If you are in your 60s and 70s and used to exercise, are you better off that people your age that don’t do as much?

apologies, have read the full thread but I regularly go to the gym and a lot of the women there are in their 60’s/70’s - regularly doing cardio/yoga etc. Many of them are fitter and more flexible than me! (40)
My own DM is late 70’s - she walks her dogs every day, vigorously gardens, goes to Pilates classes. Most people think she’s 10 years + younger than she is. In fact she’s much much fitter than any of my friend’/ younger parents. Maybe it’s genetics. My grandfather (her father) was the same. Hall and hearty into his 90’s. Very active. Neither of them have ever gone out running or even stepped foot in a gym (except to use a jacuzzi 😂) so I think it’s a combination of a generally healthy, active lifestyle (as opposed to a strict exercise regime) and genetics.

My mum has always been super active with many interests. She is now 78 and still healthy, happy and able to travel long distances. Also a very good diet.

Boring as it is, I plan to do the same.

One of my friends mother's is 80. She always tried to keep her weight down and lost about 2 stone 6/7 years ago. She walks about 2 or 3 miles most days. If the weather is horrible she might miss her walks and she told my friend she feels stiff or her knees feel worse when this happens.
This lady has a few sisters. Some of them would also do a decent walk each day, do gardening or be active.
One sister then was always a few stone overweight and was not into walking. She had a stroke a few years ago and now uses a walker.

My friends mother has several friends and the ones who did a good walk each day, stayed active and watched their weight generally are in better health than the ladies who did not do this. Most of these ladies would try to not put on to much weight before they eat less and move more to lose it. They like to stay say at a size 12/14/16 depending on their height or build.
Then most of these woman did not smoke and they would not be heavy drinkers either.

I also think as you get older that having friends and getting out of the house each day helps.
I know a a lady who is in her mid 80s who reads 2 newspapers each day & does puzzles. She is involved with several groups and meets friends regularly. She is still very sharp mentally. She is slower getting out of a chair say than 5 years ago but is still driving and does not need help to stay in her home.

My mum is in her late 60s, she took up running in her late 40s and is now very fit and healthy, still runs regularly and when she visits me in winter does cross country skiing and enjoys a good quality of life. My dad, on the other hand, is 70 and has always been more sedentary, especially as he got older, and struggles with walks (short ones are ok but longer than half an hour is getting difficult) and stairs and general mobility, though this is at least partly thanks to getting a particularly bad dose of covid (5 weeks on a ventilator so muscle wastage happened). So judging by my parents, exercise can make a big difference to quality of life.

On the flip side, my grandmother was also active but she got Alzheimer's and the good physical health from her active lifestyle meant she suffered longer with it

I’d advise you to look at an app called Visible.
It tracks your HR and HRV and lets you know if it’s a day where you need to be more careful energy wise or you can do a bit more. And ut helps You pace too.

Really really good for anyone ME/CFS or LC.

And it raises a good point.
I have ME and there is no way I can exercise. Exercise will actually make me ill, even more than I am now.
And there is a huge challenge there of keeping mobile/moving but not doing too much so you don’t relapse.

I’d also be careful about confirmation biases.

People who are well enough to exercise regularly are also more likely to be well enough to do a lot in their 70s.

eg my gran had several abdominal surgeries from her 40s onwards (doctors linked that the quality of her muscles and several pg - nothing she could have done iyswim). And yes she had some mobility issues quite early on. She still lives independently well into her 90s….
Grand father never exercised but was active all his life and lived at home independently until he died aged 97yo.

Personally, looking at older people, I feel it’s tte carrying on being active, moving, walking that makes the difference rather than ‘exercise’

My 93 year old neighbour goes for a daily run. He has always been very active and says he is still far too young to give up yet.

He is my greatest inspiration whenever I am having a sluggish day.

@TeaAndStrumpets
You have my sympathy! I'm so glad that your Dexa scan readings have improved! I've been using a vibration machine, one you stand on that vibrates at different rates and may help strengthen bones. No idea if it works but hopefully it will have a beneficial effect!

I disagree with the term "working out".
My mother is 93. Always been active, walked, gardened etc.. never was still.
She lives alone in her own house, still gets on her knees to wash the kitchen floor, ( lifts weights her son-in-law gave her for upper arm strength, can get up from lying on the floor to do her exercises( she's an ex physio) unaided, she does her balance exercises and is better than me...
She has an allotment 1.5 miles away and has a chest freezer full of home grown fruit and veg.
She never worked out but has always been active, curious and interested in life ( which is also important in maintaining longevity, health and quality of life).

None of my grandparents were physically active as they aged and all lived well into their 90s. My parents are both very active now in their 80s but both have a lot of health issues.

Being active and exercising is very important for physical and mental health but I don't think it overrides genetics.

@Kendodd you talk sense 💐

My runner brother had a heart attack at 60 which he nearly didn't survive. Smoked and drank heavily as a young man though. I don't 'exercise' as such but active and garden/walk/run up stairs/ swim 20 lengths a couple of times a week. My mum was similar to me though she smoked and I never have. She's just beginning to fail health wise at 85. I'm hopeful that I can continue my activity (58)
DH was very active. Now has developed a blood disorder which makes him breathless and fatigued so he's not exercising. But it's not lack of exercise that made him unwell - he doesn't exercise because he's unwell. So the statistics can be skewed I think.

This.

My DM is crippled by a lifetime of nursing before the era of manual handling regulations and hoists. I see a lot of elderly ex-nurses with the same problems.

Similarly my DF was very fit and active but so stiff with arthritis he could barely bend after a lifetime of physical work.

My MIL - middle class SAHM - has not such issues and no arthritis at all.

My mum died at 80 and was always active, regularly going for a 5k walk, doing exercises, gardening, and also mentally active.

Before she died she had to have a check up for something and the doctors were extremely impressed with her muscle definition and how toned her skin was. So while she died at 80 due to a health issue if it weren’t for that she could have easily carried on and being both mentally physically active definitely made her life more enjoyable. She went on holidays abroad with friends v friends of a similar age who’d let themselves go in their 60s on the basis they were old.

DF has always been very active - in terms of lots of verrry long walks on every childhood holiday - often up a mountain, had a minor health scare in his 50s and stepped it up to add in swimming several times a week (lots and lots of lengths not just a little bit). He's 89 and still swims a mile every Friday morning.

Exercise is the key to a happy old age. I'm in my fifties now and still work out at least 3, usually 4 times per week. I have always loved keeping fit - it's my biggest and most effective means of relieving stress. When I see other women my age, moaning and groaning when they just get up from a seat, I am so grateful that I have always exercised.

I’ve always been active but contracting cardiomyopathy from viral myocarditis slammed the brakes on 5 years ago.
I’m now unable to do anything like I could so have had to adapt big time.
Thankfully I have excellent bone density, cholesterol levels etc (I’m nearly 70) thanks to being healthy and active for years beforehand.

I'm 62, have always been active and into working out/fitness but have made changes to my routine as I age. Running gave way to 1 hour of brisk walking (wearing a weighted vest or doing hills), weight training 4 days per week and a quick 20 minute yoga routine nightly (for flexibility).

Advantages? I enjoy it, I feel good, I look good, benefits my mental health. I think the key is to be mindful of your body as you age. The "no pain, no gain" attitude is just dumb when you're older. Injuries and joint replacements will really set you back.

My advice to younger women would be...build your bones! You begin losing bone mass in your 30's and you want to slow that process as much as possible thru weight bearing exercise.

My parents are about to be 70 and both still go to the gym regularly, cycle, walk long distances and my mum jogs.

They both look way younger than they are and have always been active and are not overweight. Occasionally they have niggles and temporary injuries so do less, but keeping active has definitely made them look way less old than some 70 year olds I know.

I heard that Liam Neeson once that said motion is lotion, that really stuck in my head.
And judging from this thread the old everything is moderation is very apt advice.

I'm 60 and I still run park run, practise martial arts and cycle with my ds. I also work full time, mow the lawn, do the decorating etc etc.

So far, no deterioration other than a slightly slower 5k time.

It depends. My DM never walked or did any exercise in her entire life. The only shoes she owned were high heel, and she only wore dresses! She died age 93 of COVID, and didn't really have much wrong with her. Genes okay a big role, and I suppose when she was young, she did lots of physical work in the house, and had four children, and didn't drive..... So in her 20's and 30's was probably quite fit.

That said, the opposite is true of my grandparents. My grandad was a serious hill walker. Died in his early 70s. My grandmother liked the hills but was no where near as serious about walking as my grandad. She's in her mid 90s and only recently has started to seriously decline.

So maybe there is no telling!

Anecdotally I have two parents: one for whom sport, walking, running was always a regular part of their lives; the other who would take the car to drive 2 mins to the shop even when they were in their 30s and who never really exercised regularly. Both in their late 60s now. The active one is still pretty active and could easily walk 6-10 miles a day without too much hassle. The other, is now all but housebound and can barely walk at all - much to their distress.

I am 63 and have never been keen on exercise. Over the last year I have started to feel stiff particularly around my hips. So I have started walking and swimming gradually building up the steps and lengths. I am also doing some yoga. I do feel much better and will keep going. In a way I now have a motivator to exercise and that motivator is aging. I also only work part-time so at last I have the time.