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Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

bbc.co.uk

221–230 of 251 posts

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#221

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I just hate it. Not that I haven't tried. I've tried running, weights, walking. It's boring, and makes me feel tired and irritable. I just want to go to bed after exercise. Not my thing.

You don't get that rush of endorphins which makes you feel godlike, if only briefly? Then try doing it harder. (And with better music.)

I have never, so far as I am aware, experienced any such thing as an endorphin rush, even though I do practically everything in life harder and with better music. Physical activity is great if it's part of something fun, but I've never been able to find anything intrinsically pleasant about exercise for its own sake.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people used their time to study and learn new things instead of fretting about their exercise, they'd be able to interpret the results of studies like these.

If people used their time to exercise instead of watch TV/Netflix/Hulu, they'd be able to think more clearly and better absorb the results of studies like these.

Maybe they would, see above.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#223

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Precisely, one should quit all excuses! My father was prescribed to storvas (for cholesterol) over a decade ago... luckily he is an avid reader and soon found out what road the permanent meds lead to. He quit the meds and started working out consistently (never mind spondylitis which he combatted with bed rest) for 10 years (and still continuing). Today, he's over 50 and is killing it in every aspect in life. His min…

Just curious, what are the issues that he found with regards to the medication? I am asking because I was prescribed statins at 30 for the same issue.

It caused gradual rise in blood sugar, which caused him to read about potential side effects after which he got cautious and decided that he wanted another way. Turns out rigorous working out was a good way to control cholesterol and he was determined he had stop the meds out of fear for future.

You can read about side effects of statins like lipitor, et cetera, it just scared him off and lead to exercising; which comes with a whole lotta benefits. Tbh I'm not really sure the side effects might've even been that drastic, but he didn't wanna take chances.

Side note: statins are a 20+ billion dollar industry. lipitor being a solid winner. Made my dad feel like there was no coming back once he was dependent on the statin.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just hate it. Not that I haven't tried. I've tried running, weights, walking. It's boring, and makes me feel tired and irritable. I just want to go to bed after exercise. Not my thing.

I'm an adrenaline junkie and found my love of exercise in biking. You can go fast enough that it's a decent rush, and going out on trails can be really exciting. Once you get into good shape you can hit over 30mph for short times.

You can go even faster with some effort! The other day I was frequently hitting well over 50kph, maxing out around 62kph (30-38mph) and I was trying to conserve energy. It's a hell of a lot of fun. I'm not even that fast or fit - any half decent bike will absolutely fly on a good descent.

https://www.strava.com/activities/954036327 (Shows top speed recorded by my GPS)

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely, one should quit all excuses! My father was prescribed to storvas (for cholesterol) over a decade ago... luckily he is an avid reader and soon found out what road the permanent meds lead to. He quit the meds and started working out consistently (never mind spondylitis which he combatted with bed rest) for 10 years (and still continuing). Today, he's over 50 and is killing it in every aspect in life. His min…

I just hate it. Not that I haven't tried. I've tried running, weights, walking. It's boring, and makes me feel tired and irritable. I just want to go to bed after exercise. Not my thing.

Climbing, dance, biking. You barely dipped your toe in the water.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#226
post #174
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much this. All you can do for most people is to be an example to them in this regard, and politely suggest getting some physical activity to them every now and then, if it comes up naturally in conversation. They're all adults, in this age of information they all the facts available for such decision.

You could say the same about getting people to save for retirement, but then we tried making 401k plans opt-out and participation increased. We can dramatically change behavior simply by changing the default. Sometimes there are obvious ways to do this--check here if you don't want to be an organ donor, click this link if you don't want half this raise/starting salary to automatically go into your 401k--and sometimes…

I know we could do all that, and it would likely be met with some success.

The point is - should we? Why waste all those resources in subtly coercing, conditioning and deceiving responsible, adult people into wanting to have better lives? The situation will self-correct in a few decades all by itself, and there is too many of us on this planet anyway.

I have a colleague at work who is younger than me, almost morbidly obese. He is fully aware of it, he even cracks jokes about it. He is interested in reading all the theory in the world about anatomy, digestion, dieting, excercise, even chemistry, but he is too weak-willed to actually hop on that bike (which he bought last year, yet to my knowledge never used so far), or go for a walk. But he's already finished the new Mass Effect game and is up to speed with all the TV series out there. Every now and then, I suggest that he joins us when we go out on light bike trip, or swimming in nearby lake in summer, but he always makes one excuse or another.

Another colleague of mine is slightly older, and used to be almost as obese as the first one. About a year ago, he decided to start cycling to work, and also do some cycling in his free time. He changed a lot, is much more lean (or rather less "unlean", he still has ways to go), and by his own words, feels much better.

Both of them have made their choice, and are making it over and over again.

That said, I'm all for teaching kids good habits, they do not know any better, and it is our generation's task to impart wisdom (or something we consider wisdom, anyway) to the next one.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#227
post #79

My problem with exercise is simply time. There are a million things I want to do and with a 10-7 work shift, I just can't do much. Staying 30 minutes longer happens easily so it's 7:30. Commuting to the gym would take another 20-30. 1h in the gym and it's 9 (or later). Commuting an hour home and it's 10. Go to supermarket, maybe cook something up and it could easily be 11 already. This leaves 1-2h max to do anything…

I know you've had a heap of responses already, but regarding eating after you get home: Prep something in advance. Make dinner the night before, but double it. The next day after the gym just warm it up, eat, and relax. You'll spend ~10m extra the day before preparing extra and save yourself tons of energy and time the next day. It'll make working out seem a lot less daunting.

Try to fit a bunch of these in and eventually you'll have quite a lot more time. Prep food in advance, work out at home, you're saving well over an hour already.

I feel your pain regarding wanting to go part time so you have time for what you care about. I have many weeks where things pile up until the weekend, then it's all errands and chores all weekend. Such a drag.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#228

On one side of my family retirement for my grandparents meant long days vegetating in front of the television with little dogs to pet. Church on Sundays were really their only time out. This brought dementia by age 80 and a host of other issues and they are on their way out. On the other side my grandfather plays basketball, golfs, runs, reads a book every few days, even drinks at a bar. No dementia. Sharp as a tack.…

As a counterpoint, my (surviving) grandparents have had exactly the same lifestyle since retirement (TV all day) and are in their 80's.

My grandmother is relatively fit, looks the same as she did 10 years ago. My grandfather is currently in hospital with his 3rd stroke, dementia, and diabetes.

Age just hits some people harder than others.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#229

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> Machines are totally unnecessary. Machines are actually worse than free weights; you don't get a full body workout, especially all those stabilizer muscles that help prevent injury. > hardened against injuries. I can second this; while I've not become extremely strong, I credit strength training for my lack of broken bones after taking a 600ft tumble down a hard pack snow slope. Strength training in recovery also h…

> Machines are actually worse than free weights; you don't get a full body workout Yes and no. Free weights are the better of the two choices, but machines are head and shoulders better than free weights for solo trainer safety, which is a problem for us guys and gals trying to "fit it in" to our schedules, as well as beginners. So, I don't discourage people from machines simply because they aren't optimal. They have…

> So, I don't discourage people from machines simply because they aren't optimal.

Any exercise is better than no exercise. And yeah, things like bench press you should ideally have a spotter for. Myself, I stick to the five lifts from Rippetoe's "Starting Strength" (a recommendation I got from HN of all places!), so squats I use a power rack with pins, and overhead press, deadlift and power clean need no spotters. Bench you can do without a spotter if you leave the collars off (just dump the plates on one side, then the other), but most gyms frown on that.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just hate it. Not that I haven't tried. I've tried running, weights, walking. It's boring, and makes me feel tired and irritable. I just want to go to bed after exercise. Not my thing.

Not meaning to be snarky at all, but have you tried reading about mindfulness first? I found that in my 20s running was awful and I was almost literally counting the steps until I got to the end. But as I've gotten older and embraced a more mindful worldview running, walking, swimming or any of the traditional "slog" activities has become a really nice quiet time where I can appreciate all the little motions and sens…

Couldn't agree more and appreciate your constructive tone in the reply. Mindfulness really has become a focus of mine very recently and definitely something that I practice while swimming.

The act of staying in the moment not worrying about the future or repeating the past in my head has significantly improved who I am.

In practice this tends to be me very deliberately feeling the water, counting my strokes, paying Dill attention to my breathing.

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