Reno A4L is dedicated to presenting you the latest scientific findings on fitness and aging. We believe, that for you to take charge of your personal aging process, that you need to understand what happens to your body with age.
People start to get worse about age 30 and it becomes really noticeable about age 50. Age starts to limit their life at age 60 and most people fall off a cliff at age 70. You need to understand what science says about this process and what you can do about it.
It starts in your 30s or 40s when your muscles start to die and are replaced by fat. Weight gain accelerates with age, and by age 60, mobility starts to decline because balance and flexibility depend on healthy muscles and joints. Loss of mobility and balance means less exercise and additional weight. By age 70, a heavier body supported by dying muscles, joints and bones increases the chance of falling and decreases the inability to get up unassisted from the floor or a chair. Compromised mobility leads to insecurity and a sense of vulnerability as falls become unavoidable. Falls mean broken bones and joints, incomplete recoveries, canes, walkers, wheelchairs and assisted living. Don’t let this happen to you!
After age 30, assuming an average level of activity, we lose about 1% of our muscle a year. Accumulated muscle loss over years results in body weakness, loss of balance and the eventual loss of self sufficiency. Also, since muscle (not fat) is responsible for burning calories, our lost muscle is replaced by gained fat, leading to increased body weight supported by weakened muscles.
Loss of bone density accelerates with age and is made worse with a decrease in load bearing exercise. Joint flexibility and strength decline along with bone and muscle loss. These combined losses result in increased back, knee and hip problems in the 50s and beyond.
Pretty much all body systems and functions including our immune system decline with age. We will bring you new scientific findings as they occur and interpret them for your use.
The aging process can be dramatically reduced and even reversed with proper exercise. In fact, science tells us that age 80 can be as youthful and active as age 50 with the proper planning and commitment. If you choose to take charge of your body, and it is your choice, successful aging is possible.
How can you take charge of your body as you age? Good news! There is overwhelming consistency of scientific agreement that you can reverse the aging process in critical aging parameters, those that allow you to reach 80 in good shape. The benefits of aerobic training, such as running and biking, in the development of cardio vascular, pulmonary and body endurance capabilities are well documented.
More recently the critical importance of strength training, especially in the treatment of aging, has become widely acknowledged in geriatric research. This has paralleled the recognition of the disastrous impact on body function of rapid muscle loss starting in the 30s: the amazing success of strength training in rebuilding lost muscle; and the importance of strong muscles and joints in maintaining high metabolism and body control and balance to avoid falls.
A yet more recent realization among geriatric researchers (more ancient among eastern tradidions) is the importance of yoga type exercise in maintaining joint mobility and body dexterity.
Taking charge of your body simply requires you to incorporate these activities into a program of lifetime fitness, and to deftly avoid the obstacles that life puts in your way (see question 2).
The book Bending the Aging Curve (Joe Signorile) describes this concept. This book and other supporting research can be found on this site under the Aging Research Categories: Muscle Strength, Joint Flexibility, And Cardiac HealthWhat are the obstacles to achieving a long and healthy life?
Some of life’s roadblocks, designed to prevent you from getting to 80, are obvious, such as bad diet and obesity. In a nutshell eat wisely to avoid gaining weight. OK, this does involve some planning and commitment, but so does lifetime fitness and life in general.
Some obstacles to reaching 80 are subtile such as attitude and motivation. Recent findings prove conclusively that when it comes to healthy aging, a positive attitude is everything. And when you start to plan to save for retirement and commit to life long fitness, the psychological behavior tendency called “present bias” can prevent you from ever implementing your plans.
Two of the roadblocks to reaching 80 are absolutely stealthy. Who knew that bad sleep habits could do you in (recent research has implicated loss of sleep as possible contributor to Alzheimers)? Or that an aging immune system is only 25% as effective as a younger one? And who knew that in both cases we can do something about it it?
We are living longer for a number of reasons the foremost being advancements in medical technology. Unfortunately we are not as successful at keeping ourselves fully functional to the end, able to independently take care of ourselves. The medical term for our long pre-death decline in health and independence is morbidity. Our personal goal should be to make this period of decline as short as possible. Shortening this period is called compression of morbidity. We should all strive to live long and die quickly!
In his book, Modern Death, Haider Warraich MD details the impact of modern medicine on the way we die. Medical technology has made it possible to keep people alive long after their quality of life has vanished. (to quote the song Jack and Diane “life goes on after the thrill of living is gone”). We want to convince you that the thrill of living doesn’t have to disappear!
At the point of death, many people have been hanging on for years, at the mercy of life prolonging machines and the end-of-life care industry.
So while doctors can keep you alive longer, it is up to you to make sure that your additional years are happy and functional.
There is an abundance of recently completed and ongoing research on the last 10 years of life. We are committed to keep you updated on this rapidly growing field of science. And our focus will always be, what can you do to prevent these end-of-life horror stories. The book Modern Death and other books and studies will be summarized and interpreted for your ease of understanding on this page under the Aging Research Categories: Extending Lifespan and Extending Independent Living.
