Five year increments: assessing fitness in old age

I exercise only to maintain my good level of health and fitness. I’m 92 and I exercise regularly. So, what you’ll find in my posts is information only about my fitness routine and why I exercise. I call it a 'maintenance program.’ At my age I’m on the down side of the bell curve.

I had a great time decades ago doing much more outdoor running and even entering 5k and 10k races. Then after reaching the top of my own personal bell curve, I eventually started to decline. That is where I am now and how in a simple way, I keep track of it.

Once in a while I do a little jog outdoors, but I’m 92 now and I typically work out on an elliptical in my house.

When I was 75 or so I really thought I would be able to continue my level of exercise activity for many more years. It was a lot more than I do now and is what you see on my chart of 9 exercises with the stick drawings. At that time, I felt confident about my ability to continue that higher level of exercises for a long time. I had been doing my running outside back then and I also participated in the occasional local 5k event. Sometimes I was the only entry in the bracket!

I’m 92 now and I continue to run but I use an elliptical in my house and it gives me a display on the console of certain statistics. Many years ago I decided to keep track of two of those statistics. I write them in the corner of my diary every time I exercise.

Many years ago I decided to keep track of two of those statistics. I write them in the corner of my diary every time I exercise.

If I don’t exercise that day, I put a big ‘O’ in the corner. The two that I keep are the minutes per mile and my heart rate. The Schwinn A40 elliptical I have is over 12 years old and is a little sketchy when it comes to accuracy. But since I’m basically interested in trends it provides me with good enough information for my purpose.

Every five years or so I’ve noticed a decline in my heart rate as I exercise and my minutes per mile is a little lower. That is normal and is something I should expect. The record is in the corner of my diary going back many years. My heart rate is usually between 102 and 112. My minutes per mile is 10+/-.  

The manual I have shows someone my age should have a heart rate between 88 and 126. It’s time for me to get a new elliptical and when I do I want to make sure it can give me those two stats accurately.

The thought that I could continue the same level of exercise activity into very old age has proven to be impossible by my own statistics. It is however, still a good level and I’m satisfied with it. I can run around, mow the grass, rake leaves, climb the stairs endless times a day, all with no problem.

Even though my performance has declined by some measures, I can run around, mow the grass, rake leaves, climb the stairs endless times a day, all with no problem. I am happy that I can still do all these things.

As I get older, I sometimes think how great it is that I can still do all these same things. I also like the fact that I haven’t had a serious injury in several years. I’ve finally learned to be careful and not try to do too much. It’s not worth the risk!

I look forward to my exercises every day! They have become a habit and I believe are essential to my general well-being.  I feel good when I’m finished!

I can run around, mow the grass, rake leaves, climb the stairs endless times a day, all with no problem. As I get older, I sometimes think how great it is that I can still do all these same things.