AIBU to think the pressure for ‘older’ women to exercise is wrong?

[StitchInLime]

So as a woman in my late 40s, I keep getting told (via ads, from some people in my life, via tv and so on) that I need to do strength exercises and cardio if I don’t want to suffer later in life. And yet, it’s the woman I know who did f-all exercise at my age and before who seem to be thriving in their 60s/70s (eg my aunts) and the ones who did more exercise at my age now have issues with knees, hips etc. I find it difficult to find the motivation in light of this. If you have opposite examples, please share as I really need to motivate myself!

That statement isn’t entirely correct.
almost all hip fractures are caused by a fall. Normally a side fall. I worked on a T&O ward.
a few fracture first and then fall.
However, you are more likely to get a fracture if you have weaker bone density.

Any exercise is good. I’m mid fifties and began regular exercise this year.

So in Spring/Summer I went out walking and I got an exercise bike on which I now do 10 miles per day. (I’m a fair weather Walker!) I have maintained my size 6/8 figure with sensible healthy eating (some treats!) my whole life, even after childbirth.

It’s more about keeping moving in ANY way and not letting yourself get obese (not everyone has to be size 6, I’m 5ft 1in) that gives you a better quality of life in older age. Balance in all things. 😊❤️

@divinededacende Sounds like you've done amazingly well... and I'm now excitedly looking up local roller derby events 😆

This. I'm 58 and a marathon/ultra runner, but this year I cut down on running and took up strength training as well. I'm now no longer slim and saggy but slim and strong with great muscle definition which I never had from just cardio.
During the menopause a lot of women put on weight and I can say that with a combination of a high protein diet plus lifting weights I have a problem eating enough to maintain my weight. When I just ran every day it wasn't the case.
If you want to lose fat and not muscle (and most people don't want to lose muscle[, it's important to incorporate weight training into your life - plus eating lots of protein.

If you have watched an older person struggle to get up off the floor and needjng to call an ambulance you will realise that doing anything to improve strength and mobility in middle age and into old age is really important.

Fitness and strength make a huge difference to quality of life at all life stages but particularly in later life.

I am sorry I haven’t read the entire thread but I do not agree with the OP. We might feel pressure and might not like it, because it doesn’t fit into our lives well but it’s true. It’s not a lie. The NHS is burdened with preventable health conditions.

Having watched my older obese relatives become more and more immobile at early ages I don’t want this to happen to me. My DM retired early due to her mobility problems and now barely walks she is 65 YEARS OLD which is not elderly, and almost housebound, has already had joint replacements. She didn’t ever exercise or watch her diet, my DP’s mum is not far behind at a slightly younger age and now I am in my 40’s and don’t want to have osteoporosis from a terrible diet or making excuses why I am not keeping myself mobile. Yes it’s hard, and yes I feel pressure about my looks but my health is my responsibility and I’m not going to blame others for my own poor decisions

Do it. You get to strap yourself up with padding and bash each other about on wheels. It looks like a blast.

I deeply resent the industry of so-called health and fitness that largely preys on women's fears of looking wrong or (god forbid) having less-than dewy radiance 24 hours a day.

So I've never joined a gym in my life, nor bought any exercise-specific equipment. I also never exercise for its own sake as I find it tedious and time-wasting.

But I do live in a way that makes exercise unavoidable. No car, multi-level home with steep stairs, very muscular and quite happy to move/lift heavy things.

And I've noticed how easily I move compared to my same-age peers who are sedentary. Not so much in early years but in our late 40s and 50s the difference is quite stark.

Not that there is anything wrong with their choices, only that no, I don't find the emphasis on strength & flexibility to be overblown

Am in my late 40s, so same age as the OP. Am also being treated for breast cancer and am currently undergoing chemotherapy. The fact I am in good shape and exercised means that I am doing better than those who do not with this treatment. While exercise might not prevent you getting sick, it can put you in a better place to deal with it/any treatment

Totally agree. I had to have very heavy chemo a few years ago - in my 50s. I was only considered for it as I was so healthy and fit.

Chemo can put a huge strain on several organs, including your heart, so fitness makes a big difference.

I'd disagree. I was diagnosed in my 30's due to gene mutations (don't smoke, rarely drink alcohol and have always exercised). I found the side effects of chemo really gruelling. A friend who got diagnosed at the same time who is a heavy drinker and loves junk food sailed through. When it comes to cancer, you don't know how you will react to the medication.

Not that it's top trumps, but I don't drink, smoke and after 30+ years of having multiple breast lumps and lumpectomies, it transpires thatI have a really really rare double genetic mutation which puts me not only at a greater risk of breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancer but all cancers full stop. Am actually under the care of two oncologists/genetic specialists, both at different hospitals as a result of my mutation. I have been warned I would find chemo far harder than most. So far it's not great, but not as awful as I feared. But hey, am only two cycles down with at least six more to go

As you state, not everyone knows how they will react to medication, particularly cancer. But surely it's is in everyone's best interest to make sure they're in the best shape possible 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes, of course, but there are no guarantees that a healthy lifestyle will make recovery easier for everyone going through chemo. Good luck with the rest of your treatment.

@Aixellency You think the messages we are getting are all a ?Tory government? capitalist? conspiracy involving offloading responsibility of health onto individuals which they can only remedy with expensive gym membership or exercise books? All Western governments (okay, all operating within a capitalist system) are realizing obesity is costing their services more money and lack of fitness is making the point at which older people start claiming on the NHS in particular earlier and earlier. Taking responsibility for ones own health and sooner rather than later not only relieves that pressure benefitting all of us, but also tends to make for a happier healthier and more independent life. Which does not need to involved gym membership as PPs have said - walking, running and weight training cost either nothing or very little - I've got 20 year old weights and 5 year old trainers which have cost me less than a basic bottle of wine or 2 Flat Whites every other month over the years.

No one can know everything for certain it’s about best chances, increasing the potential. It is more probable that you will manage illness better or recover more easily if you are fitter but it is not a guarantee. Everyone knows someone who is unhealthy and doing ok but doctors and scientists aren’t all lying to us about the benefits of health in a wider sense.

However - this is a rhetoric very much seized upon in the body positive (fat acceptance branch) community. It is their main campaign that it is false that you need to be fit, not obese and mobile to be healthy. Whilst women are also up against the constant barrage of Kardashian unrealistic beauty standards we are now also up against the body positive community who are trying to discount the benefits of health as being fat phobic. Women ARE abandoning their health and fitness at young ages in a bid to be free from society beauty standards and fighting back against the industry but to the dangerous detriment of their own health. If you buy into this way of thinking it is going to be equally harmful.

We should all be looking after our own health and fitness for our kids sake and saving money for the nhs

The way that NHS services are being squeezed, if doing the appropriate kinds of exercise means one doesn’t end up having a fall and pissing oneself while waiting hours for an ambulance, then I’m all for it.

Can anyone recommend a good home strength training workout? Not Caroline Givan as I found it too hard and it put me off.

Exercise like yoga and pilates are a must that I wish I’d known about years ago. It’s common knowledge that our ankles stiffen, old people can’t pick up cups etc. surely you want to be as mobile as possible in your old age.

Well, now you're looking at a woman who is otherwise leading a pretty healthy lifestyle - good diet, not overweight, doesn't smoke, one or two glasses of wine a week - but leads a mostly sedentary life, and al the exercise I did was low impact.

And guess what, in my early 60s I've just been diagnosed with osteoporosis. So now I am having to figure out how to change things but it would have been better to make those changes in my 40s if not before.

I believe the NHS have some videos for starting weight training

Amy body fit is often recommend for beginners also

Both if I recall correctly have lots of body weight options so you don't need any kit to get started

Wow, this is long thread. PP well-invested.
I agree with "Do as you wish". But fwiw, in answer to ...

If you have opposite examples, please share as I really need to motivate myself!

My ma: into Fitness in 1970s & 80s, tennis, jogging, Jane Fonda fitness era Half Marathon, 70 mile cycle ride across the desert for charity.
Flash forward to age 50: smoking, drinking, driving quarter mile to buy ciggies. Heart attack took her at age 63.

One of my aunts has never been into exercise. She had a stroke at 50 (stopped smoking). By 69 she had sarcopenia (she told me to explain her ultra thin arms & legs), stayed in too much during pandemic.

in contrast to...
StepMum is age 81, walks 5 miles a day, gentle swimming few times a week. She is only person I know (who she knows!?) her age who is on zero prescribed medication unless you count a minimal dose of HRT.

It’s not really about how you look, but what is going on inside. The human body evolved to be doing things, not sit around. So your heart needs to pump and your muscles need to work if you want to stay healthy. Of course there are exceptions. My granny lived to 100 and never did any exercise, though she did walk to church. But, if you want to maximise chances, then regular exercise; cardio and strength, is the way to go.

I was given two courses of dose dense chemotherapy in 2020 and 2022 for cancer because I was fit and strong enough at 60 to cope with it. Now I am fighting to recover after a year of sedentary life because I want my active life back. Regular exercise is the key to staying young and fit. It’s not chronology but biology that defines us.

I think exercising does me good. But I am not overdoing it at all.