Am I too old to get in shape?
/No, it’s possible to improve your physical stamina, strength and balance well into your 90s!
No one ever believes this information in part because we have a biases about what’s possible and we don’t know many fit 90 year-olds. I want to share with you some examples.
Edith Murway-Traina is 99 years old and can dead lift 150 pounds and holds the Guinness World Record for her age group. She started weight lifting at 91 – apparently, your never to young to start!
George Corones of Australia swam 50 meter in 56 minutes and 12 seconds when he was 99 years old.
Mary Davison, at 77 years of age, has completed Appalachian, Continental Divide, and Pacific Crest trails, and is now adding the 6,800-mile American Discovery Trail.
99-year-old power lifter Edith Murway lifts 150 pounds & earns Guinness World Record
I tell people all the time that after the age of 40, we all need to start investing in maintaining our muscle mass, balance, endurance, and metabolic fitness. When we maintain our bodies, we maintain our brains.
The key is finding something you enjoy & want to pursue.
If you’re a bit out of shape, I generally recommend starting with power ups:
1. Find 3-5 movement practices you can do easily at home. You can start this today. I chose some videos from Physical Therapist Dr. Jo because I think she has some great safe exercises. You can explore her Youtube channel to find guides for:
Since my motor vehicle accident in 2014, I have been using the Power-Up system to heal. I find five to ten minutes throughout the day to do 2-4 sets of an exercise that I’ve decided to work on or that a physical therapist has assigned. If I find additional time slot, I do the exercise again or a different one.
2. The next step is to start building your walking endurance. I find that when people are averaging 5000 steps per day they start feeling better in their brains and bodies. When this becomes a continuous practice, many people report feeling worse if they miss a day of movement. (But this, on its own, isn’t going to maintain your body systems of muscle, balance, and metabolic resilience.)
3. What to do if you don’t want to do these or they seem too boring to do? I suggest using post-it notes to list all the ways you could possibly move your body, and then put them on a wall. Do this for a month. Every time you hear of someone doing something interesting or learn of a new possibility in your area, write it down on a post-it and leave it on the wall. You’re just collecting ideas in this step, and letting them stew.
After some time has gone by. Choose three that you might try at lease 3 to 5 times per day. Our brains tend to reject new things, so we have to do them a few times before we can decide “yes” or “no”.
Remember – it’s not what you’re doing this week or this month. It’s that you are creating the start of a program that will maintain or improve your energy & mental clarity this year.
If you’re having problems getting started or have injuries, I suggest finding a physical therapist to work with. I used to get stuck in the cycle of signing up for fitness classes and then avoiding them because I was either not fit enough to do them or I would get minor injuries that would take a week to heal. Then I started working with a physical therapist, who I told my goal was to be able to do 10 pushups, 10 squats and a 30 second plank. He assessed my deficits and is helping me build the muscles to be able to do that. It’s a realistic and healthy goal for my current fitness level.
What is realistic & healthy for your current fitness level?
It’s better to start where you’re AT then where you want to be.
Check out these two related articles and studies:
(1) EatingWell recently posted an article about the benefits of Micro Workouts, or what they call “Exercise Snacks” and we call Power-Ups. These include activities that are challenging enough to jack up your heart rate, but only for a minute or less at a time—such as 20 seconds of squat jumps, stair climbing, burpees or a fast 60-second run down your block.
“Increasing your cardiorespiratory fitness can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.” — Dr. Martin Gibala
(2) The University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) at the Ostwestfalen-Lippe campus recently published a study (9 June 2021 in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry) that shows the dual beneficial effect of physical activity in depression.
One of the key findings is that exercise – or movement – is an effective way to promote motivation and togetherness.
This study showed that the brain’s ability to change is lower in people with depression. Following the program with physical activity, this ability to change increased significantly. At the same time, depressive symptoms decreased in the group.