These simple tests tell you how well you are aging
If you're in your 50s or 60s try these simple test to ensure that you are maximising your physical capacity to live independently as long as possible. These should be able to done with ease by everyone under 60, and well into the 80s for those who exercise.
Keep Fit and Healthy
Playing soccer with your grandchildren and remaining generally active is something you can look forward to well into your 70s and beyond. |
Falls Cut Your Lifespan
Most hospital admissions for over 65s are for falls, reducing life expectancy by 5 years on average if there is significant mobility damage. |
Lack of Strength Leads to Care
You can add 5 or 10 years to your ability to live independently by paying attention to your fitness and strength and lowering your body age. |
1. Can you get up from a chair with no hands?
This "sit-to-stand" test is used often to test your future life quality. If you can't do this, you're not going to be able to sit on a toilet and get off a toilet or get out of bed or into a car. That means you will be forced to give up independent living. You can rebuild your muscle strength to overcome failure here.
This "sit-to-stand" test is used often to test your future life quality. If you can't do this, you're not going to be able to sit on a toilet and get off a toilet or get out of bed or into a car. That means you will be forced to give up independent living. You can rebuild your muscle strength to overcome failure here.
2. Can you stand on one leg for 10 seconds?
Having good balance as you enter old age is critical. You should be able stand on one foot and hold the other foot off the ground for a count of 10 or longer without holding onto anything. You might not yet think that think tripping is no big deal, but people over 70 are three times more likely to die after a ground level fall than those under 70! Associated with loss of balance is the fact that your fast-twitch muscles, which saved you when you were young, have almost all atrophied by the time you are 60, without specific exercise. You can certainly regain your balance with correct exercise.
Having good balance as you enter old age is critical. You should be able stand on one foot and hold the other foot off the ground for a count of 10 or longer without holding onto anything. You might not yet think that think tripping is no big deal, but people over 70 are three times more likely to die after a ground level fall than those under 70! Associated with loss of balance is the fact that your fast-twitch muscles, which saved you when you were young, have almost all atrophied by the time you are 60, without specific exercise. You can certainly regain your balance with correct exercise.
3. Can you get up off the ground?
Falls are a major problem for seniors who want to “age in place”. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for a senior to fall and be unable to get up afterwards due to a variety of underlying physical problems - even if no serious injury was sustained during the fall. Also, getting down on the floor to role-play and muck around with the grandchildren is great fun, but not if you can't get up again! You should be able to get up with relative ease. If you struggle, then you are again leaving yourself open to the plight of having to enter care, as no-one wants to risk you falling and being stranded. There are many really good progressive exercises you can do to restore your ability to get up off the floor with ease.
Falls are a major problem for seniors who want to “age in place”. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for a senior to fall and be unable to get up afterwards due to a variety of underlying physical problems - even if no serious injury was sustained during the fall. Also, getting down on the floor to role-play and muck around with the grandchildren is great fun, but not if you can't get up again! You should be able to get up with relative ease. If you struggle, then you are again leaving yourself open to the plight of having to enter care, as no-one wants to risk you falling and being stranded. There are many really good progressive exercises you can do to restore your ability to get up off the floor with ease.
4. Can you climb a flight of stairs easily?
Running up stairs one step at a time is something that most 70-year olds are still capable of doing, even if slowly. This not only improves cardiovascular fitness but the exercise and the balance helps activate the neural pathways within the brain and this has been linked to delaying mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Start slowly, gradually, and increase little by little, and you'll be able to progress from faster walking, to walking up stairs to jogging up a few, to eventually running slowly up. Check with your doctor first.
Running up stairs one step at a time is something that most 70-year olds are still capable of doing, even if slowly. This not only improves cardiovascular fitness but the exercise and the balance helps activate the neural pathways within the brain and this has been linked to delaying mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Start slowly, gradually, and increase little by little, and you'll be able to progress from faster walking, to walking up stairs to jogging up a few, to eventually running slowly up. Check with your doctor first.
5. Are you lifting weights?
Strength training - with professional advice - can / should be kept up to a very old age. Strength training rebuilds lost muscle, restores your posture, reduces joint pains, and gives you the ability to do all of the things above. But what most people don't realise that strength training - unlike cardio trianing - also rebuilds your bone density. Stronger bones mean less chance of breaks and more chance of living independently for longer. If you are not regulalry pitting your muscles against a resistance then get professional advice on how to start doing this regularly.
Strength training - with professional advice - can / should be kept up to a very old age. Strength training rebuilds lost muscle, restores your posture, reduces joint pains, and gives you the ability to do all of the things above. But what most people don't realise that strength training - unlike cardio trianing - also rebuilds your bone density. Stronger bones mean less chance of breaks and more chance of living independently for longer. If you are not regulalry pitting your muscles against a resistance then get professional advice on how to start doing this regularly.
Note: If you are generally frail or have lost weight recently this could be a sign of other things going on inside your body, not just a lack of exercise. Have this checked by your medical practitioner before starting exercise.
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What can you do to improve,and what can you aim for?
If you struggle with any of the "tests" above then you can greatly improve by (1) walking regularly, (2) doing some small squats (and building up to the full range over time), (3) starting some planks, and (4) trying push-ups off your knees (or off the wall). Also, swing your arms around your shoulders forwards and then backwards in order to mobilise your shoulders each day, and do easy twists with your feet planted under your shoulders - nothing excessive as you don't want to fall. Try sitting on a Swiss Ball while watching TV - begin with one that has a ring in which the ball sits so that you don't fall. Gradually practice rising and sitting back on the ball. When walking, push harder up any small rises on your route - see if you can raise a sweat. You are aiming to be able to get out of your chair with ease, at least 10 times in 30 seconds, get up off the ground without really noticing it, doing a plank for 30 seconds to 1 minute, and side-planks for 30 seconds, 5 very good form push-ups off your toes, and the ability to skip for 30 seconds easily. This is a target for a 75 year old. 
My training routine is focused on strength training, interval training, functional training (weighted swings and movements), balance training and progressive improvement. I supplement healthy food with high nutrition shakes which improve the natural functioning of my organs and body composition.
Which means at 70 I can, for example, complete 60 perfect-form pushups in one set, run 5km in under 18 minutes, row 1.5km in 6 minutes at maximum resistance on a Concept 2 rowing machine, execute complex intense continuous kettlebell routines for 20-25 minutes, deadlift 150% of my body weight, complete bent-over rows at 110% of my body weight, squat my body weight, front squat 75% of my body weight, and do strict military presses at 60% of my body weight. My bone density is 25% higher than my age group, and 10% higher than the average 25 year old, and my body fat 18% (DEXA scan). Which all just means that I have a strong upright posture and I'm fit for life's everyday movements. You can do the same, all things being equal. The target is actually to lower your body age - which the above exercises do. My body age is about 55. |
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