Make Room For Movement: Daily Physical Activity Is More Important Than Ever

You’ve likely heard the phrase “Use it or lose it.” We’d like to propose a slightly amended version of that truism to correspond to the latest research on physical activity: that is, “Move it or lose it.” For it seems that more than ever, the notion that regular and ongoing movement, not just a discreet exercise session here and there, is critical for your physical and cognitive health as you get older. For those of you who think your days of sweating at the gym or huffing and puffing around the track are over, that may be so. But your need for regular, ongoing active movement throughout the day remains. In fact, some experts suggest you forget about the terms “exercise” or “workouts.” For, as Dr. Jason Fanning, an Associate Professor of Health and Exercise Science at Wake Forest, has found, people who engage in a discreet exercise session tend to then sit more throughout the day: what he terms “the active couch potato.” Instead, Dr. Fanning suggests you forget about “exercise” and instead focus on “movement,” i.e., focus on making sure you are engaged in constant movement that you enjoy and can stick to, breaking up your sitting throughout the day. 

And what’s the benefit of this kind of regular, ongoing movement, be it walking in your neighborhood, dancing at your community center, or planting in your garden? A new study published in JAMA Network underscores the value of physical activity, including- and especially- late in life as a means to lower your risk of a dementia diagnosis. According to this study, those who had the highest levels of physical activity at midlife (ages 45-64) and later in life (ages 65-88) were able to lower their dementia risk by 41% during midlife and 45% later in life, compared to those with low levels of physical activity. So, by increasing your daily movement, you’ll not only help yourself physically but also do double duty by protecting and supporting your brain. Another recent study, this one from NYU Langone in New York, found that aerobic physical activity (which could include anything from dancing or walking to hiking or swimming, for example) appears to boost a surge of the chemical dopamine into your brain, which may bolster your mobility by enhancing your speed and coordination, even if you’re an older adult. Brain cells producing dopamine decline as you get older (and a lack of dopamine has been implicated in causing Parkinson’s Disease), so increasing its presence through physical movement may be one more way to support your mobility (along with your mood and memory) as an older adult. For more on this study, slide on over and look here.

So do you want to up your physical activity game and get moving now that you’re feeling more motivated? In a recent interview, physiotherapist Lucy MacDonald encourages those over 60 to stop talking themselves out of active physical engagement in life, while at the same time suggesting we start slow so as to avoid unnecessary pain and injury. Her advice includes being open to new activities without limiting yourself just because of your age (yes, you can take up a demanding new sport in your later years), but just take things slow and steady- as with everything, upping your physical activity game as an older adult takes practice and effort. And one more thing it takes: Apparently, quality sleep will help you be more active in the day that follows. According to a new study in Nature Communications Medicine, while many of us assume we need a physically active day to get a good night’s sleep, in fact, the opposite appears to be true: In order to be physically active and move more, we need a preceding night of quality sleep. According to this study, sleep quality predicted an active next day of activity better than activity predicted a good night’s sleep at the end of the evening. So get ready for some shut-eye and read more here.