I recently discussed health with an 85-year-old woman, and we shared our concerns about our health. We acknowledged the fact that most of us over 60 can no longer dunk a basketball, run the 100-meter dash in under 10 seconds, and climb mountains.
When I asked her about her health regimen, she said that for years she engaged in Pilates, yoga, and walking. However, while these were all good, she said the most important thing she replaced some of these activities with was weight and strength training. She said that building up her muscles was the smartest thing she’d done for her body since she turned 60. Additionally, she noted that strength training is the easiest and fastest way to improve overall health. (Note that most individual strength exercises typically last around two minutes.)
I had come to the same conclusion after I reduced my physical activities for two months last year while helping my wife recover from a fall. I suddenly found that my body was weak and my knees began to hurt badly. Not exercising for just two months last year, and the lack of group gym sessions during COVID, caused my body to deteriorate rapidly. I also gained weight. I hobbled into my doctor’s office, who referred me to an orthopedist. I was X-rayed and told, “Yes, you are old and your knee cartilage is mostly gone. Your knees are bone-on-bone.” The nice doctor gave me a cortisone shot in both knees and suggested that I ride a bicycle instead of walking and playing tennis. He also suggested that I do some strength exercises to build up my muscles. The orthopedist’s office sent me a monthly questionnaire asking about my knee pain, and I’m sure he was sharpening his scalpel, waiting for me to give the okay to have at least one of my knees operated on.
Even if I needed a knee operation, I knew I needed to get my leg muscles in better shape. Realizing this, I turned to my old physical trainer (aptly named Trainer Phil or TP).
It has been ten months since my orthopedist advised me to ride my bicycle and engage in some strength training. I am pleased to report that my knee pain level has decreased from 6.0 (on a scale of 10) to approximately 0.5. I still limp around a little, but I am 77 years old, after all.
Today, I listened to a really great YouTube video that covered many of the points I discussed above. The natural process of aging saps our strength by approximately 3 percent per year after age 60. Therefore, at the age of 77, the aging process has robbed me of roughly 50 percent of my natural strength. Unless I continue to work hard to regain some of this loss…well, it will get pretty grim.
The following is the YouTube video I mentioned above. I may not have the sterling credentials of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, but we all, particularly those over 60 years old, need to maintain our strength. Moreover, as the video shows, it is not as hard as we think it is.