Not a perfect fit
America’s ageing population is posing special challenges, fitness experts say, because it is difficult to design effective workout routines for people with such a wide range of abilities. For one 70-year-old, the goal may be to run a marathon, for another it’s getting out of a chair.
“If you are teaching 10-year-olds, it’s perfectly reasonable to do an activity that everybody would participate in,” said Dr. Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, an expert on aging with the American College of Sports Medicine. But 20 80-year-olds could be as different as chalk and cheese.” There are now more Americans age 65 and older than at any other time in US history, according to Census Bureau figures. Some 40 million people age 65 and over lived in the US in 2010, accounting for 13 per cent of the total population. The older population grew from 3 million in 1900 to 40 million in 2010.
To tackle the isolation and diversity of the older population, a mentoring programme has been initiated. Experts agree that it’s never too late to do something. “Exercise is effective even in the most frail individual,” Wilson said. “If they can wiggle their toes, they can exercise.”