As I pointed out in post one on exercise for Boomer Grandmas in 2016, at the beginning of every New Year the news media is all about diet and exercise. We pay attention and start to diet and start to exercise and by the end of the year we realize we did little more than the year before.
This the second of three posts about exercise, and effect upon diet and effect of diet, the whys and wherefores, and then suggestions for us Boomer Grandmas and, of course, our precious grandchildren.
THE BEST 2015 ADVICE FOR DIET AND EXERCISE IS THIS GRANDMA’S 2015 POST
This Grandma does not need to repeat what advice still holds as true for diet and exercise combined for a healthy lifestyle. Just read this link.
This year, as Part ONE gives us, this Boomer Grandma paid attention and collected articles all year long which add new and more to the exercise realm. By the end of 2015, there were several studies about fitness, as always. This time the studies were of great interest to Boomers, seemingly de-emphazing the grit and intensity necessary to stay fit. This Grandma was sure the studies were written by Boomer researchers. Gretchen Reynolds, who has written about exercise and fitness for a decade for the Times, in “Exercise on the Brain,” New York Times, December 29, 2015, reviewed and summarized all the studies which this Grandma religiously read and kept to share with you all in posts, now about the how and wherefores:
HOW MUCH AEROBIC FITNESS: 150 MINUTES PER WEEK OF MODERATE EXERCISE FOR BENEFIT UP TO A LITTLE MORE THAN AN HOUR A DAY FOR OPTIMUM BENEFIT
According to Gretchen Reynolds in “The Right Dose of Exercise for A Longer Life,” April 15, 2015:
“Anyone who is physically capable of activity should try to “reach at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week and have around 20 to 30 minutes of that be vigorous activity,” says Klaus Gebel, a senior research fellow at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, who led the second study. And a larger dose, for those who are so inclined, does not seem to be unsafe, he said.”
In the study . . .
“They found that, unsurprisingly, the people who did not exercise at all were at the highest risk of early death. But those who exercised a little, not meeting the recommendations but doing something, lowered their risk of premature death by 20 percent. Those who met the guidelines precisely, completing 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise, enjoyed greater longevity benefits and 31 percent less risk of dying during the 14-year period compared with those who never exercised. The sweet spot for exercise benefits, however, came among those who tripled the recommended level of exercise, working out moderately, mostly by walking, for 450 minutes per week, or a little more than an hour per day. Those people were 39 percent less likely to die prematurely than people who never exercised. At that point, the benefits plateaued, the researchers found, but they never significantly declined.”
FAST OR SLOW? STROLL, WALK, OR RUN? WALK AT A BRISK PACE!
According to Gretchen Reynolds in “Slow Runners Come Out Ahead,” February 4, 2015:
“The ideal amount of running for someone who wants to live a long and healthy life is less than most of us might expect, according to a new study, which also suggests that people can overdo strenuous exercise and potentially shorten their lives. There is increasing consensus among physicians and exercise scientists that people should exercise intensely at least sometimes. Past studies have found, for instance, that walkers who move at a brisk pace tend to live longer than those who stroll, even if they cover about the same distance.”
“So the message of this study remains that sweaty exercise is generally healthy and desirable – but a little sweat goes a long ways. Even slow jogging counts as “vigorous exercise,” Mr. Marott said and, as this study showed, can lengthen lifespans.”
FOOT AND ANKLE STRENGTH TRAINING EXERCISES TO KEEP US FROM GETTING SLOWER
According to Gretchen Reynolds in “Why Runners Get Slower With Age (and How Strength Training May Help), September 9, 2015:
We slow down with age.
“That process intrigued Paul DeVita, a professor of kinesiology at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and president of the American Society of Biomechanics. In 2000, he and his colleague Tibor Hortobagyi published a famous study showing that older people, when they walk, take shorter steps than younger walkers, and rely less on the muscles around their ankles and more on the muscles around their hips to complete each stride than do younger walkers. . . .
The older runners used their ankle muscles less but not other muscles more. Instead, they simply slowed down. In many ways, this shift away from reliance on the lower-leg muscles during running makes physiological sense, Dr. DeVita said. There is evidence, he said, that those muscles age earlier than other muscles in the body do, with connections between cells in those muscles and the nervous system faltering and the muscles’ repair systems weakening earlier than in other muscles. “Achilles’ tendon and calf injuries tend to increase” as runners get older, he pointed out, probably because those tissues become particularly fragile.”
“To lessen the chance of such injuries and potentially also maintain more of our speed as the years pass, he said, we probably should consider strengthening our calf and ankle flexor muscles. (The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends a variety of such exercises online.)”
MAKE THE FOOT AND ANKLE CONDITIONING PROGRAM A HABIT
The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons Foot and Ankle Conditioning Program at Ortho Info is amazingly easy and some of it can be done in bed or while watching television. It is a must do. Remember, it takes three months to create a habit! Make it a habit to do with the grandchildren.
WALK OR CLIMB STAIRS OR BOTH
According to Gretchen Reynolds in “Ask Well: A Long Walk or A Short Stair Climb?” October 1, 2015:
“Question: Every morning I have a choice: climb 60 stairs to get to my office, or walk down the hall, take the elevator to the third floor, and walk back – about 200 steps total. So which is better for my health, steps or stairs?”
“Answer: In the broadest terms, there is no wrong selection here, since both walking – even a few hundred steps – and climbing the stairs are better for your health than avoiding physical activity altogether. But if you want to get picky about which is healthier, go for the stairs, says Martin Gibala, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.”
“The relative effort required to ascend the stairs would be higher than for walking on flat ground,” he said. In fact, according to recent estimations, slowly climbing stairs demands almost twice as much energy per minute as does walking along a flat surface at an everyday (not brisk) pace. In practical terms, those numbers mean that you can burn nearly twice as many calories per minute climbing the stairs as strolling down the hall. Even descending the stairs requires more calories, per minute, than walking over flat ground.”
“The added intensity of stair climbing also increases cardiovascular fitness more effectively than the same amount of time spent walking, Dr. Gibala said. Plus, you activate and strengthen more muscles in your legs and back while climbing and descending stairs than you do while strolling, and may subtly improve your balance. Over all, Dr. Gibala said, “when you climb stairs compared to when you walk along a hallway, you get more `bang'” from the same number of minutes spent moving.”
ADD WEIGHT TRAINING FOR WEIGHT MAINTENANCE AND INCREASE STAMINA TO KEEP WALKING
According to Gretchen Reynolds in “How Weight Training Can Help You Keep The Weight Off,” January 28, 2015:
“Exercise may help people avoid regaining weight after successful dieting, according to a new study. It shows that exercise can crucially alter the body’s response to weight loss and potentially stop unwanted pounds from creeping back on. The study, published this month in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, offers rare good news about exercise and body weight. As readers of the Phys Ed column know, the relationship between the two is tangled. Multiple past studies have found that exercise alone – without food restriction – rarely reduces weight and frequently adds pounds, since many people feel hungry after workouts and overeat.”
“In general, most nutrition experts agree that to lose weight, you must reduce calories, whether you exercise or not. Take in fewer calories than your body burns and by the ineluctable laws of math, you will drop pounds. Unfortunately, that same heartless math dictates that weight loss then makes it difficult to stay thin. After losing weight, your body burns fewer calories throughout the day than it did before, because you have less body mass using energy. Meanwhile, for reasons that are not fully understood, many people become more sedentary after they lose weight.”
“ Studies show that non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or N.E.A.T. – a measure of how much energy people use to stand, fidget, walk to the car and otherwise move around without formally exercising – often declines substantially after weight loss, perhaps because the body thinks you are starving and directs you to stay still and conserve energy. The upshot is that successful dieters typically burn fewer calories each day than they did when they were heavier, which sets them up for weight regain.”
“Those who lifted weights also, interestingly, tended to have better walking economy; movement felt easier for them than it did before the weight loss. Over all, the data suggest that exercise — and, in particular, weight training — after weight loss prompts people to move more throughout the day, said Gary R. Hunter, a distinguished professor in the department of human studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and lead author of the study. As a result, they burn more calories and, with some discipline about food intake, should stave off weight regain.”
OUR GENETIC MAKEUP MAY MEAN WE NEED TO CHANGE THINGS UP IN OUR EXERCISE ROUTINE
According to Gretchen Reynolds in “Exploring why some people get fitter than others,” April 29, 2015:
“He also pointed out that the interplay of genes and exercise is extremely complex, and scientists are only in the earliest stages of understanding the effects of heredity, environment, nutrition and even psychology in affecting different people’s responses to exercise. . . . But the potential lesson of the new study would seem to be, he said, that we should closely monitor our body’s response to exercise. If after months of training, someone is not able to run any farther than he or she could before, maybe it is time to change the intensity or frequency of the workouts or try something else, like weight training. The genes that control the body’s responses to that activity are likely to be very different than those involved in responses to aerobic exercise, Dr. Wisloff said.”
WHERE TO WALK AND KEEP WALKING FOR OUR MOOD AND BRAIN
According to Gretchen Reynolds in “How Walking In Nature Changes the Brain,” July 22, 2015:
“A walk in the park may soothe the mind and, in the process, change the workings of our brains in ways that improve our mental health, according to an interesting new study of the physical effects on the brain of visiting nature. . . . As might have been expected, walking along the highway had not soothed people’s minds. Blood flow to their subgenual prefrontal cortex was still high and their broodiness scores were unchanged. But the volunteers who had strolled along the quiet, tree-lined paths showed slight but meaningful improvements in their mental health, according to their scores on the questionnaire. They were not dwelling on the negative aspects of their lives as much as they had been before the walk. They also had less blood flow to the subgenual prefrontal cortex. That portion of their brains were quieter. These results “strongly suggest that getting out into natural environments” could be an easy and almost immediate way to improve moods for city dwellers, Mr. Bratman said.”
IF YOU ARE EXTRA MOTIVATED AND OF THE ELECTRONIC ERA THERE ARE FREE APPS FOR A SEVEN MINUTE WORKOUT
The New York Times is offering free apps in 2016 for a seven minute workout and an advanced seven minute workout.
AND EXERCISE KEEPS US FROM GETTING COLDS!
According to Gretchen Reynolds in “How Exercise May Help Us Fight Off Colds, “December 16, 2015”
“Working out could help us fight off colds and other infections, according to a timely new study. The study, which found that regular exercise strengthens the body’s immune system in part by repeatedly stressing it, was conducted in animals. But the results most likely apply to people, the researchers say, and could offer further incentive for us to remain physically active this winter.”
If you have gotten to the end of these two posts on Exercise for Boomer Grandmas in 2016, you don’t need further incentive! This Grandma gives a special thanks to Gretchen Reynolds and the New York Times for keeping me (and us) abreast of what is new in fitness, especially for women Boomers. Remember Part Three for our grandchildren is coming!
FOREVER YOUNG IN MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT! HERE WE FIT BOOMER GRANDMAS COME IN 2016! EXERCISE BRINGS HAPPINESS AND GOOD HEALTH AND
Joy,
Mema
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