'On your bikes' call to over 50s

OLDER Scarborough residents are being encouraged to get on their bikes after the launch of a new scheme.

Free one-to-one cycling training is being offered to motorists over the age of 50 in order to give them the skills and confidence to ditch their cars and cycle instead.

It is hoped the scheme, which has been set up by North Yorkshire County Council, will benefit the environment and ease congestion on Scarborough’s roads, and also improve the fitness of participants and save them money.

The course consists of up to four one-hour sessions and covers coping with a variety of roads and planning routes as well as some theory and traffic law.

The training is being funded from the Government Road Safety Grant, and the scheme was officially launched at Falsgrave Community Centre by Scarborough mayor Bill Chatt.

John Sheader, Scarborough Council’s road safety and travel awareness officer, said: “Most people have a bicycle in their garage or shed, and there are a number of reasons why people don’t use their bikes.

“We can’t do much about the weather, and we can’t do much about the hills, but we all know there are many good days when cycling can be a pleasure.

“Lots of people say they won’t ride a bike on today’s roads because of the traffic and we can do something about that by helping them to build up confidence to encourage people to ride on the roads safely.

“Cycling is good for your health, your pocket and your town, and for many journeys in urban areas it is a very practical means of transport.”

For more information or to sign up for a course contact John Sheader on (01723) 232454

What a great idea and we should encourage more local authorities to do something similar

Exercise really does slow down ageing

Your truly half way round the Abbey Dash 10k in Leeds recently running for charity. So you can see why I was delighted to unearth the following research studies which have finally proved that regular exercise can slow down the ageing process, and the reason for this can be found within the body’s white blood cells. We already know that exercising reduces the risk of heart disease and some cancers, and now scientists have discovered that athletes and regular exercisers have longer telomeres (protective DNA at the ends of cell chromosomes) than healthy adults who are non-smokers and non-exercisers.

These telomeres protect the cells much like the coating on the ends of bootlaces prevent them fraying and unravelling, say the German researchers behind the study. Our cells divide throughout our lifetimes, with the telomeres becoming shorter each time, until they get too short to divide further – which is when the traditional signs of ageing such as loss of muscle tone, appearance of wrinkles and degeneration in our senses start to appear.

The study compared the general fitness and telomere length of athletes in their twenties with those of sedentary adults (less than 1 hour’s exercise a week) and found, not surprisingly, that the athletes had lower BMI, lower blood pressure and lower resting heart rate than the non-exercising group of the same age, as well as longer telomeres. A similar study was carried out with participants in their fifties, with similar results. So it’s official – exercise keeps you young. For longer, anyway.

So get out there and exercise!

How to stay mentally alert

An 8 year study from the University of San Fransisco of more than 2,500 men and women through their seventies and eighties has found that the four key factors involved in preventing mental decline were e exercise, education, social activity and not smoking.

Just over half the participants showed a normal rate of age-related decline while 16% suffered a major reduction in their mental faculties. However, 30% of the study volunteers remained unchanged and in some cases even showed an improvement in performance over the years.

The researchers then examined what lifestyle factors stood out among those people who were able to remain quick-witted in old age.

Study leader Dr Alexandra Fiocco, from the University of California at San Francisco, said: "To this day, the majority of past research has focused on factors that put people at greater risk to lose their cognitive skills over time, but much less is known about what factors help people maintain their skills."

The research, published in the journal Neurology, revealed a unique profile that distinguished people who avoided mental decline with the passing years. Those who exercised moderately or vigorously at least once a week were 30% more likely to "stay sharp" than people who did not.

Individuals with a good education were nearly three times more likely to maintain their mental faculties than those with less education. Likewise, high levels of literacy were associated with a five-fold better chance of side-stepping age-related mental decline.

Non-smokers were nearly twice as likely to remain mentally fit than smokers. And people who were socially active - either by working or volunteering, or by living with someone - were 24% more likely to avoid mental deterioration in later life.

Not surprising perhaps but more confirmation of what we need to do to stay sane, fit and healthy.

Resistance training does more than build strong muscles -- it can turn back the clock

As someone who owns up to using a personal trainer and has done so for 18 months now and felt a huge difference I was intrigued to see an article this morning that produces significant evidence fro the value of resistance training especially the use of weights in combating osteoporosis in men and women. A 2007 study conducted by McMaster University in Hamilton concluded that resistance training can dramatically alter "genetic fingerprints" (DNA). Researchers recommended weightlifting as a means of improving health and reversing the ageing process itself, giving credence to the fact that even moderate resistance training improves our well-being as we get older. Most people believe the best exercise for long term fat-loss is aerobics. Weight loss and fat loss shouldn't be confused. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that a restricted caloric diet, combined with too much cardio in the absence of resistance training can be detrimental to long-term fat-loss, and may lead to long-term weight gain. Excuse me while I go off to do my thrice weekly resistance training!

Exercise boost for over-50s

As if we didn't know already! But yet more evidence, this time from Swedish research, that actually states that beginning regular exercise over 50 is as good for you as giving up smoking.

Boost your ageing brain

Having been joking with you about walking we will now counter that with the latest research which shows clearly that exercise is the best remedy of all to prevent an ageing brain.

From the age of 40 we lose 5per cent of our brain volume every decade. This occurs because the synapses - the area between brain cells through which information is transferred - erode, eventually severing the connections.

The tiny capillaries that feed the brain also shrink with age, restricting blood flow to the area and so exacerbating the problem. This explains much of the forgetfulness of old age.

Dr Ratey’s investigations have found that exercise can reverse the impact of aging on the brain. The earlier you start the better, because if you have a stronger, more connected brain before the natural aging process takes hold, it will resist damage that much longer.

He cites a study where a group of previously sedentary people in their 70s went to the gym three times a week for an hour.

After six months, MRI scans showed significant increase in brain volume in each of them - their brains looked two to three years younger.

Aerobic exercise - anything which raises the heart rate and gets blood pumping - helps.

So, too, does strength training (either with weights, or using your own body as resistance through push ups, squats and lunges). These all release growth factors that help make new brain cells. Follow the hyperlink that we have given above for a number of suggested exercise programmes that will ensure that your brain may even become younger than your body.

Keep walking!

We said some time ago that all of this getting older stuff has its lighter side and we know that laughter helps to keep us young.(We report the research on this in our book.) So for you fitness types and those who have made New Year resolutions, this resonated with us.....

• Walking 20 minutes can add to your life. This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $7000 per month.

• My grandpa started walking five miles a day when he was 60.. Now he's 97 years old and we don't know where he is.

• I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

• The only reason I would take up walking is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

• I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I'm doing..

• I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks. Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there.

• I do have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them.

• The advantage of exercising every day is so when you die, they'll say, 'Well, he looks good doesn't he.'

• I know I got a lot of exercise the last few years,...... just getting over the hill.

• We all get heavier as we get older, because there's a lot more information in our heads. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

AND

• Every time I start thinking too much about how I look, I just find a Happy Hour and by the time I leave, I look just fine.

(But of course you will still all remember to exercise won't you!)

Regular running slows the effects of ageing...

..... say researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. A study that has tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years shows they have fewer disabilities and longer active lifespans than non-runners.

(The photo by the way is yours truly running the 10k Abbey Dash in Leeds last year - in yellow. My fellow runner, John, is a doctor. I'm not daft!)

The study's senior author, James Fries, an emeritus professor of medicine, says the research clearly shows the benefits of staying fit.

"If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise," Fries says.While both runners and non-runners did become disabled with age, the active group remained healthier longer.

"Runners' initial disability was 16 years later than non-runners."

Running has also kept death at bay. It slowed cardiovascular deaths and has been associated with fewer early deaths from cancer, neurological disease and infections. Surprisingly, the injuries expected with ageing runners haven't emerged. It was not associated with higher rates of osteoarthritis and runners needed no more knee replacements than non-runners.

Where you run, walk, or cycle has an effect on your mental alertness. Spending an hour interacting with nature, like being in a park, can help improve memory and attention by 20%, according to a University of Michigan psychology study.

"Interacting with nature can have similar effects as meditating," researcher Marc Berman says. So - you really don't have to spend a fortune on gym membership and breathing fresh air in a natural setting is a definite plus to staring at a treadmill screen! But then I am biased!