Ben Garves Podcast: Fitness, Nutrition, and Activism - Fitness Promotes Stronger Bones as You Age

Fitness Promotes Stronger Bones as You Age

08/05/20 • 1 min

Ben Garves Podcast: Fitness, Nutrition, and Activism

‘Aging’ is the topic of the day, as a research article published mid-July found an association between older participants’ physical fitness and their bone mass and structure. What does that mean? Older people who stayed physically fit had healthier, stronger bones.

https://youtu.be/ppcMmcUujWc

The study looked at 129 participants between the ages of 70 and 81 and found the correlation to be stronger in men than in women, but the vast majority of the participants were women. Just an odd observation I made when reading it.

The write up states:

“Aging results in a progressive and generalized impairment of several bodily functions, an increased vulnerability to environmental challenges, and a growing risk of disease and death [2]. The aging process entails a decrease of both muscle and bone tissue, which may increase the incidence of osteoporosis and the risk of suffering falls and fractures [3].”

It may seem logical, but the research showed active seniors were in much better health and an improved state of well-being when compared with their inactive counterparts. Researchers say these improvements do appear to be related to their physical fitness levels.

Please be sure to like, subscribe, provide a five-star rating, and write a review. It’s free to you and means the world to me. Thank you for listening, and I’ll catch you tomorrow.

https://youtu.be/ppcMmcUujWc

The write up states:

Please be sure to like, subscribe, provide a five-star rating, and write a review. It’s free to you and means the world to me. Thank you for listening, and I’ll catch you tomorrow.

Previous Episode

Why the Pandemic Has Been Good for Fitness in America

Today we are talking about a story in TIME, titled “The Pandemic Is Turning Americans Against the Gym. That Could Be a Good Thing for the Nation's Health.”

https://youtu.be/cy36oiFHnKQ

What? Yes. At the very core of it, many of us are learning how to be healthy within our own four walls. A study commissioned by LIFEAID found that a quarter of Americans never plan to return to their old gyms. A survey in June run by Healthline found that the same number of people don’t miss working out in a gym or studio. It’s a good indicator that, among sentiments about the safety of any short term return to old fitness habits, Americans are finding another path.

TIME spoke to a number of fitness instructors and researchers and heard only variations on the same core opinion: that people will miss human contact and return for the sake of having access to a greater variety of equipment.

But what this pandemic has done, for the greater majority of Americans not previously members of gyms, is make fitness more accessible. Digital workouts are everywhere. Exercise equipment is being scooped up faster than it can be produced and stocked. Running trails are being beaten down by countless additional footsteps. Among these trends are a new kind of fitness fanatic: those who never went to the gym in the first place.

I’m going to take the easy way out and read this quote directly from the article, because I don’t know if I can phrase it any better. TIME writes:

“The ingrained idea that people need to go to the gym to get fit is part of the problem. There are countless reasons for someone to dislike gyms. Maybe they can’t afford membership dues, or their local facility doesn’t offer child care, or they don’t have time to drive back and forth, or they feel self-conscious exercising in front of people, or it freaks them out to see a bunch of humans running around like hamsters on wheels. If they’re a person of color, non-binary, older or bigger, they may feel unwelcome in environments often overwhelmingly inhabited by young-ish, fit, white, cisgendered people. The list goes on.”

Please be sure to like, subscribe, provide a five-star rating, and write a review. It’s free to you and means the world to me. Thank you for listening, and I’ll catch you tomorrow.

Next Episode

Participating in a COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

What is it like participating in one of the COVID-19 vaccine trials running right now? Many people want to know as the world rushes to educate themselves in what the expedited vaccine development process looks like. Richard Fisher wrote a piece for BBC about his participation in Oxford University’s trial.

The trial has ten thousand participants and is putting Oxford’s vaccine against a common meningitis vaccine as the control. Why not use a placebo? Well, researchers wanted to ensure both groups receive common vaccination side effects.

Richard will fill out a weekly questionnaire, take tonsil and nasal swabs, and report for periodic blood tests for the next year. He writes:

“It’s this necessary but long-term process that some people – many of them politicians – fail to understand about the coronavirus vaccine trials. You can’t throw money at the problem and hope results happen faster. While the Oxford vaccine trial has already shown promising safety results, and the tantalising possibility of a protective immune response, it was only in 1,000 people. To roll out a vaccine to millions (or the whole world), you need a level of confidence that can only come with patience and more data.

Public health officials will remember well the times that vaccine rollouts went wrong. In 1976, fears of a swine flu outbreak led the US government to accelerate vaccine development and inoculate tens of millions of Americans. The feared pandemic never arrived, but by some estimates, around 30 people died due to adverse vaccine reactions. Such mistakes may well have dented trust in public health advice and fuelled anti-vax fears too, which is the last thing you need in a pandemic.”

Please be sure to like, subscribe, provide a five-star rating, and write a review. It’s free to you and means the world to me. Thank you for listening, and I’ll catch you tomorrow.