Regular aerobic exercise and resistance training improves your thinking, reading, learning and reasoning skills as well as your memory and ability to plan. So says a recent feature on BBC News health pages which was based on an Australian study of the over 50s published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The research concluded that there was sufficient evidence to recommend that patients “obtain both aerobic and resistance exercise of at least moderate intensity on as many days of the week as feasible.” When exercise prescription was examined, a duration of 45–60 min per session and at least moderate intensity, were associated with benefits to cognition. It’s no coincidence that our classes are 60 minutes long. So keep heading to your parks BMFers!
The Times’ Midlife Body Plan series (behind a paywall) includes a report by health and fitness journalist Peta Bee, who edits Women’s Running (UK), about research on the exercise habits of people in their 60s carried out by University College London. It showed that those who exercise regularly can achieve ‘healthy’ ageing – staving off serious illnesses up to seven times more effectively than their inactive friends. All forms of physical activity can help to stem this decline, but High Intensity Interval Training seems to be the most effective type of exercise for this, says a study published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
Elsewhere in the same paper, the subject of nutrition is addressed and here’s the summary: Eating oily fish twice a week, as well as a daily intake of green, leafy vegetables and fruit like apples which contain soluble fibre and a special chemical in the peel help you live longer. Studies cited in the article also conclude that beetroot, the spice turmeric, nuts, chilli and minerals like magnesium, zinc and vitamin B12 all help health too.
The British Heart Foundation’s 2017 physical inactivity report found that 39 per cent of UK adults – that’s 20 million people - are insufficiently active. The definition of that is that they don’t meet Government recommendations for physical activity, leading to increased risk of cardiovascular and circulatory diseases. It’s estimated that this level of physical inactivity costs UK healthcare providers as much as £1.2 billion a year. Those recommendations are that 19-64 year olds have at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as cycling or fast walking every week, and perform strength exercises that work all the major muscles on two days a week.
And for a dose of inspiration, here’s a throwback to Julie Creffield’s blog reviewing BMF from a couple of years ago. Julie has since gone on to great things in setting up her successful Too Fat To Run club and as a public speaker.