UNDERSTANDING FITNESS
What is fitness?
When the word fitness is used people usually think of younger people, sometimes in lycra or leotards, or as athletes. Fitness is obviously very important to these groups, but fitness is relevant at every age and actually becomes more important and more relevant the longer you live.
In terms of understanding fitness the usual meaning is that a person who is fitter can achieve better performance, for example when saying that people who are fitter can run faster, walk faster, lift heavier weights, bend more, and balance better It is true that one way of measuring fitness is to measure the maximum performance level and that is what people aim for in sport. The fitter people are the less are they are disturbed when they have to do something like run a mile A fit person usually has a lower pulse rate when resting and the pulse rate goes up less and returns to the resting rate faster after exercise. It is sometimes said that they have greater reserve.
Thus fitness has two key components.
These are also the two key features of ageing which is why fitness and ageing are so often confused. What happens is that as we live longer the fitness gap opens up between the best possible rate of ability and the actual rate of ability. For most of us however the fitness gap starts to open up from the day we get our sitting job or the day we buy our first car and often these two go together, with live focused on the computer screen
Why is fitness important?
Fitness is important not just for athletes but for everyone because by increasing activity you can close the fitness gap, at any age and no matter how many long term conditions you have. By closing the fitness gap you can increase your level of ability whatever your age
You will also increase your reserve, a bit like putting some more money in your deposit account, and this will make you more resilient. If you have greater reserve you will respond better to challenges including the challenge of to a period of forced inactivity, like the lockdown or a chest infection like the flu.
The importance of fitness is that its effects are very similar to the effects of ageing which is the process we cannot influence. The downside of this is that this is one reason why the two are often confused, the upside is that you can do something about fitness and therefore you can do something about the changes that many people regard as the inevitable effects of the ageing process namely loss of ability and loss of reserve or the ability to respond to challenges. For this reason increasing fitness is of vital importance in preventing not only diseases such as heart disease and stroke but also in preventing disability, dementia and frailty.
What can you do?
Encouragingly the evidence about the benefits of exercise is much simpler than the evidence about diet and focuses on the ability to increase four aspects of physical fitness all beginning with the letter S
Who is there to help?
regular attendance at a gym or fitness centre will obviously help you focus but so too will programmes like the programme run by AgeUK called Generation Games.
The important point to emphasise however is that it is what you do for yourself every day that is really important and that is where personal trainers are helpful is not only because they can advise on the best types of exercise, but they can help you stay motivated.
Try a gym or fitness centre nearby. They are trying really hard to provide services for people over 55 and change their image and their focus which has up to now been on people under forty . also ask around to find an inspirational teacher of
If you have some health condition which limits exercise then you may want to consult a physiotherapist but they like all other well informed heath professionals are now clear –
What is fitness?
- Key messages
It is almost always a decline in fitness that starts the decline in ability not ageing
fitness has four dimensions – strength, stamina, suppleness and skill
increasing fitness becomes more important every year and with every diagnosis
When the word fitness is used people usually think of younger people, sometimes in lycra or leotards, or as athletes. Fitness is obviously very important to these groups, but fitness is relevant at every age and actually becomes more important and more relevant the longer you live.
In terms of understanding fitness the usual meaning is that a person who is fitter can achieve better performance, for example when saying that people who are fitter can run faster, walk faster, lift heavier weights, bend more, and balance better It is true that one way of measuring fitness is to measure the maximum performance level and that is what people aim for in sport. The fitter people are the less are they are disturbed when they have to do something like run a mile A fit person usually has a lower pulse rate when resting and the pulse rate goes up less and returns to the resting rate faster after exercise. It is sometimes said that they have greater reserve.
Thus fitness has two key components.
- The first is to increase the top level of performance
- The second to provide the person with greater reserve so that they can cope better with a challenge.
These are also the two key features of ageing which is why fitness and ageing are so often confused. What happens is that as we live longer the fitness gap opens up between the best possible rate of ability and the actual rate of ability. For most of us however the fitness gap starts to open up from the day we get our sitting job or the day we buy our first car and often these two go together, with live focused on the computer screen
Why is fitness important?
Fitness is important not just for athletes but for everyone because by increasing activity you can close the fitness gap, at any age and no matter how many long term conditions you have. By closing the fitness gap you can increase your level of ability whatever your age
You will also increase your reserve, a bit like putting some more money in your deposit account, and this will make you more resilient. If you have greater reserve you will respond better to challenges including the challenge of to a period of forced inactivity, like the lockdown or a chest infection like the flu.
The importance of fitness is that its effects are very similar to the effects of ageing which is the process we cannot influence. The downside of this is that this is one reason why the two are often confused, the upside is that you can do something about fitness and therefore you can do something about the changes that many people regard as the inevitable effects of the ageing process namely loss of ability and loss of reserve or the ability to respond to challenges. For this reason increasing fitness is of vital importance in preventing not only diseases such as heart disease and stroke but also in preventing disability, dementia and frailty.
What can you do?
Encouragingly the evidence about the benefits of exercise is much simpler than the evidence about diet and focuses on the ability to increase four aspects of physical fitness all beginning with the letter S
- Strength and power, where power is the ability to use strength quickly
- Suppleness
- Skill
- Stamina
- help people feel better and
- improve brain or cognitive fitness and cognitive reserve not only by the beneficial effects that becoming fitter has on your heart and blood vessels, and therefore on the supply of oxygen to the brain, but also it is now known that physical activity has a direct beneficial effect on brain tissue.
Who is there to help?
regular attendance at a gym or fitness centre will obviously help you focus but so too will programmes like the programme run by AgeUK called Generation Games.
The important point to emphasise however is that it is what you do for yourself every day that is really important and that is where personal trainers are helpful is not only because they can advise on the best types of exercise, but they can help you stay motivated.
Try a gym or fitness centre nearby. They are trying really hard to provide services for people over 55 and change their image and their focus which has up to now been on people under forty . also ask around to find an inspirational teacher of
- Yoga or
- Pilates or
- Tai chi or
- The Alexander technique
If you have some health condition which limits exercise then you may want to consult a physiotherapist but they like all other well informed heath professionals are now clear –
- use it or lose it and
- Use it more and regain it