Elderly people who exercise 'live five years longer'

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Slioch

Guru
Location
York
I love custard, but I see where you're coming from on this one.
 

e-rider

crappy member
Location
South West
This study seems to only look at those people already in old age though. I wonder how many of those old people that exercise have already been living healthy for their whole lives and therefore living 5 years longer? I don't think you can just start exercising at 65 then live an extra 5 years! I bet those that didn't exercise have probably been living unhealthy for most of their lives too.
 

snorri

Legendary Member
My totally unscientific observations would suggest it's those who take no exercise whose latter years consist of a series of debilitating illnesses resulting in a poor quality of life over a longer period towards the end. Those who can continue to remain active enjoy a better quality of life for longer before eventually reaching the downward slope which can be short and steep.
 

fimm

Veteran
Location
Edinburgh
We went up a Munro the other weekend. On the way up we had a chat with a man who told us he was 78. What impressed me (among other things) was that some of his kit looked quite new - he obviously thought it was worth replacing worn out kit, rather than thinking he was unlikely to get much use out of new stuff!

Edited to add for @Dave7 that my grandmother decided she was old when she was 97 or so, so you've got plenty of time.
 
Apparently one of the best things to exercise when older is the top of the legs (quads) as when these weaken it causes difficulty in stairs and getting out of chairs. Keep that strong and your quality of life does not diminish quite so rapidly.
 

pawl

Legendary Member
At first glance this is good news, but if it means another five years been spoon feed custard I am hanging the bikes up today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-32735723
I have been cycling from the age of15 as well as hill walking.I underwent heart surgery in 2013 to replace an Aortic valve aged 72.At the moment I have had to ease back a bit due to a broken collar bone, normally ride 150to200 miles a week.
,Keep riding mate ,you will mangage your custard yourself
At the age of 74 the spoon should not need to be brought into use for another 5 years.
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
I'm 68 now.
When I get old I will think about this :smile:

Quite right mate, I'm a little younger than you at 63, sometimes my Good Lady tells me I'm getting old, I don't believe her. ^_^
 

Drago

Legendary Member
Ok, so you're 75 years old and suddenly you feel the first twinges of a heart attack. The trick is to quickly head for the nearest gym and exercise furiously, whereby you will survive another 5 years.

Am I understanding this correctly?
 

snorri

Legendary Member
My cousin, resident in Canada will visit the UK later this summer, she is quite put out that car rental companies will not rent to 83 year olds.
Scares me a bit, she might want to borrow one of my bikes instead:sad:
 
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