Lao Li is 65 years old this year. Since his retirement, his life has been very comfortable and his diet is healthy. But in his wife’s view, he has a very bad habit-that is, he doesn’t like sports.

Every time my wife wants to drag him to do morning exercises, she will be pushed off by him in every way. One minute, she says, "Life lies in rest. What if I get injured in sports?" Another minute, she says, "Look at the tortoise crawling so slowly, but its life span is so long." My wife is very helpless about this.

Is the exercise for the elderly good or not? Does life lie in exercise or rest?

A new study published by the School of Public Health of Harvard University in the United States in the American Heart Association analyzes two large-scale prospective studies, involving the mortality poems and medical records of 100,000 adults, and has been followed up for 30 years. The final result found that:

• Do 2-4 times the recommended amount of exercise per week, with the lowest risk of death.;
• 15-300 minutes of strenuous exercise every week can reduce the risk of death by 21%-23%;
• 300-600 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week can reduce the risk of death by 26-31%.

Besides, persisting in exercise can not only reduce the risk of death and prolong life, but also play an anti-cancer role.

A study published in the National Journal of Cancer in 2022 found that when individuals persist in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise several times a week, more anticancer molecules can be released in the body, which can inhibit abnormal cells, promote DNA repair and have a positive effect on inhibiting the occurrence of cancer.

Recently, the video of an 80-year-old teacher on the Internet who is still playing basketball flexibly in colleges and universities was praised. Many netizens said that it would be nice if they were still so flexible when they were 80 …

When people are old, there is always a feeling that they are unable to do their job. Their athletic ability will weaken with age, and it may even be related to the speed of life decline.

A research team led by French scholar Benjamin Landray, published in the British Medical Journal, shows that,Once a person is over 65 years old, his athletic ability will get worse and worse.Subsequently, the risk of death has also increased, and from the first 10 years of death, there will be signs of decline in sports ability.

Judging whether a person is aging generally includes four sports indicators, namely:

Walking speedIf the walking speed of the elderly is lower than 0.6 m/s, the risk of death will increase;

Grip strengthThe risk of death from cardiovascular disease will increase by 17% for every 5 kg drop in grip strength;

Standing ability: The elderly have difficulty in standing, which indicates that the muscle decline is serious;

daily life: daily activities such as dressing, cooking and going to the toilet are limited, indicating that muscle mass is decreasing sharply.

Some middle-aged and elderly people may think that "rest is better than exercise" when they get old. Is this really the case? Many studies have found that after the age of 60, the elderly who insist on exercising can reap the following benefits:

1. Reduce the risk of dementia

A team of Ding Qian, a neurologist at Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, has conducted a study on the relationship between physical exercise and dementia risk in conjunction with multi-country and multi-research teams.

The results show that people who exercise for 3.1-6.0 hours/week have a 38% lower risk of dementia than those who don’t exercise.

2. Prevention of cardiovascular diseases

A large-scale study of more than 1 million people in South Korea found that with the increase of age, the risk of cardiovascular disease decreased by 11%. That is, maintaining moderate exercise can effectively prevent the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases.

3. Increase bone density

According to some surveys, elderly people who play Tai Chi for a long time have a lower risk of suffering from spinal osteoporosis than those who don’t exercise much.

Regular exercise can improve bone blood circulation, enhance substance metabolism, prevent muscle atrophy, and help the elderly to prevent arthritis.

4, improve the digestion and absorption function

The digestive function of the elderly is weakened, and if the exercise is insufficient, the appetite will become very little, leading to a vicious circle of difficulty in digestion and absorption.

Moderate exercise can consume excess calories, stimulate the body to "get hungry", and at the same time promote gastrointestinal peristalsis and improve digestion and absorption function.

The benefits of exercise are self-evident, but not all exercises are suitable for the elderly. Some excessive and intense exercises will damage the cardiovascular system or joints. So what kind of exercise is most suitable for middle-aged and elderly people?

• "The best sport in the world": walking

Academician Zhong Nanshan once said that walking is the best sport in the world. A set of data from the World Health Organization is also, that is,Walking for more than 4 hours a week for the elderly can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases by 69%..

For the elderly, various functions of the body decline, and walking exercise is suitable for most people. China Dietary Guidelines also recommend that it is more appropriate to walk more than 6,000 steps a day.

Don’t walk too much for patients with obesity and arthritis and weak physical fitness.Keep proper walking exercise.

matters need attentionThe elderly should not exercise for more than one hour. Because of the weakening of body balance, it is best to avoid walking sideways, backwards and slopes during exercise.

• "the most life-prolonging sport": playing ball

A study published by the National Cancer Institute in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity found that,The sport that can help middle-aged and elderly people live longer is playing ball..

When playing ball, it is not only a simple swing, but also mobilizes the muscles of the whole body; When chasing the ball, you need strength such as legs and cervical vertebrae; When watching the ball, you will also exercise your eyesight, and running and jumping will also help you lose fat, and whether it is singles or doubles, it will give people a sense of participation and enhance communication.

matters need attentionBefore playing ball, you should be prepared to exercise and stretch the heel, ankle and other easily injured parts. Playing ball for too little time is easy to cause arthritis. Therefore, pay attention to controlling time and stretching and relaxing joints after exercise.

No matter what kind of exercise, as long as you move, it is better than lying and sitting. For middle-aged and elderly people, it is necessary to pay more attention to weekly exercise and choose appropriate, moderate and timely exercise to prolong life.

References:

[1] "Harvard University found that the best time for sports to" continue life ",this amount per week, the lowest risk of death". Medical Novi.2022-10-06

[2] "After 65 years old, your life depends on this" ability ",and there are four ways to test your strength". Life Times .2021-08-24

[3] "I studied 270,000 people in 12 years: See which sports can best help middle-aged and elderly people live longer! Health Times. 2022-09-07

Reprinting is prohibited without the permission and authorization of the author.