excercise
has no age limit
By Kim Monsour
Contributing columnist
Photos by Paula Merritt
Monsour
28•
If you are a senior, you may feel like you are
“too old” for exercise. But this could not be
further from the truth based on what the body
needs.
I tell my clients all the time, “your body performs only
like you train it.”
Without a doubt as you age your strength and perfor-
mance will decline. From the moment you turn 30 years of
age, your skeletal muscle strength will progressively decline
as you get older (Carraro et al., 2017). However, there is great
news if you are an older person who exercises regularly.
If you compare muscle from lifelong active seniors to
that of sedentary elderly people, you will notice those who
exercised have more muscle bulk (Carraro et al., 2017).
Therefore, if you are an active senior, you are more likely to
preserve muscle mass over a longer period of time and slow
down the effects of aging on strength and performance.
There are immense benefits to working out regularly as
you age. To get the most value from your workouts, it is
crucial that you train appropriately for your fitness level and
age. Not doing so may potentially put you at a higher risk
for injury.
Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of exercise.
Above: Trainer Kim Monsour helps Cathy Monsour stretch after excercising. Opposite
page: Kay Monsour, left, and Cathy Monsour exercise with hand weights.