The 60s Surprising

If you’re in your 60s, you’ll probably be hearing that you should slow down, or even stop certain kinds of exercise. But you should know that in your age bracket, the biggest killer of men in the UK is heart disease. A new study, published in the European Heart Journal,

tracked over one million people aged 60 and over, and found that stopping exercise increased heart

disease risk by 27 per cent. Conversely, increasing physical activity led to an 11 per cent drop in heart disease risk, so this is definitely not the time to retire from training.

Strength training in your sixties is also surprisingly beneficial, particularly if you do a good balance of stabilising and muscle-maintenance workouts. That will keep the muscles supporting your joints in good nick, making injuries less likely. If you are willing and able to keep up the resistance work, one or two exercises should be performed for each muscle group, leaving free weights aside and focusing on machines, with controlled range of motion.

If you’re coming back to fitness after years out, you should consult your GP before any intense workouts, to check for any problems with your cardiovascular system. And take heart from the other finding of the German study into marathon runners: 25 per cent of the 65 to 69-year-old runners were faster than 50 per cent of the 20 to 54-year-olds.