Key to health in old age? Tailor-make your fitness regime
TAILORED exercise regimes are the best way to keep pensioners fit and healthy, research reveals.
Men prefer cycling or jogging while dancing and walking are more popular with women.
A study of more 1,500 Norwegians in their 70s found dramatic differences in their choice of training. And almost two-thirds only exercised outside, in winter as well as summer. Movement scientist Line Reitlo, of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, said: “Their preference for the outdoors indicates that it’s important to establish good training areas for our elders.
“Since walking is the most popular form of exercise, for example, it could be a good idea to create more recreation trails. But a lot of seniors find other types of exercise attractive and we also observed some gender differences. This suggests we should offer different types of activities so that they meet the needs of as many elders as possible.”
Men tend to train with greater intensity and a higher proportion of their workouts included jogging, cycling and cross-country skiing. Women were more likely to choose dance and walking. Ms Reitlo said: “We also found older women exercise with others more often than older men do. Whereas women chose to train with others for almost 60 per cent of the sessions, men only chose to do this 40 per cent of the time.”
Earlier this year a study of almost 8,000 older Britons earlier showed half an hour of any level of daily exercise was linked to a 17 per cent less risk of a premature death.
Previous research has shown it has as powerful an effect on life expectancy as giving up smoking. In the first analysis of its kind, Ms Reitlo’s team identified activities older adults choose and who is most prone to drop out of a programme. She said: “Information about what older adults prefer enables us to tailor exercise programmes to appeal to seniors.”
The findings are based on two studies published in the journal BMC Geriatrics based on a programme called Generation 100, an exercise plan that has run for five years. Volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two exercise groups in which they undertook moderate or high intensity sessions twice a week.
The volunteers were asked to fill out exercise logs documenting how long their workouts lasted, how hard they exercised, what activities they performed, where they exercised and whether they were training alone or with another person.
Only 15 per cent of the participants quit the programme in the first three years – a much lower proportion than in most previous studies involving older people.
Official advice in the UK recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week in the over-65s. But almost half do none whatsoever.
The British Heart Foundation says: “It’s just as important to be active as you get older and it’s never too late to start.
“Physical activity can help you avoid a range of health conditions including heart and circulatory diseases.”