HEALTH ADVICE FOR ANYONE OVER 35

Have you ever wondered why most professional athletes retire between 35-40 years of age? It can’t be because their ability level in relation to sporting know-how has dropped. Arguably with experience, and all that this brings, this only improves over time. On only a few occasions is it because they want to change careers – they find training too timeconsuming or for want of a better phrase, they simply ‘fall out of love’ with the sport concerned.

Nevertheless, very rarely will you see a professional athlete still competing at a high level in their 40s. With this still being a comparatively young age, we need to ask the question ‘why?’.

It is of course because our bodies can’t compete physically like they used to. We need to look at the science behind the changes to our bodies and more importantly, what we can do to help target these changes and aim to either slow them down or enable our bodies to adapt successfully to these changes.

We know that as we age we are likely to gain wrinkles, succumb to grey hair or even lose the latter.

But what about other, less obvious physical changes, those linked in particular to the early retirement of professional athletes?

As we age our bones tend to shrink in size and density, weakening them and making them more likely to fracture. This is why balance and fall prevention is key in our training programmes. Some individuals become shorter as they age, this is linked in turn to our bones weakening and shortening. Our muscles also lose strength. We won’t be as strong when we are 60 compared to when we were 40, nor at 80 in relation to when we were 60. Our muscles also lose their endurance and flexibility - factors that can affect our coordination, stability and balance. Here are some short key pointers to help us fight against these changes to our bones and muscles.

To help fight against the weakening of bones we need adequate amounts of calcium. The recommended amount for adults is at least 1,000 milligrams (mg) per day. This recommendation increases to 1,200 mg for women aged 51 and older, and men aged 71 and older.

Dietary sources of calcium include dairy products, broccoli, kale, salmon and tofu.

We also need adequate amounts of vitamin D. Last month we wrote about the benefits of exercising outdoors. Some people get enough vitamin D from sunlight. The recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 600 international units (IU) for adults up to age 70 and 800 IU for adults over 70. Sources include tuna, salmon, eggs and vitamin D supplements.

We need also to monitor certain less favourable substances entering our bodies. The perhaps obvious advice is to avoid smoking and limit our alcohol intake. They can significantly age our bodies. We should try not to smoke at all. With alcohol, you can ask your GP about how much might be safe for your age, gender and general health. As you may have guessed, it will be much less than we would have thought! This type of advice can be mirrored across a wide range of nutrition and, if you are concerned, or wish to adopt a healthier lifestyle, a chat with a dietician may be of value.

Aligned with dietary considerations is the need to include regular physical activity into our daily routine. Although aerobic activity is good, it isn’t enough and can’t perhaps always be relied on! We also need to turn our attention to strength training. Body weight training provides a minimum but ideally, we should be using external resistance equipment such as dumbbells, kettlebells and resistance bands. Such training activities can strengthen bones, muscles and joints thus reducing the speed at which they ultimately weaken.

Despite this article leaning towards bones, muscles and joints, it is worth briefly mentioning the possible impact of ageing on memory and thinking skills. Our brain undergoes changes as we age, changes that may have minor or even more significant effects on our memory and thinking skills. Being social, eating a healthy diet and staying mentally active are all very important to combat the changes to our bodies (including the brain) as we age.

With multiple outdoors, sociable and strength training exercise classes available in Sherborne, you’re sure to find a class suitable for you.

Wishing you a strong, happy and sunny July!

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