Physical activity and wellbeing are key aspects for Successful Ageing according to older adults

Walking trails

Last month I spoke about how being “actively engaged and independent” was viewed as the most important characteristic of successful ageing from the perspective of 2,000 older people from different countries across the world [1]. This month it’s all about “physical activity and wellbeing”. Let’s face it, it really is one of my favourite topics to talk about, but this time it’s because of the older adults who participated in the survey, I had nothing to do with this one!

There were five sub-themes that made up the “physical activity and wellbeing” theme. They were:

• Fitness, exercise and sport

• Physically active

• Mobility

• Physical appearance of ageing

• Energy and strength

Some of you may be wondering why physical activity was in a separate sub-theme to fitness, exercise and sport, the short answer is because it is different. Physical activity is pretty much any bodily movement produced by our skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. Almost everything you do that involves movement could be considered physical activity. Whereas, fitness, exercise and sport are more structured and intentional, where someone is often thinking about performance, endurance, strength, balance or skill and in the case of sport having to play within a set of rules.

Golf

Interestingly, when defining successful ageing over 260 comments were about fitness, exercise or sport, this did surprise me but in the nicest of ways. Here were a couple of quotes from some participants, which incorporated fitness, exercise and sport amongst other aspects they considered important to successful ageing:

Age without pain, happy, and socially active. Taking every opportunity

to learn and keep physically fit. Have friends. Not dependant on family

but able to join in as the family grows (669).

Ability to maintain fitness in order to do anything I want, with food

being my medicine, not medicine my food. Having enough friends

to keep me socialised, volunteering to give back to the community.

Playing sport that I enjoy having plenty of goals when I get up each

morning (2154).

Active and able to enjoy tennis, walking, biking. Socialising with others.

Contributing to the community. Living independently with my husband

in our own home. Being close to family and seeing them several times

a week (2184).

Tennis is definitely a great sport to play well into your 80s or even 90s, particularly doubles and there is usually a lot of socialising before, during and after each game which is an added bonus to being involved.

Tennis a game for life

Being physically active as I have mentioned is so important. For many people doing things with high intensity may not be an option, but it is rare to not be able to keep moving and doing things you enjoy. The secret is to keep doing things often and try to progress them or make them a little harder to do every couple of weeks, that way you improve or maintain your physical function. My sister loves to go to something called “No Lights, No Lycra”, it’s all about dancing without limits or judgement because everyone is in the dark, so you can dance however you like to music you love, and it really doesn’t matter. She comes out sweaty and invigorated having finished a great workout, that doesn’t feel like a workout, because she just loves to dance.

Dancing your way

“Mobility” was the third sub-theme and this doesn’t surprise me at all. Everything we want to do by ourselves requires mobility. Getting to the toilet, getting into the shower or bath, moving around our home, getting in and out of the car, the list goes on. Mobility and our ability to do things we need to, and other things we want to, are determined by our ability to stay mobile. We really don’t think about it very much until it is taken away from us. If you have a back injury or leg injury you really notice what you have lost during that time and the majority of people will do the exercises set by a health professional at least until they can get mobile again, once we are mobile again they often fall by the wayside.

“Physical appearance of ageing” was about how one looks as we age. Some participants were talking about what they wear, they felt they looked smart and some talked about looking and feeling younger. I remember my Grandma would dress up and wear her pearls and clip on earrings when she went into the city on the bus to find some bargains. That’s not how I dress, but it is important to some people and totally fair enough, you do you! It will be interesting to see if “physical appearance of ageing” and the thoughts of the next generations change as they age or whether it remains important.

Means to me that I still have bounce in my step when strolling along,

means to me that when I look in mirror I don't see too many wrinkles

but a bit more around the corners of my eyes formed from laughter (2224).

Being positive, makes a big difference. My personality keeps me young at 74.

To me it’s only a number. I do have arthritis, but it doesn’t keep me from being

active and happy. It’s all in how you accept it. I am a very strong person and unstoppable if I want something to achieve. The way I am I feel like 40.

Some days older, haha. I dress elegant, make up, blond hair, manicure, etc.

I am very proud of myself and my age. I do look much younger.

Positive thinking helps a lot (2432).

The final sub-theme was “energy and strength”. Energy was viewed both positively and some people spoke about their energy levels being lower and they were careful with what they did each day because they didn’t want to get too tired. That’s the thing with being active, the more active you are, the more energy you have. The less active you are, your energy levels will drain quickly, especially on days when you have to be more active. There is a chart that shows how our strength as we age decreases, but next to the strength chart is a picture showing physical activity and strength training participation rates for Australian men and women as they age. Men do tend to stay more physically active and do more strength training than women, but it does reduce with age, particularly meeting the physical activity guidelines. Whereas women show a direct correlation between the reduction in strength and reduction in physical activity and strength training as they age (see light blue lines). These are population numbers not individual people, but if more women stayed active and continued to do things to help them with their strength, mobility and balance for longer, they would find it easier to do the everyday activities as well.

Older adults' physical activity levels

• If playing sport is not for you but you do want to feel stronger or puff less when doing things around the house or when travelling, consider adding in some slightly tougher things to your regular activity. If you walk each day, add a hill in or two, it doesn’t need to be steep, but it can really improve your strength and endurance over time. Stairs do the same thing, if you know of a staircase near you, going up and down everyday will build your strength and endurance if you are used to only walking on flat surfaces.

• If you love to dance and listen to music, see if there is a “No Lights, No Lycra” program near you.

• Choose activity, exercise or sports YOU love. Everyone is different, find what works for you. If you love the outdoors, look at going for walks, they can be at the beach, in the bush or forest areas. The great thing about being in the bush is the different terrain, going up and down and over things and some of the sightseeing can be amazing as you go.

• If you think sitting around and resting will give you more energy, please rethink this. Even small pieces of activity, often, can help replenish your strength and endurance over time. Don’t go crazy on one day, then nothing the next because you will get exhausted doing this if you’re not used to it. Steady and often is more beneficial than in fits and starts.

• Feel free to leave a comment about something new you’re going to try this month. Doesn’t matter if you find you don’t like it, you don’t have to stick to it, it just means the following month you try something different again that helps you stay active and mobile.

Live the good life!

Reference:

1. Burton, E., Teater, B., Chonody, J., Alford, S. 2024. What does it mean to successfully age? Multinational study of older adults’ perceptions. The Gerontologist; 64(10): gnae102. DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnae102