What I read: Why Intensity Matters for Preserving VO2 Max as You Age
It’s about this study, Exercise Intensity and 5-Yr Trajectories in Peak Oxygen Uptake in Older Adults: Analysis from the Generation 100 Study
The test, “The data comes from a large ongoing study called Generation 100, which was open to everyone between the ages of 70 and 77 in the Norwegian city of Trondheim. Participants were originally randomized into three groups and either told to follow public health guidelines by getting half an hour of moderate exercise per day, or enrolled in twice-a-week supervised sessions of moderate (70 percent of max heart rate) or intense (80 percent of max heart rate) exercise. The program lasted for five years.”
The findings, “Everybody lost fitness. This is the reality of being in your 70s. But the people who were doing high-intensity training (HIT) lost less fitness than those doing moderate intensity (MIT).”
Why I’m thinking about it: Regular readers may recall I was diagnosed last year with a hiatal hernia and intense exercise is one of the triggers for acid reflux. I started to think about changing my fitness identity on the bike, moving into endurance efforts instead of sprinting. I blogged about that here. Biking for sure triggers reflux when I try to go fast, unless I’m very careful about what and when I eat. Rowing is definitely out. The ski-erg is out too.
So I’m looking for an exercise that’s upright for intense efforts. Not running, because of knees. Maybe the elliptical?
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One of my knees told me pretty clearly that my running days are over (I never liked it that much…) so I now walk very fast up steep slopes. I can get my heart rate up into low zone 5 if I go for about 5 minutes. Then walk down, then go up again. Not much impact, plenty of effort.