Ten Low-Impact But Effective Workouts

The Older You Get, The More You Need to Work Out to Maintain Muscle Mass

Recruiting one group of volunteers aged 20 to 35 and a second group of volunteers aged 60 to 70, the University of Alabama scientists had both groups build muscles by doing leg presses, squats, and knee extensions three times a week for four months. Then the researchers set out to determine how little exercise would still be enough to keep the newly formed muscles from shrinking.
 

• The volunteers in their 20's and 30's only needed to exercise once a week to continue gaining muscle and once every three weeks to maintain it.
• The volunteers in their 60's lost muscle mass if they continued to exercise once a week. Exercising two or three times a week is necessary to keep muscle mass from shrinking.

The problem is, as any adult in his or her 60's can tell you, that older people are more prone to joint injuries that make exercise impossible for weeks or months at a time. When older people do not exercise for two weeks or more, shrinkage of muscles is almost guaranteed, further increasing the risk of injuries.

The only solution for older people is regular, low-impact exercise. Fortunately, there are a variety of routines that will accomplish muscle maintenance. Here are the top ten.

1. Walking

Just about every exercise expert will warn that walking is not "good" exercise because it lacks a resistance component for strengthening muscle mass. By the time you are in your 60's, however, chances are you have picked enough fat mass that walking is great resistance exercise for your legs. The important thing is to make sure that walking does not become boring. Vary your routine by taking different routes, finding trails that go up and down, and walking at different times of day. A treadmill is lower-impact than walking outside, assuming you don't fall off it.

2. Swimming

Most Americans learn to swim at a very early age, as young as 18 months, and usually by the age of 10. Over the years, however, it is possible to forget how to do some of the strokes. A few remedial swimming lessons may make swimming safer and a lot more fun.

Swimming is unusually safe for the joints. There are two ways to make swimming a better weight-loss (or lower weight-gain) exercise. One is to swim in colder water. The best way to do this is to continue swimming in an outdoor pool as long as possible through the fall and even into the winter, making sure you have a way to stay warm once you get out of the water.

Another way to make swimming a weight loss exercise is to vary your pace in intervals. Swim for 30 minutes, doing one lap at a slow pace and the next lap at a slow pace, alternating throughout your routine, finishing on a slow lap.

3. Body weight exercise

It is not necessary to go to the gym or to buy free weights to weight training. You can use your body's weight as the weight you use for muscle building. If you can't get down in the floor to do a pushup, try pushing yourself off your kitchen counter or from a steady and sturdy chair. Work up your upper body strength until you can do pushups or Pilates without undue wear and tear.
 

Just 150 Minutes a Week Is Enough

Low-impact workouts don't have to be boring. A good example is rowing.

4. Rowing

Author Robert Rister once entered a canoe race down the length of the Colorado River in Texas, a trip of about 300 miles (500 km). Both he and his partner, a civil and hydrological engineer who had pulled his back and could not row, were already in their 40's, and out of shape, but they managed to come in second, beating both the Army and US Marine Corps teams, whose entrants were in their early 20's. Their strategy? Whenever the younger teams would catch up, they would talk about how tired they were and how they weren't sure they would even finish the day's lap. The younger teams would then find a cove and drink beer while he and his rowing partner would sneak past them, rowing as fast and as quietly they possibly could. (Rister's partner the engineer scouted for and found currents that would accelerate their speed downstream.) And to whom did they lose? A 75-year-old man, also a hydrological engineeer, who had used the same ruse on them.

Rowing is a great outdoor exercise. Be sure to you know what to do if your canoe capsizes and carry flotation devices. Feign weakness if in a race. And if you choose to your rowing indoors, it is still a great way to develop your arms, back, and shoulders.

5. Free weights

Dumbbells are for smart exercise. Once you have used machines at the gym long enough to master form and techniques, you can use free weights at the gym or anywhere you like to continue muscle maintenance. Start with a weight that you are comfortable using for 8 to 15 repetitions. When 12 repetitions becomes easy, find a heavier weight. Limit yourself to two weight training sessions a week to give muscles time to repair and rebuild themselves.

6. Water exercise

Deep-water exercise is a great way to do walking, running, or biking if you are badly out of shape. Deep water supports your body and takes pressure off your joints. Always start in deep water and progress to shallow, because shallow-water exercises offer less support and are harder to do.

7. Cardio machines

From time to time everyone has some kind of foot or leg injury that keeps them from doing their regular cardio routine. An ergometer at the gym, operated with the arms, however, allows keeping up cardiovascular fitness while legs or feet heal.

8. Circuit exercise

Circuit exercise workouts work out the entire body without working any particular joint or muscle too much. The easiest way to start doing circuit exercise is to do 10 minutes of cardio followed by body weight exercises, and then another 10 minutes of a different form of cardiovascular exercise. Add exercises to your circuit and you gain muscle strength.

9. Exercise classes

Peer pressure is not always bad. Exercise classes are a good way to stay in shape with pointers from your instructors and classmates.

10. Yoga

Many seniors shun yoga because they can't imagine ever being able to twist themselves into pretzel-like shapes while standing on one foot. The simple fact is, many seniors are never able to do all the poses. However, learning just a few yoga poses strengthens muscles and trains the brain to keep the body balanced. Your ability to do even a little yoga may be what keeps you from slipping when you get out of the bath or falling down icy steps.

How much exercise is necessary to maintain muscle mass?The Centers for Disease Control recommend 150 minutes a week, or just 75 minutes a week, in at least two sessions, if done at high intensity. The important thing is to choose exercises you enjoy and will do regularly.