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Healthy Aging

Staying Young: The Role of Physical Activity in Aging

Summary & Participants

As we age, keeping physically active is essential. It not only improves the appearance of the body, it also prevents the occurrence of health complications in the future. Join Dr. Roizen as he discusses the role of exercise in aging and the type of activities that can help maintain a healthy body.

Medically Reviewed On: May 08, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Physical fitness plays an important role in how we age and feel.

MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD: From a health standpoint, there are three different areas you get benefits in that we have well-quantified.

Arterial aging: arterial aging is associated with heart disease, stroke, memory loss, impotence, decay in orgasm quality, even wrinkling of the skin.

Immune aging: that's associated with infections and cancer, even autoimmune disease such as many forms of arthritis.

And then accidents and disability from accidents. All three are affected by physical activity.

ANNOUNCER: Lack of activity and the obesity that can result, may also increase the risk of health complications.

MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD: Iit's the side effects of obesity that are so great a risk. Blood pressure elevations, sleep apnea, arthritis, diabetes, the altered self-image that obesity causes or is associated with it. All are tremendously aging.

ANNOUNCER: That's why exercise is vital when it comes to a healthy body. Dr. Roizen has seen his patients stuggle with this in his practice. That is why he recommends the following steps.

MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD: There are plenty of treadmills and bikes, etc. that are coat hangers. So don't do the stamina activity first. Do walking. Secondly, do strength-building activity. You've got 13 basic different muscle groups. You need to use 9 of them for 10 minutes three times a week to get the maximum benefit from resistance or strength training. So it's 30 minutes a week for that.

Once you've done those two for about a month each, then you should go into stamina. Stamina, you need 21 minutes of raising your heart rate.

ANNOUNCER: Integrating exercise into a busy life is difficult, and a regular routine is key.

MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD: You've got to make time to do exercise.

No one is going to do 90 minutes every day, if they've got a busy life, unless they schedule some things that are regular into their life. One of the things I've found is: I bought a set of weights and while I'm watching the Jay Leno monologue every night, it's only 10 minutes a night, but you can exercise either your upper body or your lower body every night and get plenty of strength-building exercise and enjoy doing it. Have fun doing it. So make it an enjoyable part of life.