Living On: Earlier you start exercising the more likely you are to live longer

CLEVELAND, Ohio - At 91, Edna Zilm isn’t just active because she works full-time. She also enjoys walking, stretching, lifting light weights and even doing planks.

For her, staying active is a lifestyle choice that started early. At 20, she developed a passion for downhill skiing that continued until age 75. And in between enjoying family and serving clients, she’s participated in various sports, including tennis and golf.

“As a former nurse, I learned that good health is of the utmost importance on a daily basis in order to enjoy your work, family and friends,” said Zilm, a Realtor with the Blumberg team of Howard Hanna in Pepper Pike.

Zilm is the perfect example of why it pays to become physically active sooner rather than later.

An ongoing study of physical activity, in its seventh year at Duke University â€" shows that physical performance declines earlier than researchers thought. Challenges start with middle age around 50. Duke’s research of 775 participants ages 30 to 90, shows that it’s a mistake to wait until declines in physical fitness sets in. Functional declines and sometimes disabilities generally happen before 65, the targeted age for the start of the study of geriatrics.

Study co-author Katherine Hall, an Assistant Professor of Geriatrics at Duke University School of Medicine, equates bodies to machines.

“If you put 60 or 70 years of wear on any machine, it’s going to show some decline,” she said, noting that the severity of decline varies significantly from one person to another based partly on how active, or sedentary, they are.

Measuring Fitness

To assess age-related changes in people’s fitness abilities, the researchers at Duke had participants perform tests designed to measure things like strength, endurance, balance and walking speed.

At all ages, male study participants generally performed better than the females, but the age when physical declines became truly apparent was consistent for both sexes: the 50s. Both men and women began to have trouble rising from and sitting back down in a chair repeatedly for 30 seconds (an indicator of declines in lower body strength) or standing on one leg for up to 60 seconds (a measure of balance).

Since doctors don’t typically perform these type of tests during an annual physical, Hall said the results were surprising. What surprised her most is that the age of a participant wasn’t the key factor in many tests, but rather it boiled down to a person’s decision to be more active. For example, some younger, sedentary study participants performed worse than more active, older adults.

“There wasn’t much meaningful difference between people in their 30s, 40s and 50s and people in their 70s and 80s,” she said. “Prior to this study, I would have guessed it would have been a huge difference. “

However, Hall said, “Our younger people need to be doing more, as do our older people.”

Hall says walking speed is the strongest predictor of hospitalizations, as well as a person’s risk for developing chronic diseases, disabilities and cognitive decline.

“We saw a steady decrease as they get older, especially in their 70’s. And the same was true with aerobic endurance, and that has to do with a loss of stamina,” Hall said.

“I was surprised that at the beginning of the 50s is when most people start to see more impairments in lower body strength and balance. That’s what you need for daily activities like getting in and out of a car and doing house/yard work. We need to be measuring physical function more frequently and across all ages of adulthood, and having these discussions about doing purposeful exercise much earlier.”

Pushing through adversity

Omar F. Campbell, 35, has been a personal fitness trainer and group fitness instructor for 10 years. These days, clients at his new Warrensville Heights facility, Limitless Chanxes, range in age from 25 to 79.

“When it comes to age, it’s not about what you can and can’t do, it’s about when you’re going to start moving,” said Campbell. “There’s no excuses not to move your body.”

Campbell said moving your body starts with a mindset, and even he suffered a setback four years ago. He says he gained a lot of weight while dealing with personal and professional changes.

“It’s all about adherence and changing your thoughts. I think people don’t understand the way our bodies can be stressed with eating and lack of movement,” said Campbell, a former semi-pro basketball player who has a bachelor’s degree in wellness and various certifications in fitness and nutrition.

“I know how it feels when you’re mentally tired. It’s hard when you have to deal with life and trying to do better,” he said. “It takes a lot for people to say, ‘I’m physically tired, but I’m going to keep going.’”

“I got into training because I wanted to help people’s quality of life,” Campbell said. “We all have an expiration date, but exercising can affect your quality of life.”

Guy Gentile, 82, said he was physically active for most of his life, then he turned into a coach potato at age 51, and remained inactive for the next eight years. But on Jan. 11, 1996, he says he decided to take a walk. He’s walked every day since then except one recently. Whether it’s a sunny day, or there’s rain, sleet or snow, Gentile walks about 2 miles a day.

“Normally it takes me about 32 minutes to walk 2 miles. Sometimes I walk a mile-and-a-half. I’m slowing down a bit. You know I am 82,” he said. “My goal is to walk my way to 100.

“I want to be here to celebrate when my grandson turns 50.”