<p>^^^^^Agreed, but let’s push it back even further to 40’s. For that matter, people of every age benefit from exercise. In addition to all the physical benefits, I’ve found it immensely helpful during times of stress. It has actually saved my sanity during various times of my life.</p>
<p>Well, this pretty much seals the exercise deal, doesn’t it?</p>
<p>My father-in-law just turned 95 and still lives on his own, doing his own cooking, cleaning, laundry, and GARDENING. Until about 10 years ago, he had a large garden and lived on property he cared for himself. He has done physical work all his life and doesn’t intend to stop! This past summer he said he gardened for 15 minutes, rested for 15 minutes, and kept that up till he was done for the day.</p>
<p>He is quite sharp mentally, repeats stories sometimes, but is very alert. His dr. told him he will likely live 5-10 more years. He can remember everything extremely well from his younger years, including how much everything cost and how much he earned at each job.</p>
<p>Excuse me, I have to get off the computer now and get on the treadmill…</p>
<p>Growing up, I was terrible at anything requiring coordination and ended up hating most sports. I liked to run, but my knees don’t like anymore (and they tell me so). I walk the dog a lot and hope that and reading a lot keep my mind fit.</p>
<p>Fallgirl, your knees still may not like this, but I had to give up running on any hard surface because my knees (and shins and ankles) gave me trouble. Then I figured out that trail running (on an unpaved trail) doesn’t cause me the same problems. The dog likes it, too We only go a couple of times a week for about 30 minutes (and walk on the steepest uphills and downhills, those can give my knees trouble, too). We just do regular dog walks on the other days.</p>
<p>I like to play tennis but it does a job on my knees. Even with the best shoes, aftermarket insoles and knee braces. I’m down to playing once a week and it takes me one to three days to recover. But I can still run. For some time I didn’t know if it was tennis or running but I’m healthy enough now to determine that it is running.</p>
<p>I find the strength training on the quads helps the knees.</p>
<p>I love dog walking too. I was up to about two miles per day last winter, and we were all in good shape and I lost a lot of weight. Have to get back to that level.</p>
<p>Re father-in-law, yes, his dr. did tell him that the dr. thought he would live 5-10 more years. I imagine my F-I-L asked him. F-I-L told the dr. that wouldn’t be so great because F-I-L would run out of money before then. The dr. also said that my F-I-L is in better shape medically than the dr. himself!</p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s common procedure or not. A lot of people don’t want to think about how long they have left. I imagine any primary care dr. would discuss this with elderly patients if asked.</p>
<p>intparent-That makes sense, but all of the trails where I am are paved or in areas where I wouldn’t feel safe. I wonder if a treadmill would be OK?</p>
<p>BCE- I should be doing strength training, I just don’t like to :)</p>
<p>I’ve got the Web surfing(), gardening (), but not the grip strength. I did know of somebody who was not the Jack LaLane type and lived til 103. She was kind of frail, so there is hope for the non-Jack Lalane type.</p>
<p>Personally, I would rather be strong in my old age than “frail.”</p>
<p>My husband’s grandmother lived to be 102 and she always did the exercise class at her retirement home. She wasn’t muscle bound like Jack LaLaine, but neither was she frail. She was fit and energetic almost until the very end of her life.</p>
<p>The reason for strength is that there can be weaknesses, temporary or permanent, in the body and that strength in other areas can compensate for those weaknesses. If you have knee issues, you can use upper-body strength to compensate.</p>
<p>Additional strength can prevent injuries too. Younger people take this for granted as it seems that they can add strength without any strength training. My son doesn’t do any explicit strength-training but he’s stronger than I am in a lot of muscle groups despite me working out on weights four to five days a week.</p>
No, nerds seem to have an advantage as well:</p>
), gardening (