Movement! Exercise! Weights! Health!

Over the last few weeks, I have noticed a few articles in various media about the general health benefits of weight training. All regular readers know I am a strong supporter (OK, advocate) of weight training for ALL adult age groups including my own and older.

The first I noticed was “How Your Muscles Affect Your Mental Health“

Muscles at work secrete tiny chemical messengers called myokines that exert powerful effects on organ function, including brain function.

Early 2018 I wrote about the importance of mental health especially when managing chronic conditions. Now it seems with resistance (weight) training, we can kill two birds with one stone! Help ourselves physically and mentally at the same time. This is very encouraging.

I’m on the Pacing UP journey at the moment. My personal best on the leg press in 160 kgs (back in 2018). I did 90 kgs today, will do 100 kgs on Saturday. No, I may not get back to the 160 kgs, but it can’t hurt to try! Plus it makes me feel better!

I’m careful though. I’m asking the gym staff to put the 20 or 25 kg weights on the leg press for me as my wrists don’t like lifting those weights onto the leg press – at the moment. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Then The Guardian published “Exercise with weights linked to lower risk of early death, study says“.

Adults who reported meeting the aerobic activity guidelines and weightlifting at least one or two times every week were found to have a 41% to 47% lower risk of premature death.

While many chronically ill patients are younger than I, I am in the older demographic. While I LOVE lifting weights, I do find it challenging to encourage others my age to do so. Hopefully research such as the above will help! For the record, I do weight sessions three times a week, roughly 30 minutes each time. The weights don’t have to be huge! The above photo has small weights, ankle weights, a hand weight for walking with and a resistance Thera band.

JAMA recently published “Association of Dual Decline in Cognition and Gait Speed With Risk of Dementia in Older Adults“

In this cohort study of 16 855 relatively healthy older people in Australia and the US, a dual decline in gait and cognitive function compared with nondecliners was significantly associated with increased risk of dementia. This risk was highest in those with both gait and memory decline.

No, the above article doesn’t look at weight training, but it is about movement and exercise and staying physically “on point” if we can. Something I am aiming for personally is to get back to my old walking pace of 6 kms per hour. Now, my GP kinda rolls her eyes at me given my total knee replacement, bi-lateral foot surgery, psoriatic arthritis and age. She could have left the age bit off, but she didn’t.

I’m just not quite there yet. I can do that pace, but not for long enough. Yet. Having goals is something to strive for though – while I accept I may not get back there, that doesn’t mean I should give up!

Exercise generally and the relationship to the onset of dementia is of course a big part of the study I am currently participating in. The study is still recruiting, so if you meet the criteria and are interested, contact them!

This following article I do find a little worrying, given I am, technically, a complex comorbid patient. I have edited this article of mine to add this reference, as I forgot yesterday. I am far from infallible! The article is “Two or more chronic health problems in middle age ‘doubles dementia risk’.

After adjusting for factors such as socioeconomic status, diet and lifestyle, having two or more conditions aged 55 pushed up the risk of dementia almost 2.5 times compared with people who had none. Developing two or more conditions between 60 and 65 was associated with a 1.5-fold higher risk.

Retirement is working for me! Well, not being retired per se, but having the time to do more Movement As Medicine stuff WITHOUT draining my internal battery is working for me. I’ve upped my daily step goal to 7,500 every day. It was 5,500 on my weights and swimming days while I was working, 7,500 the other days. I’ve paced up.