes performed at 90 per cent of their maximum heart rate. Fitness and health data for all three groups, whose average age was 72.8, was collected at the start of the study and again one, three and five years later.
To ensure the two non-control groups stayed on target, they met regularly with professionals who supervised workouts designed to ensure participants exercised in the appropriate training zone, with intensity measured by heart rate monitors and ratings of perceived exertion. Adherence to the exercise routine was analyzed through self-reporting, with anyone who participated in less than 50 per cent of the workouts considered to be non-compliant. At the end of the study, two physicians analyzed the medical data of all three groups, including any deaths, without knowing which exercise routine they followed.
The researchers anticipated that the two groups that exceeded the national recommendations for physical activity would realize an added boost of longevity, but there were no differences in the mortality rate between those who followed the 30-minute general routine and those who didn't. There was, however, a slight boost in longevity among the high-intensity interval group when compared to the exercisers who performed 50 minutes of continuous moderate-intensity exercise.
The researchers aren't sure why their hypothesis wasn't realized, but suspect it had something to do with the overall good health of the study subjects.
A whopping 80 per cent reported a medium or high level of physical activity at the start of the study, which suggests that exercise was already contributing to their overall health and longevity.
Another finding to consider is that 47 per cent of the exercisers doing the high-intensity interval training stuck with it to the end of the study, compared to the 69 per cent of the controls who kept up their routine for the full five years.
“Participants in the control group did not receive supervised exercise, yet exercised at relatively high levels throughout the five years,” said the researchers.
Another unexpected finding is that peak oxygen uptake, a measure of cardiovascular fitness, showed no age-related decline over the course of the study. This is good news for older exercisers, as a decline in peak oxygen uptake is typical in this age group and is associated with an increased risk of premature death and coronary heart disease.
The bottom line is that there are a number of options for older adults who want to reap all the health benefits physical activity has to offer. It's also clear that for active older adults, judging the effectiveness of a workout by its length or intensity isn't a good practice.
“The central implication is that either shorter-duration vigorous physical activity or longer-duration moderate physical activity or a combination of the two, that amount to the same amount of work each week, will have the same favourable health outcomes, with vigorous physical activity being the time-efficient alternative,” stated the researchers.
So go ahead and pick the workout of your choice — or better yet, mix it up between all three routines featured in this study.
For older adults, not only does exercise have the potential to mitigate several of the negative health conditions associated with aging, it can truly make the latter decades of life golden.