Exercise Harder to Stop the Pain of Aging

workouts

Feb 23

As we grow older, and as we gain our hard-earned wisdom, the aches and the pains of living longer begin to pile up, and take a toll on our wondrous bodies. Nobody needs to tell us that working out over the age of 50 is harder, and more tedious, to perform — but few of us are aware that going full blast (safely, of course) can not only make us feel better, but help us avoid the pain associated with hardcore aging. Here’s the research:

According to a new study, only high levels of activity at least once a week – playing tennis, running, swimming, digging with a spade, or doing hard physical labour as part of your job – appears to help ward off chronic musculoskeletal pain in the long-term.
The study, led by Dr Nils Niederstrasser at the University of Portsmouth, examined the data of 5,802 people aged 50 or more over ten years.
Nearly half – just over 2,400 – reported they suffered with musculoskeletal pain at the end of the ten-year period.
Dr Niederstrasser said: “Chronic pain is a huge problem at any age, and one of the main causes for people calling in sick at work or visiting A&E. It is one of the most widespread and complex problems in the medical community and leads, for many who suffer with it, to a lower quality of life and poor wellbeing. …
Report co-author Dr Nina Attridge, also at the University of Portsmouth, said all activity helped lower the chances of suffering pain but, over time, only high levels of physical activity appeared to lower the risk of someone developing musculoskeletal pain.
She said being poor, being female and being overweight or obese were all found to independently be risk factors for suffering musculoskeletal pain.
She hopes the findings encourage those who design programmes to help people avoid chronic pain to include regular vigorous physical activity, weight loss programmes and find ways to address helping those on lower incomes.
For the study, moderate exercise included activities such as dancing, walking, stretching and gardening.
Mild activity included activities such as doing laundry, vacuuming and DIY. …
“Activity needs to not only be vigorous, it needs to be done at least once a week.
“A person who cycles, for example, once a month and whose only other activity was light housework would still be classed as sedentary.”

The research makes sense. The more we press our bodies into duty, the stronger we become and pain is exorcized because there is no complacent place for it to stay. We need to do more than walk. We need to get our heart rate up. A Kettlebell you can move with ease, and care, many times is much better than a Kettlebell you struggle to lift from the ground. Strength comes from cardio, not just lifting heavy things. Give your heart a break — and put on the exercise!