If you’re a senior looking for a gym, don’t be put-off by all the testosterone-driven, muscle-bulging youngsters. You have a right to good health and fitness and everyone starts somewhere. Remember the tortoise. You want to be among those who live longer…. In the war on aging, nothing beats strength training. It’s the single most effective way for seniors to create younger-looking bodies by overcoming the loss of muscle (atrophy) and loss of bones (osteoporosis). Lifting and pulling weights builds muscles,… Of all the different exercise routines, the most important for aging seniors is strength training. Seniors should spend at least two or three days a week building muscle by lifting or pulling weights. It not only creates younger-looking bodies but actually improves… I don’t understand what the hullaballoo is all about. I drink diet sodas. And I sweeten my coffee with Stevia. So far, I haven’t read any research that concludes that non-sugar sweeteners (NSSs) are harmful to health. Yet some of my senior friends tell me I’m playing… Fasting? I don’t want to lose weight. However, from what I’ve been been reading, intermittent fasting, IF, is being used by body-builders, to keep lean tissue and build muscle. So maybe fasting for seniors could be valuable for aging people? It turns out,…

I have posted a number of blog posts surrounding the effects of the mitochondria have on aging cells. In this post I will attempt to clarify the why you should care about these cellular activities. Please forgive me for droning on this subject; however, Dr. Patsi and I believe that understanding this information may be THE KEY to reversing some of the causes of aging and more importantly, fending off senior-related diseases.

Damage and subsequent dysfunction in mitochondria is an important factor in a range of human diseases due to their impact on cell metabolism. Mitochondria are found inside the nucleus of every cell of the body except red blood cells.

Mitochondria are responsible for creating more than 90% of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. When they fail, less energy is generated within the cell. Cell injury and even cell death follow. If this process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail, and life is severely compromised.

Today most scientists agree that vigorous exercise for seniors can reverse the damage to the mitochondria and promote the energy supply necessary to support your cells. Damage and dysfunction in the mitochondria contribute to 70% of the diseases associated with aging.

Causes of Aging: Oxidative Stress

Another major cause of aging is “oxidative stress.” It is the damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids (fats) caused by oxidants, which are highly reactive substances containing oxygen. These oxidants are produced normally when we breathe, and also result from inflammation, infection, and consumption of alcohol and cigarettes. In one study, scientists exposed worms to two substances that neutralize oxidants, and the worms’ lifespan increased an average 44%.

When we first discovered that free radicals existed in humans, they were quickly blamed for aging and other diseases. Contrary to what researchers first thought, we now know that oxidative stress is beneficial in controlled amounts. In fact, it’s essential. Newer research has shown that oxidative stress prompts your cells to become stronger over time by increasing your body’s antioxidants.

Free Radical Theory of Aging

The free radical theory of aging (FRTA) states that organisms age because cells accumulate free radical damage over time. A free radical is any atom or molecule that has a single unpaired electron in an outer shell. Most biologically-relevant free radicals are highly reactive. For most biological structures, free radical damage is closely associated with oxidative damage. Antioxidants are reducing agents, and limit oxidative damage to biological structures by passivating them from free radicals.

Antioxidants are helpful in reducing and preventing damage from free radical reactions because of their ability to donate electrons which neutralize the radical without forming another. Ascorbic acid, for example, can lose an electron to a free radical and remain stable itself by passing its unstable electron around the antioxidant molecule. The free radical theory of aging implies that antioxidants such as vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), beta-carotene and Superoxide dismutase will slow the process of aging by preventing free radicals from oxidizing sensitive biological molecules or reducing the formation of free radicals. (Source: Wikipedia)

This has led to the hypothesis that large amounts of antioxidants, with their ability to decrease the numbers of free radicals, might lessen the radical damage causing chronic diseases, and even radical damage responsible for aging.

Free radicals also serve as important signaling molecules for a number of functions in your body, so getting rid of them entirely would likely be counterproductive.

All forms of exercise cause some oxidative stress. This is one of the reasons it makes you healthier. Your body is slightly weakened, recovers, and becomes more resistant to oxidative stress from the next workout (or other stressors).

Most researchers agree that vigorous exercise produces healthy amounts of oxidative stress, to the point they call it an antioxidant.

“AGE”: Advanced Glycation End-products

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are proteins or lipids that become glycated as a result of exposure to sugars. This is another factor in aging. It happens when glucose, the main sugar we use as energy, binds to some of our DNA, proteins, and lipids, leaving them unable to do their jobs.

They can be a factor in aging and in the development or worsening of many degenerative diseases, such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, chronic renal failure, and Alzheimer’s disease

The problem becomes worse as we get older, causing body tissues to malfunction, resulting in disease and death. Glycation may explain why studies in laboratory animals indicate that restricting calorie intake extends lifespan.

Most likely oxidative stress, glycation, telomere shortening, and chronological age — along with various genes — all work together to cause aging. Just how much exercise, nutrition, and cellular health contribute to stave off rapid aging is what we are trying to find out. Even without the scientific definitive proof that is being explored, we can decide to take preventative measures that make sense:

Exercise daily, don’t eat crap, and pay attention to what your body and brain needs.

We’ll discuss cellular health and nutrition intensively in our third book, Senior Nutrition 4 Life. Until then we would warn you to avoid three damaging habits.

1. Alcohol has been known to hasten the progression of many mitochondrial disorders.
2. Cigarette smoke, probably due to the carbon monoxide, is known to hasten the progression of conditions.
3. MSG (monosodium glutamate) has for years been known to cause migraine headaches in otherwise healthy individuals, and may trigger these events in susceptible older people with mitochondrial malfunction. MSG is frequently added to Chinese and other Asian foods, and is also found in high levels of dried and canned soup. Read the label and avoid MSG altogether.

You are growing older every hour of the day, on a cellular level. A major cause of aging is inside the cells of your body. Your mitochondria, inside the nucleus of your cells, are responsible for replicating your DNA, making your cells divide to make new muscle, new nerve, new brain cells, new bodily tissue.

Mitochondria are very important energy converters. Recent research indicates that in addition to converting energy, mitochondria play a large part in determining when a cell will die by ordinary cell death (necrosis) or programmed cell death (apoptosis). In apoptosis the mitochondrion releases a chemical, cytochrome c, and this can trigger programmed cell death.

Did you know that your body replaces the lining of the stomach every five days, red blood cells every 120 days, and skin cells every two weeks? Your bone cells are completely replaced every 10 years. Muscle tissue varies. Fat cells are replaced every 12 years.

If the mitochondria don’t get the necessary chemicals, fats, proteins, enzymes, and fuel, they can’t replicate and you lose a cell. A cell here, a cell there. Before you know it, you’ve lost another percentage of muscle or bone. Exercise represents the fuel your cells require for long-lasting, healthy and replicating mitochondria.

The efficiency of mitochondrial energy production and function declines with age. Evidence is accumulating that mitochondrial dysfunction underlies many common age-related diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, fatigue syndromes, and numerous genetic conditions.

What can you do if you’re among the millions of aging seniors? There are no mitochondrial supplements. But exercise does send a message to your cells that they are needed to support activity. This is another reason exercise is vital to seniors. Get out there and get your heart pumpin’. Your cells will love you for it.

“Why we age” is a good question. I was hoping I could avoid aging or at least cover it up. When you think about it, we are actually lucky to experience aging. Some of our friends haven’t been so lucky. Still, aging is a stern taskmaster.

We have constant daily reminders: aches, pains and jars we can’t open. If that weren’t enough, every physical exam and lab report brings up curious anomalies we’ve never heard of.

Even if we eat right, exercise our diminishing butts off, and excel at the NY Times crossword puzzle, guess what? Yes, we’re on the escalator going down anyway. It’s as if now, in our glorious wisdom and experience, at a time when we’ve finally got most of the life stuff figured out, the Goddesses upstairs are laughing as they throw more challenges our way.

And yet, I fight on. Most of us do. We healthy seniors fight the War on Aging, and all is not lost. We slow down the rate of decay as best we can. Our cells—however well we treat them—seem to be programmed to age. Why? What happens?

Causes and Theories of Aging

The theory has traditionally been, “Aging is nothing more than the buildup of genetic and cellular errors.” I read noteworthy geneticists, gerontologists and healthcare practitioners who have generally accepted this shared mutational theory as to why we age. Our DNA gets corrupted and doesn’t repair like it should.

Then I read the discoveries of longevity scientists who found other causes of aging: errors in our mitochondiral DNA caused by oxidative stress. These errors are directly related to the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. We smoke, over eat, remain inactive, over indulge in alcohol, stress, and fail to get the sleep we need. Our cells react by triggering inflammation.

Mitochondrial Theory

The mitochondrial theory of aging proposes that age-associated mitochondrial defects are caused by the accumulation of toxins in DNA. Abnormal mitochondrial function is one of the hallmarks of aging in humans. Mitochondrion are the powerhouses of our cells, producing energy in a process called cellular respiration. Free radicals damage that process.

Simply put, damaged mitochondrial DNA mutates the DNA sequence. The accumulation of these changes is associated with age-related diseases, reduced lifespan, age-related weight gain, hair loss, greying, curvature of the spine, and osteoporosis, oh my!

Epigenetic Theory of Aging

Conflicting evidence is raising doubts about the free radical theory of aging. Recently, at the University of Tsukuba in Tokyo, Professor Hayashi and his team made a discovery I found very interesting. Age-associated mitochondrial defects are controlled by another form of regulation: epigenetic regulation. The research, published in Nature Publishing Group’s journal, posits that changes do not affect (mutate) the DNA sequence itself, rather, they turn genes on or off.

You see, while aging is determined by our genes, our genes are turned on or off by epigenetic regulation, and subject to environmental influences including nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle choices.

This Is Good News to Seniors

I hope you didn’t go to sleep reading about the science, but I wanted to share the good news: we actually have some control over our genes. We can do things that influence our genes to be turned on or off. As the epigenetic theory of aging indicates, exercise, diet and sleep all send messages to our genes to act or not to act.

The best book I’ve read so far that explains this is Younger: Reset Your Genes and Reverse Aging by Sara Gottfried, M.D. I suggest you get it if you have an interest in the science of how your genes predispose you to certain behaviors and conditions, and what we can do about them.

Aerobic exercise is key for senior health. If you’re not getting your heart rate up and breaking a sweat, does it count as exercise? To get life extension and disease protection benefits, seniors need aerobic exercise, 150 minutes a week.

Sure, it’s important to find activities that offer movement and fun and are playful in nature. But don’t avoid things that get you a little out of breath. That’s when you’ll get the real benefits. Even most heart conditions will improve with activity. Of course, check with your doctor and be wise.

We love tennis. You run, stop, go, hit the ball (hopefully) and then repeat. It is a sport, it is play. While you’re having fun, the biggest winner is your body. And your brain. If tennis is too rigorous, try Pickleball or Ping Pong.

There are many other activities that offer play value masquerading as exercise, and all these take your mind off exercise you may perceive as boring or repetitive. This is especially important for seniors: years of stress, exposure to toxins, medications, lack of exercise—make us more susceptible to heart disease, so keeping our heart healthy is critical.

The Benefits of Aerobic Exercise for Seniors

Aerobic exercise―also called cardio or cardiovascular workouts―include jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, dancing, and anything that gets your heart rate up. Known to reduce anxiety and depression, this type of exercise boosts mood, in part by increasing blood flow to the brain. You see, exercise affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and, thus, reduces stress.

This involves several regions of the brain, including the limbic system, which controls motivation and mood, the amygdala, which generates emotional responses to stress, and the hippocampus, which plays an important part in memory formation as well as in mood and motivation. Here’s a little video that explains the HPA axis:

Your Normal Resting Heart Rate

If you want to enjoy the benefits of aerobic exercise for seniors, start by finding your normal resting heart rate. Your resting heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute when you’re at rest. Generally speaking, a lower heart rate is better. For most seniors, between 60 and 100 beats per minute (bpm) is normal.

Of course, some conditions and medications may affect heart rate, meaning you may have a lower maximum heart rate and target zone. The rate can also be affected by factors like stress, anxiety, hormones and how physically active you are. For example, an athlete or more active person may have a resting heart rate as low as 50 beats per minute. If you have a heart condition or take medication, ask your healthcare provider what your heart rate should be.

To find your resting heart rate:

• Take your pulse on the inside of your wrist, on the thumb side.
• Use the tips of your first two fingers (not your thumb) and press lightly over the artery.
• Count your pulse for 30 seconds and multiply by 2 to find your beats per minute.

Your Target Heart Rate

Your target heart rate, meaning, the rate your heart should beat during aerobic exercise, helps you get the maximum benefit from every step, swing and squat. Generally speaking, maximum heart rate is about 220 minus your age. Your target heart rate during moderate intensity activities is about 50-70% of maximum heart rate, while during vigorous physical activity it’s about 70-85% of maximum.

According to the American Heart Association:

As you exercise, periodically check your heart rate manually or with a fitness tracker. If your heart rate is too high, lower your pace. For anyone new to aerobic exercise, I recommend aiming for the lower range of your target zone (50 percent) and gradually building up.

Whatever activity or sport you choose, you don’t have to be a natural-born athlete to enjoy it. The important thing is to get out there and do it! In time, you’ll be able to comfortably engage in aerobic exercise for seniors at up to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate.

“I hold that the brain is the most powerful organ in the human body.” — Hippocrates

Considering all the injuries and diseases that seniors are at risk for, nothing provokes greater fear than losing our minds. We can tolerate a lot of things going wrong, and often do. We take our meds, follow-up with physical therapy, and fight back. We get better.

But whenever we forget a name, lose our keys, or get confused, we wonder, “Is this normal? Am I starting to lose my memory? Is there something wrong with my brain?”

We’ve read the statistics on Alzheimer’s, dementia, and “mild cognitive impairment.” We may have aging relatives who suffer. It’s a good question all seniors should ask: “What should I be doing now to prevent loss of neurons and protect from brain disease?”

The prognosis for recovery of brain degeneration is poor and although scientists are trying to find medications, so far progress hasn’t been good. Fortunately, some research is pointing to some effective strategies for prevention. You can build a better brain at the same time.

How to Build a Better Brain

According to newest studies, the biggest strategies for keeping your brain healthy and protected from the ravages of age are similar to the ones used for longevity and prolonged physical health. These are the same as our six pillars for healthy aging we described in our earlier book, the War on Aging:

1. Exercise
2. Diet
3. Quality sleep
4. Social connections
5. Stress management
6. Purpose and goals

The first three elements—exercise, nutrition, and sleep—every senior should pay attention to daily. Now let’s look at them from the perspective of how they contribute to brain health. I think you’ll agree that, contrary to popular opinion, you can stop dementia and memory loss, and at least slow down any genetic predisposition to brain disease.

Exercise for Brain Health

Rob and I have written a lot about how our daily exercise habits have saved our butts (pun intended)! In fact, we’ve been told that we could “tone it down” a bit when it comes hitting people over the head about the merits of exercise to aging seniors.

In our 40s and 50s, we were motivated by a desire to keep looking young, but then we found regular sports also staved off illness, including many of the “chronic degenerative diseases of aging.” And, as we’ve aged (75 and 79) we are living proof that old age doesn’t have to be a descent into sedentary idiocy. (Rob’s written 10 cyber punk fiction books and I’m working on book 2 in the trilogy of the War on Aging.)

Important information to remember (and act on!): The same research that shows exercise to be a wonder drug for aging bodies is now being revealed as key to prevention and treatment for dementia and brain disorders. From Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), patients show incredible improvements when they start moving more and exercising.

Exercise can be used to prevent brain dysfunction in seniors. This is because exercise brings several cellular benefits inside the neurons of the brain.

More about Diet and Brain Health

I’ve been reading an excellent book on the topic, Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life, by Max Lugavere with Paul Grewal, M.D. The authors do an excellent job of reviewing and explaining all the research into aging brains for non-health professionals. Important for all seniors and “pre-seniors” to read, in my opinion.

Perhaps it isn’t appealing to most readers if I were to write about the cellular science of the brain. Not everyone is motivated by science like I am. Genius Foods does a great job of explaining how important it is for seniors to eat some foods and avoid others.

I recommend buying the book because it could save your life, and especially the quality of your mental life as you age. This isn’t the last time I will share with you some of these keys to better brain health. More to come in future posts. Stay tuned (why not subscribe to the blog and we’ll send you email notices when there are new posts?)

What foods should seniors eat to protect their brains from decay? Is there a best brain healthy diet?

For the last few years, I have been reading about diets, searching for the best way for healthy seniors to eat. I don’t mean “diets for weight loss,” although that can happen too. Perhaps “a brain healthy eating plan” is a better term rather than diet.

I’ve had a 360-degree turnabout in my thinking about what’s healthy eating. Ever since the 70s when I was modeling in Paris, I always ate low or nonfat items. I thought I was eating healthy, Admittedly, I often felt hungry, and quite often, immediately after eating, I craved more food. I rarely felt satiated. I’ve since found out that satiety is triggered by the consumption of fats and proteins, rarely by lettuce and broccoli.

From Low-Fat to Healthy Fats

About ten years ago I started reading about the Atkins Diet, and subsequently, the ketogenic diet which has turned into a huge food trend. For good reason. So many good results are attributed to a diet high in healthy fats, low in carbohydrates, with moderate protein.

Healthy fats are rich in omega-3’s as opposed to what we find in the American diet, an excess of omega-6 oils processed from vegetables. Today I only use olive oil, coconut and avocado oils.

Why a Keto Diet Is Good for Brain Health

The keto diet has been used as a treatment for seizures for the last 80 years and is being tested as a treatment for cancer. Many claim it contributes to longevity. Dr. Dale Bredesden, a leading Alzheimer’s expert, recommends it for his dementia patients. Here is what he reports from his book

Dr. Bredesden recommends a KetoFLEX 12/3 version of the ketogenic diet.

KetoFLEX 12/3 specifically focuses on the mechanism known to contribute to cognitive decline. This lifestyle will:

• Create critical insulin sensitivity
• Reduce inflammation
• Address neuronal fuel reduction and mitochondrial deficiency
• Improve circulation and optimize blood pressure
• Provide raw materials for synaptic support
• Protect against nutrient deficiencies associated with cognitive decline
• Promote cellular autophagy and beta-amyloid clearance
• Promote detoxification
• Protect against muscle and bone loss associated with cognitive decline

Here’s a great article over on the Apollo Heath site that explains KetoFLEX:

What exactly is KetoFLEX 12/3? Let’s break it down. Keto refers to ketosis, the process by which your liver breaks down fat as an energy source and produces a compound called ketone bodies to fuel your brain.

The Flex portion refers to two concepts. First, the diet promotes “metabolic flexibility,” the ability to burn either glucose or fat as fuel to maximize fuel supply to your brain. Second, the diet may be “flexitarian” or meat optional.

12/3 refers to the recommended daily fasting time, a minimum of 12 hours total with at least 3 before bed. A long daily fast promotes autophagy or cellular housekeeping— a process by which your body recycles worn-out cellular debris to make new cellular parts.

Best Brain Healthy Diet for Seniors

Why wait until you have signs of neurodegenerative brain problems? You don’t have to have a diagnosis to start eating right for brain health. I say, if it’s good for people with brain disease, it’s good for me too.

There are other brain healthy diets to explore. For example, the MIND diet, a blend of Mediterranean and the DASH diet. I suggest reviewing the major diets. Here’s a link to an expert analysis of the best diets on U.S. News Health site.

The way I see growing older is that I can adjust to some of the indignities and infirmities, but I want to keep my memory, motivation, and love for life. I recently replaced my right shoulder joint. But we can’t replace our brains, lost neurons and malfunctioning synapses.

If eating way less carbohydrates, healthy fats, and moderate protein keeps my brain healthy, I’ll do it.  Most of the carbs I eat come from vegetables and some fruit. I limit bread, pasta, and avoid cereal and many of the processed foods found on grocery shelves.

Choosing what to eat is a personal decision. It’s up to you to decide what’s best for you, and what guidelines you’ll stick with.

Are you one of the many walkers who think you’re getting good exercise? I see my fellow seniors out in my neighborhood walking every morning. A few of them I recognize as gym people as well. But most are walk-and-talkers. They don’t work-out or play… Is it possible to get fit with only 15 minutes of basic exercises a day? If so, this is great news for busy seniors who don’t like to spend hours working out in a gym. Basic exercises for seniors in 15 minutes a day may be just what the doctor orders. The Royal… My perspective on strength training for seniors changes each year. Over the last sixteen years I’ve been a senior I’ve learned something new about exercise and fitness everyday. Admittedly, when I started prioritizing strength training, my motivation was… Poor sleep is a problem that increases as we age. I experience this myself. My fitness watch tells me I am getting an average of five to six hours a night. Research from the National Sleep Foundation shows that adults need between 7–9 hours of solid sleep every night,… For a while now, I’ve been learning to workout at home in fragmented time spurts. It started when the gyms closed due to the pandemic, but because of our family’s health problems, we’ve continued to exercise at home. It’s opened up a new way of exercising for both Rob…

Are you one of the many walkers who think you’re getting good exercise? I see my fellow seniors out in my neighborhood walking every morning. A few of them I recognize as gym people as well. But most are walk-and-talkers. They don’t work-out or play sports. They prefer logging steps on their fitness apps rather than lifting weights or strength training. But it’s a myth that walking is a best form of exercise.

There are plenty of websites and fitness experts who tout walking as a best form of exercise. Many of us have bought into that myth. But if you’re an older adult who wants to stay fit and active, walking is not enough to reverse age-related muscle loss.

Walking is of course better than no exercise at all, but to maximize health benefits, a combination of aerobic-type (running, cycling, swimming) and strength-type exercise (lifting weights or body-weight exercises) should be performed regularly. We know being unfit shortens life, and countering the losses of muscle strength/power and bone density as we age can improve our ability to perform daily tasks, while reducing the risk of falls and associated complications.  Jackson Fife, Lecturer in Applied Sport Science, Deakin University

Keep Walking and Add Strength Training

I’m not saying stop walking, that’s one of the more enjoyable ways to get outside, and walking with a friend has social benefits. But there is no getting around the fact that unless you are breathing hard (meaning you’re walking hard and fast enough to get your heart rate up), walking has limited benefits for health.

The only way to reverse age-related muscle loss is to move your joints through a full range of motion with enough resistance until muscle fatigue sets in. I’ll explain what I mean by that in a minute.

Too much walking can put you at risk for wearing out joints and even falling unless you also engage in a routine to strengthen joints and muscles. Before you start to complain about gyms and lack of time, I will tell you that a sufficient strength training routine is possible in as little as six minutes a day.

Six Minutes a Day for Stronger Muscles

Six minutes doesn’t sound like enough time to make a difference but I’ve been reading more than a dozen studies that have found that short routines of higher intensity exercise can improve fitness in seniors more than with traditional routines. Furthermore, higher-intensity exercise has been shown to be safe for those of us over 60, even when untrained and sedentary.

Studies show higher-intensity exercise safe for those with cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, heart failure, obesity, diabetes, stroke, and cancer. Of course, if you are burdened with such conditions, please be sure to work with your doctor and seek out proper instructions with a trained exercise professional.

Higher-Intensity Exercise Improves Walking

I love walking and would never stop doing it. But to maintain muscle and joint health, avoid falls, and feel better with age, I know I need regular exercise that involves lifting weights or using my own body weight. That’s why I’ve used a trainer for the last ten years. It’s not that I need the motivation (although I sometimes do), but a trainer won’t let me keep doing what I am comfortable with.

A trainer knows that doing the same routines consistently will not bring results. They know how to ramp up the intensity in multiple ways. They also know how to avoid injuries. We are not always the best judge of our workout routines. We like comfort and we like routines.

Is it possible to get fit with only 15 minutes of basic exercises a day? If so, this is great news for busy seniors who don’t like to spend hours working out in a gym. Basic exercises for seniors in 15 minutes a day may be just what the doctor orders.

The Royal Canadian Air Force Exercise Plans are two exercise plans developed for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) by Dr. Bill Orban in the late 1950s, first published in 1961. One is for women, the other for men. The Royal Canadian Air Force basic exercises are time-tested as an efficient way to build strength, endurance, and flexibility. As a side note, it’s what actress Helen Mirren has used off and on her whole life.

In 1956 Bill Orban set out to devise a program which emphasized a high level of fitness, but which would consume only a relatively small amount of the RCAF personnel’s time. The program was intended for RCAF pilots, a third of whom were not considered fit to fly at the time.

Exercise Intensity More Important than Time

While performing research at the University of Illinois in the early 1950s, Orban had noticed, when testing oxygen intake, that long periods of exercise did not necessarily lead to significant improvement. This led him to the conclusion that the intensity of exercise was more important to improving fitness than the amount of time spent on it.

I don’t know about you, but this sounds like what I’m looking for. A way to stay fit without spending more time in a gym! It became very popular at the time, and is credited with the start of a world-wide fitness culture. Today, the trend is for “high-intensity” exercises which is just packaging and marketing of the principal that quality beats quantity when it comes to results.

The plan was innovative in two respects. Firstly, it did not require access to specialized equipment. Many RCAF pilots were in remote bases in northern Canada, with no access to gyms, so it was a means of keeping fit without their use. Secondly, the plan only required that eleven minutes be spent on the exercises per day.

The programs proved popular with civilians. A U.S. edition was published in 1962 under the title Royal Canadian Air Force Exercise Plans For Physical Fitness.  The publication was translated into thirteen languages. In total, 23 million copies of the booklets were sold to the public.

Basic Exercises for Seniors

Most of us are already familiar with these movements. We were likely taught them in school gym classes many years ago. They are the basic exercises of most beginning fitness programs.

1. Toe touching
2. Knee raises
3. Lateral bending
4. Arm circling
5. Partial sit-ups
6. Chest and leg raising (lying on stomach)
7. Side leg raising
8. Push-ups
9. Leg lifting
10. Run and  hop In place

The first four exercises are primarily for flexibility; exercises 5-9 are primarily to improve muscle strength; and exercise 10 is to develop aerobic capacity. Every part of the body is involved, which is what makes it both simple and effective. Each movement has many variations so that you can progress as your muscles adapt and you become stronger. If you want to try the program, I suggest a search on Amazon or YouTube to get instructions.

Celebrity practitioners of the program included the late George Burns, Helen Mirren and the British princes Philip, Charles, William and his wife Kate. The book was republished in 2016.

It reminds me somewhat of the impact of the Jane Fonda aerobics videos in the 70’s. Her programs included many of the basic exercises that can help seniors today. In fact, she’s produced a relatively newer version here: Jane Fonda Prime Time Fit and Strong.

I was a big fan of her fitness programs and I still remember her routine. It’s what started me on a fitness program at age 40 that continues to this day.

So yes, there really are no excuses if you want to keep some of the muscle that disappears with every decade. Get out those oldies and rock your way to fitness with basic exercises for seniors. Forget the spandex and leggings though. Stay healthy!