By our 30’s, we’re losing about 1% of our aerobic fitness per year.

This accelerates to 2-3% per year by our 50’s.

So, what aerobic exercise intensities are “best” for offsetting these declines?

This review found moderate- and high-intensity aerobic exercise were similarly…

Training our muscles can keep our brain in shape as well.

How the “muscle-brain axis” is key to keeping us both physically and mentally healthy as we age:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38615710/

Ageing and strength loss go hand-in-hand.

But what’s less appreciated is some muscles are affected more than others.

Here’s why muscle-specific strength loss matters (and what we can do about it):

jacksonfyfe.ck.page/posts/muscle-s…

How does ageing and physical activity affect our mitochondria?

And how do these mitochondrial changes impact physical function (and sarcopenia) across the lifespan?

Great review from Matt Lee David J Bishop (He/Him) and colleagues!

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38626488/

Cardio versus weights:

Sure, these exercise modes have distinct fitness benefits.

But how do they stack up for general health benefits?

And what does this mean for the 'best” type of exercise?

jacksonfyfe.ck.page/posts/cardio-o…

Exercise can be simple:

- Time efficient
- Done anywhere
- With little or no equipment

That’s the easy part.

The harder (and more important) part?

Figuring out how to do it more often, over a long period of time.

Exactly what most exercise advice ignores.

Big weights aren’t mandatory for bigger muscles.

A reminder that muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads - both light and heavy.

But if the goal is to maximise strength, heavier loads are best.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35015560/

Why should midlifers be concerned with their physical function?

Because it can predict mobility and disability into older age.

Grip strength, chair stand, and standing balance at age 53 were all associated with mobility and/or personal care disability 16 years later (at age…

Cardiorespiratory fitness: a powerful predictor of morbidity and mortality.

New data combining >20.9 million observations from 199 cohort studies found:

- Higher (compared to lower) aerobic fitness reduced the risk of all-cause mortality by 41-53%

- Each 1-MET (3.5 mL/kg/min)…

Some impressive effects of 6 weeks of power-focused resistance training (plus interval walking) in older adults (mean age 81):

- Improved sit-to-stand power
- Reduced frailty score
- Higher Short Physical Performance Battery score

But here’s what’s more impressive:

6 months…

Take the stairs to boost your VO2max?

Inactive adults who did 3 bouts of “all-out” stair climbing (6 flights in ~30-seconds) on 3 days per week improved their VO2max by 7% after 6 weeks.

Simple (and not easy), but effective.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38569204/

Exercising often is no longer a chore when we realise:

It doesn’t have to be painful or unpleasant to have a benefit.

In fact, it can be the opposite.

🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️Why do we need a strength training awareness day?

Myself and the strength training academic giants before me have found that -

1. The general public are mostly unaware of strength guidelines and what ‘counts’ as strength training (our science communication needs to…

How much physical activity is linked to better cardiometabolic health?

The largest study of its kind (in >12,000 people) found:

- 64 min/day walking
- 5 min/day stair climbing
- And any amount of running

Were all associated with more favourable cardiometabolic risk profiles.…