Get fit and stay young! Did you know that 'muscle responds to vigorous training with marked and rapid improvement into the ninth decade of life'. Or 'muscle cross-sectional area and strength of 70 year-olds who had resistance trained since the age of 50 was the same as a group of 28 year-old students.' Now Ian Oliver, renowned 63 yr old boxing trainer and author of the bestselling 'Boxing Fitness', invites you to get fit and stay fit well into your 90s. Whether you've never trained before, or have already reached a good level of fitness, this authoritative book will guide you through the best lifestyle and training programmes to enjoy fifty-plus fitness.
Much of the training I advocate in this book is the way I still train. I admit to be
something of a training nut – when only three or four people turned up for training
on a foul night in sheeting rain, I would be one of them. I still enjoy running, weight
training, swimming (when I get the chance), boxing training, core training and my
latest love, golf, which I used to loathe. I was dragged kicking and screaming to golf
by my wife, who often returns a better score than me, but had to admit it provides
not just good gentle exercise in a healthy environment, but a test of one’s patience
and spirit. It makes me wish I’d started 40 years ago but unfortunately where I was
raised in East London there was a distinct lack of golfing opportunities. The point
I make here is that you are never too old to try it out. You may, like me, become a
convert to something you had previously missed out on.
I have friends of around my own age who are as fit, or fitter than myself; the
‘use it or lose it’ principle applies here, especially with strength and flexibility. If we
want to maintain our strength, suppleness, vitality and, essentially, our “marbles” as
we grow older we have to run (not literally!) to stay in place.
As we grow older a gradual strength loss will occur, but resistance training,
especially with weights, can still bring gains. Tests have shown the over-80’s can still
make impressive strength gains and even change muscle size. One piece of research
states “muscle responds to vigorous training with marked and rapid improvement
into the ninth decade of life” (Fiatarone Singh M. A et al., 2000). How impressive
is that – building muscle strength in your nineties? Strength improvements through
resistance training depend, as with younger people, on the frequency, duration and
intensity applied by the individual. A good quality magazine for older trainers, Masters Athletics Monthly, gives
staggering details of record-breaking feats by runners in their 70’s, 80’s and even
90’s. In October 2004 Scotland’s Gordon Porteous is reported to have recorded
the fastest time for the over-90’s at 10,000 metres (69:26.92) But then he has
been competing since 1935, thus showing the value of continuous exercise. It was a
stunning achievement, but he did however admit “my knees were knackered” – really,
no kidding! (Detail from Masters Athletics Monthly, issue 3, December 2004).
Anybody who has seen ex-Mr Universe Bill Pearl at the age of 75, with a physique
20 and 30-something bodybuilders would kill a close relative to attain, can see that
the potential does not just fade away where strength training is concerned.
Consider also the staggering “7 marathons in 7 days” achievement of Sir Ranulph
Fiennes (regardless of his other outstanding feats of super-human endurance) despite
having undergone heart surgery, a double bypass no less, only 4 months earlier.
I am not going to advocate, as I have seen in fitness books for the mature
person, that a little regular gardening, taking the stairs instead of the lift, vacuuming,
or even occasional dancing (excellent exercise that it is) will suffice. I am trying to
instill a commitment to regular, structured training, in which I hope you will find
enough interest, inspiration and feelings of self-worth and well-being to give you the
stick-ability such training requires and deserves.
