Can You Run Even When You’re Older?

REALage versus Age.

For inexperienced runners, the idea of running isn’t always a pleasant thought: people think about pounding their knees, aching joints, and long, tiring jaunts along the road. But when it comes to running, we all know there can be tremendous health benefits. There’s just one question: do these health benefits still take effect when you’re entering your fifth, sixth, and even seventh decade? Can you even run when you’re at those ages? Let’s take a deeper look into these myths and find out if they’re grounded in reality.

The first thing to consider is a concept not many people are familiar with. The recent “RealAge” phenomenon has helped shed light on the fact that your body’s age isn’t as fixed as your chronological age. For example, you might be sixty-five, but if you have the lungs of a forty-five year old, you won’t have as much trouble exercising as the next sixty-five year old.

But it’s a little more complicated than that. We also have to consider that getting older isn’t simply a degenerative disease, though many people treat it that way. Instead, getting older often refers to the way our bodies are effected by our particular habits over longer periods of time. If you have generally gained a pound of fat every year for twenty years since you were twenty, you might attribute the new weight at forty as “slow metabolism.” But is your metabolism really slower, or did you simply gain weight over a long period of time, regardless of the speed of your metabolism?

What’s important to consider is not what your age does to you; it’s what you can do at your age. Even bone strength is a variable in your body that can be improved. “Being old” by your own standards in and of itself is not a valid excuse to avoid exercises like running.

The truly important questions address how you feel and how much your body can take. A physical with your doctor and some questions about running and exercise will help you better understand what your body is capable of. Remember that age is more frequently an excuse than a real reason to cut back on exercise. In fact, through moderate exercise, you can even improve your body’s strength and health, thereby “reducing” your “RealAge.”

The last question? It’s simple: do you think you’re old? If you’re forty years old, a sixty-year old might be inclined to tell you how well off you are. If you’re eighty, you might look back at your sixties are the prime of your life. Age is a relative thing. Treat it that way.

Photo Credits: ikes

Originally posted 2009-07-27 05:14:32.

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