Getting older can be frustrating. Your body has more trouble moving around, your energy can deplete faster, and there are several age-related health risks to be wary of.
One of the best ways for people over 60 to stay fit and be more mobile is to regularly exercise, which begs the question: What kind of exercise is the best for seniors? Well, according to a Harvard Medical School study, the most beneficial exercise is not walking, jogging, or weight training, although all are viable options. If you’re approaching 60 and want a quality exercise routine, you might want to start taking a martial arts class.
While the aggressive aspect of martial arts may make it appear that it is built for younger bodies, the majority of martial arts training can provide quality exercise for older folks. Harvard University professors believe “soft” martial arts such as tai chi, wing chun, and aikido help seniors improve their flexibility, muscle tone, balance, and coordination through slower movements. The added benefit? This exercise is also easier on the joints and can help exercise the mind through concentration and routine.
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That’s not to say that other “hard” martial arts, such as karate, taekwondo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, aren’t in the conversation. A Southern Cross University study believes they can provide the same benefits as “soft” martial arts while also providing cardiovascular exercise and rigorous resistance training through squats, strikes, and stances. Certain martial arts can also train a person to know how to fall in a safer way should they trip, lose balance, or slip in the shower.
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Medical professionals also believe that martial arts can help improve the mass and strength of both muscles and bones, which steadily decline the older we get. By practicing martial arts routines, training exercises, and katas, seniors can fight off muscle weakness and lower bone density, along with fighting off an opponent.
@jiu.jitsu.lifestyle 🇧🇷 INSPIRAÇÃO! A atleta @jiujitsu_grandma competindo aos 74 anos 🔥🔥 - 🇺🇸 INSPIRATION! The athlete @jiujitsu_grandma Competing at age 74 🔥🔥 🥋 Estude Jiu-Jitsu com a @bjjprotech CUPOM: LS10 (LINK AQUI NA BIO) 👕 Procura roupas e acessórios de Jiu-Jitsu ? Acesse o link da BIO e confira nossos produtos #jiu_jitsu_lifestyle #jiujitsu #bjj #artesuave #grappling #brazilianjiujitsu #artemarcial #motivacional #noexcuses #jiujitsufeminino #bjjgirls #jiujitsugirls #jiujitsuparamulheres #jiujitsufeminino #ibjjf #cbjjf #purplebelt #faixaroxa Vídeo: 📽️ @jiujitsu_grandma
“When you hold strong stances, perform controlled kicks, or use strikes, your muscles pull on the bones,” said Dr. Maria Knöbel, medical director of Medical Cert UK. “This pulling action stimulates bone cells called osteoblasts, which are responsible for building new bone tissue. The continuous strain of these movements will signal the body that the bones must remain strong.”
“At the same time, martial arts strengthen the muscles,” she continued. “Movements such as squats, steps, kicks and balance drills use both the large muscles like those in the legs and core, and the smaller stabilizing muscles that protect the joints. Using all of these muscles together keeps the fibers active and slows the natural loss of strength that happens with age.”
@origins.unity Martial arts are for everyone! Any stage of life, any fitness level, any person and any reason. I train 18 years olds and I train 90 year olds. We need to look to this wonderful example of a late-life-stage champion - he is getting the most of life through living the martial arts path. #martialarts #boxing #muaythaitraining #martialartist #wellness #example #leadership #longevity #longlife #wellbeing #noexcuses #fitnessmotivation #fitnessjourney #wellnesswarrior #wellnessjourney #happiness
Seniors not only benefit from martial arts physically, but mentally as well. It allows seniors to build a sense of community and form friendships with other classmates in the dojo, improving their social lives. While the training helps build the body, it also builds a sense of self-confidence and empowerment. Getting your brain to remember training, combat strategies, and routines also keeps the mind as sharp as the body, too.
If a senior in your life is in need of quality exercise and a fresh hobby, it might be worth getting them to attend a class at the local dojo, with their doctor’s approval. In the long term, it could help improve their standard of living as they grow older.
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Will your current friends still be with you after seven years?
Professor shares how many years a friendship must last before it'll become lifelong
Think of your best friend. How long have you known them? Growing up, children make friends and say they’ll be best friends forever. That’s where “BFF” came from, for crying out loud. But is the concept of the lifelong friend real? If so, how many years of friendship will have to bloom before a friendship goes the distance? Well, a Dutch study may have the answer to that last question.
Sociologist Gerald Mollenhorst and his team in the Netherlands did extensive research on friendships and made some interesting findings in his surveys and studies. Mollenhorst found that over half of your friendships will “shed” within seven years. However, the relationships that go past the seven-year mark tend to last. This led to the prevailing theory that most friendships lasting more than seven years would endure throughout a person’s lifetime.
In Mollenhorst’s findings, lifelong friendships seem to come down to one thing: reciprocal effort. The primary reason so many friendships form and fade within seven-year cycles has much to do with a person’s ages and life stages. A lot of people lose touch with elementary and high school friends because so many leave home to attend college. Work friends change when someone gets promoted or finds a better job in a different state. Some friends get married and have children, reducing one-on-one time together, and thus a friendship fades. It’s easy to lose friends, but naturally harder to keep them when you’re no longer in proximity.
Some people on Reddit even wonder if lifelong friendships are actually real or just a romanticized thought nowadays. However, older commenters showed that lifelong friendship is still possible:
“I met my friend on the first day of kindergarten. Maybe not the very first day, but within the first week. We were texting each other stupid memes just yesterday. This year we’ll both celebrate our 58th birthdays.”
“My oldest friend and I met when she was just 5 and I was 9. Next-door neighbors. We're now both over 60 and still talk weekly and visit at least twice a year.”
“I’m 55. I’ve just spent a weekend with friends I met 24 and 32 years ago respectively. I’m also still in touch with my penpal in the States. I was 15 when we started writing to each other.”
“My friends (3 of them) go back to my college days in my 20’s that I still talk to a minimum of once a week. I'm in my early 60s now.”
“We ebb and flow. Sometimes many years will pass as we go through different things and phases. Nobody gets buttsore if we aren’t in touch all the time. In our 50s we don’t try and argue or be petty like we did before. But I love them. I don’t need a weekly lunch to know that. I could make a call right now if I needed something. Same with them.”
Maintaining a friendship for life is never guaranteed, but there are ways, psychotherapists say, that can make a friendship last. It’s not easy, but for a friendship to last, both participants need to make room for patience and place greater weight on their similarities than on the differences that may develop over time. Along with that, it’s helpful to be tolerant of large distances and gaps of time between visits, too. It’s not easy, and it requires both people involved to be equally invested to keep the friendship alive and from becoming stagnant.
As tough as it sounds, it is still possible. You may be a fortunate person who can name several friends you’ve kept for over seven years or over seventy years. But if you’re not, every new friendship you make has the same chance and potential of being lifelong.