This post could also be labeled “Staying Bouncy as You Get Older,” or “Jumping for Joy.” Such phraseology connotes the preservation of elastic properties in the evolving human.
Aging. Doing so gracefully. Maintaining health until right up to the very end. Keeping performance, and functional capacities, at a relatively high level for as long as possible. This is good stuff and it is at the forefront of current popular media. For example, just take a glance on Instagram using keywords or hashtags like “athletic aging” and you’ll see what I mean. I really enjoy watching the incredible things many people in their 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s (and beyond) are doing.
In almost any discussion of optimized aging, we tend to utilize a tiered or prioritized list. We need to build a health-first foundation. Good systemic and mental health. In our TLA 5-3-1 System, we apply the 5 Foundational Components of Lifelong Health. We leverage food, movement, sleep, ergonomics and awareness to help people feel good, find happiness, productivity, success, and satisfaction. That’s the goal. You can use any model you like because they are all more similar than different and any longevity guru is going to agree.
Next up is a layer (or several) that many thought leaders are endorsing today. Once baseline health is established, the value of exercise is emphasized. From a longevity perspective, the goal is making any person, at any point in the lifespan – more active and capable – but particularly so in the later years. This is what Peter Attia, M.D. and others term the marginal decade. In other words, exercise for longevity targets independent, active life participation (and enjoyment) and attempts to avoid institutionalization and debilitation.
The focus in longevity-based exercise is on muscle (mass and strength, along with bone density) and aerobic fitness (maximal oxygen uptake or VO2max). The standard recipes for these outcomes are readily recognized. Resistance training address the muscle objective and a mix of aerobic and anaerobic training, i.e. Zone 2-3-4 “cardio,” captures VO2max.
Most authorities agree that muscular and aerobic fitness are the two most important categories in longevity-based fitness. However, the camps split a little, based on both available evidence and expert opinion. I’m going to say that both categories tend to become equally important as we approach the marginal decade, but which one requires more emphasis is dependent upon the individual in question.
Muscle is harder to build than aerobic fitness. It takes a long time, especially in older trainees, to gain size and strength. It’s not impossible but it requires dedicated, intelligent training, nutrition, and hormonal regulation (natural as well as pharmacological in some cases). We’re talking months and years here.
On the other hand, aerobic fitness can be improved in just a few weeks. Now, of course, higher levels of fitness (and health) are derived from regular exercise over longer time periods, but the cardiorespiratory responses to training tend to be more rapid than that of strength training.
Here’s where the “it depends” is going to make total sense. If the older person already has good muscle development and high strength, he/she can and probably should (at least slightly) bias training toward aerobic fitness. But in many, or even perhaps most cases, older people just don’t have enough muscle and strength and they need to prioritize that first. That’s my opinion.
In many of our discussions, we distinguish between exercising for fitness versus training for performance. There is a progression here in that once a person begins to achieve consistency and see some results from general exercise, they can move to the next, or ultimate level. They view themselves as an athlete and train for performance. Outcomes trend higher in this circumstance as movement behavior becomes more purpose-driven and meaningful. The identity supports the habit, and vice versa.
This brings us to the 3 Essential Elements of Peak Performance in the TLA System. They are training, recovery, and mindset. We’re limiting today’s discussion to training but we’re going to camp out there for a while.
Quick review. We’ve gotten the maturing human healthy. They’re training and emphasizing muscle and aerobic fitness. This is really good. But it’s not as good as it can be. And maybe should be. We need to make sure that training addresses all 5 Capacities of Human Performance. Those are strength, speed, power, agility, and endurance. I’ve covered all of those topics extensively and there are numerous articles, videos, and a recent Longevity Training Series on the podcast available as resources. Comprehensive training is necessary to keep us from becoming weak, stiff, slow, and fragile. We need to be strong, agile, fast, and durable.
If we narrow down further, there is a property in our tissues and a characteristic in movement which we must view as extremely valuable if not critical. It’s elasticity. Or more in line with today’s topic…BOUNCINESS.
Staying bouncy as you get older is vital to performance in sports and recreational activities but it really begins to shine when we think of overall function. Bounciness is an expression of youthful vitality and it both requires and combines our mobility, balance, righting reactions, fast-twitch muscle fibers, coordination, etc. Too many people get stuck in the basic message of longevity exercise. They do their resistance and cardio work but almost all of it is at slow speed in a straight line. Remember, I’m not saying that’s bad…it’s just not enough. When this goes on for years, we lose (use it or lose it) our genetically programmed elasticity through disuse. Then, we can’t (easily and naturally) move quickly in life and sport. The likelihood of injury goes way up.
Haters and doubters will usually check out about now. That’s because they’ll say they always get hurt when they try to do any type of elastic training. Or that they have not done it in so long they are afraid or not sure where to start. This is an inclusive community. We’re all unique yet simultaneously similar. There’s always a way. But we have to be intelligent with anything we do in life, especially in the nurturing of these vessels known as our bodies.
I’ve got a personal story that I may have shared before but I think it is quite pertinent. A few years ago, in my late 50’s, I had a shoulder reconstruction surgery. During the recovery and rehabilitation process, I had to be very careful in daily life to avoid jarring or falling on my repair and replacement. My CNS automatically programmed in this cautious, protective nature and I went about life being very aware of my situation.
Everything was fine. Until about 9 months after the surgery. I was walking up to a 42-inch chain link fence at a training facility. The gate was locked so my first instinct was just to grab the top rail and rather nonchalantly vault over the fence. This was something I’d done hundreds of times throughout my life and never thought about it for a second. But this was the first time I really had not played any sports or done any elastic training for almost a year. As I put my hands on the fence, my brain shut me down. I stepped back and thought, “huh, can I still do this?” I had lost most of my elasticity. Or at least my subconscious mind thought that had happened. I reasoned this out for a full 30 seconds, then took a short run at the fence and cleared it. My landing wasn’t as graceful as it used to be, but I got it done. And learned a powerful lesson. Maintaining elasticity, or bounciness through the lifespan is really, really important.
This wasn’t intended to be a long, how-to missive on all things elastic training. More of an academic discussion. But I would like to address the what and how questions succinctly.
Most court and field sports are naturally elastic. If you think of tennis, soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc. you naturally see the quick movements, jumping, landing, throwing, catching, kicking, cutting, changing direction and orientation which goes along with sport play and competition. There are many more examples.
I’m a big fan of pickleball these days for two reasons. First, it’s great fun and I enjoy it quite a bit. But perhaps more importantly, it has created a movement that embraces court sport for older athletes with a relatively low barrier to entry (skill, cost, access). My advice for any Lifetime Athlete is that if you have a sport you like and want to play (or already engage in), you’re probably getting the elastic exposure you need. This doesn’t have to be your primary thing (maybe you love hiking or cycling) but a little court or field sport is a great addition to your program.
In training, the concept of bounciness is easily explored. Variations on many jumps, hops, skips, and bounds are great. They are scalable so you can find the challenge level that is appropriate for your body. I’ve talked about footwork nomenclature previously and that’s a searchable topic on the website. Many of these exercises and drills are known as extensive (not too aggressive) plyometrics. Doing just a few minutes twice per week is a fantastic stimulus. And if weight-bearing exercises are not appropriate for you, performing elastic movements in deep water can be highly effective.
Staying bouncy as you get older requires application. If we can get to the point where we see this as not just nice, but absolutely necessary, my intention with this message has been accomplished.