Exercise for Every Age: You Don’t Need a Gym to Stay Fit
Exercise for Every Age: You Don’t Need a Gym to Stay Fit
“Exercise doesn’t begin when you enter a gym and stop when you leave it.”
For many people, the word exercise immediately conjures up images of treadmills, exercise bikes, weights, changing rooms and expensive monthly memberships.
There is nothing wrong with gyms. They can be excellent places to exercise, particularly for people who enjoy structured training and the social side of attending regularly.
But we have perhaps allowed the fitness industry to persuade us that physical activity is something separate from ordinary life.
It isn’t.
Walking to the shops is physical activity. Digging a garden is physical activity. Cycling to see a friend is physical activity. Dancing is physical activity. Carrying shopping, climbing stairs, washing the car, pruning a hedge, doing DIY, playing football with the grandchildren and, depending on the conditions, sailing a dinghy can all make demands on the body.
The important question is therefore not simply:
“Do I exercise?”
A much better question might be:
“How much of my day involves moving my body?”
And that matters at almost every age.
We Were Designed to Move
Modern life has quietly removed an extraordinary amount of movement from our daily routines.
We can order food without walking to a shop. We can drive a few hundred metres rather than walk. We can spend an entire working day sitting in front of a computer, then spend the evening sitting in front of another screen.
Even many household tasks have become more automated.
That technological progress has brought enormous benefits, but it also means we may need consciously to put movement back into lives from which it has gradually disappeared.
The latest UK Chief Medical Officers' guidance makes an important point: some physical activity is better than none, and more is generally better still. Adults are encouraged to be active every day rather than regarding exercise as something that only happens during a special fitness session.
That is a much more useful way of thinking about fitness.
Fitness Is More Than Getting Out of Breath
One reason people sometimes underestimate everyday activity is that they think exercise only counts if it makes them exhausted.
But maintaining our physical capabilities involves several different things.
Cardiovascular fitness
This is activity that makes the heart and lungs work harder.
Brisk walking, cycling, swimming, dancing and more energetic gardening can all contribute.
You do not necessarily need to finish gasping for breath. The UK guidance describes moderate activity as something that increases breathing while still allowing you to talk.
Strength
Strength becomes increasingly important as we get older, yet it is often forgotten.
It doesn't necessarily mean lifting a barbell.
Carrying shopping, digging soil, lifting compost, moving objects during DIY, climbing stairs and certain forms of gardening can all require muscular effort.
For adults, the UK guidance recommends activities that develop or maintain the major muscle groups on at least two days each week.
Balance
Balance is something we tend not to think about until it begins to deteriorate.
Yet it is fundamental to independence.
Walking over uneven ground, dancing, some forms of sailing, bowls, Tai Chi and appropriately chosen balance exercises can all challenge the systems that keep us upright.
For older adults in particular, current UK guidance places increased emphasis on maintaining balance alongside strength and flexibility.
Flexibility and mobility
Can you comfortably reach down to tie a shoelace? Turn to look behind you? Reach into a cupboard? Get down onto the floor and get back up?
These movements may not sound like "fitness", but they can make a tremendous difference to everyday independence.
The aim should therefore not simply be to become faster or stronger.
It is to retain the ability to do things.
Children Don't Necessarily Need "Exercise" — They Need to Play
With children, we sometimes make activity unnecessarily complicated.
A young child running around a playground is performing repeated bursts of exercise without having any idea that this is what adults call fitness.
They climb.
They chase.
They jump.
They throw.
They balance.
They crawl under things.
They ride bicycles and scooters.
They dance.
The UK Chief Medical Officers recommend that children and young people aged 5–18 average at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity a day across the week, with varied activities that also develop movement skills, muscles and bones.
That does not have to mean 60 minutes on a treadmill.
Walking to school, cycling, playing outside, swimming, PE, dancing and sport can all contribute.
Perhaps one of the best things adults can do is make movement normal rather than presenting exercise as a punishment for eating something enjoyable.
Young Adults: Don't Let Work Remove Movement From Your Life
The transition from school or university into employment can produce an enormous change in activity.
Imagine someone who once walked between lessons, played sport, went out with friends and perhaps cycled regularly.
They then start an office job.
They drive to work.
Sit at a desk.
Drive home.
Eat dinner.
Sit in front of a television or computer.
Nothing dramatic has happened, but hundreds of small movements have disappeared.
This is why everyday decisions matter.
Taking the stairs instead of the lift may seem insignificant.
Walking fifteen minutes to a shop may seem insignificant.
Standing up regularly during a desk-based day may seem insignificant.
Walking while making a telephone call may seem insignificant.
But a lifestyle is made from hundreds of apparently insignificant decisions.
Middle Age: Strength Begins to Matter More Than You Think
In middle age there is another temptation.
People notice they are not as fit as they were at 25 and conclude that this is simply ageing.
Some change is inevitable.
But inactivity can accelerate the process.
Current UK guidance emphasises maintaining muscular strength throughout adulthood, partly because preserving strength helps maintain physical function later in life.
This is where ordinary tasks can become surprisingly useful.
Spend an hour gardening and you may repeatedly squat, bend, carry, push, pull and reach.
Do some DIY and you may climb ladders, carry materials and work in positions that require coordination and strength.
Go sailing and you may be moving around a boat, pulling ropes, maintaining balance and reacting continuously to movement.
None of that looks like conventional gym exercise.
The body doesn't care.
A muscle does not know whether you are lifting a dumbbell or carrying a bag of compost.
It only knows that you have asked it to produce force.
Gardening May Be One of the Best "Gyms" Around
Gardening is particularly interesting because it can combine several types of movement.
Mowing the lawn can involve sustained movement.
Digging demands strength.
Weeding involves flexibility and mobility.
Carrying watering cans adds resistance.
Moving around beds involves repeated standing, crouching and reaching.
And unlike many pieces of exercise equipment, a garden gives you something to show for the effort afterwards.
There is also a useful environmental connection here.
Growing food, creating wildlife habitat, composting, planting trees and looking after green spaces can improve your surroundings while simultaneously keeping you active.
You are not exercising merely for the sake of exercising.
You are doing something useful.
That can make it much easier to continue.
Walking Is Probably the Most Underrated Exercise
Walking has several enormous advantages.
It is free.
It requires almost no specialist equipment.
It can start from your front door.
You can do it alone or socially.
You can adapt the distance and pace.
And for many people it is sustainable for decades.
A person who thinks, "I really ought to start exercising" may imagine that they need an elaborate programme.
They might be better beginning with:
"I'll walk for fifteen minutes after lunch."
Once that becomes normal, fifteen might become twenty.
Then thirty.
Perhaps one journey that was previously made by car becomes a walk.
Perhaps a weekend walk becomes longer.
Fitness built into ordinary life tends to be easier to maintain than something completely disconnected from it.
The Staircase Is Exercise Equipment You Already Own
There is another piece of exercise equipment in millions of houses.
The stairs.
Climbing stairs requires you to repeatedly lift your bodyweight against gravity.
It challenges the muscles of the legs and can raise heart rate surprisingly quickly.
That doesn't mean people should race repeatedly up and down the stairs, particularly if balance, joint problems or cardiovascular concerns make that inappropriate.
But there is an important principle here:
ordinary buildings contain opportunities for movement.
We don't necessarily need another machine to simulate something we could already do.
Cycling: Transport and Exercise at the Same Time
Cycling demonstrates another important idea.
Exercise can achieve two objectives simultaneously.
Rather than driving somewhere and then later spending half an hour on an exercise bicycle, some people may be able to cycle the journey itself.
Obviously that depends on distance, traffic, infrastructure, ability and confidence.
But where practical, active transport can combine physical activity with reduced fuel use.
That makes cycling particularly relevant to the broader idea of going green.
The same principle applies to walking.
The greenest exercise machine may be the one that replaces a car journey.
Dancing Counts
There is a danger that exercise becomes very serious.
It doesn't need to be.
Put some music on and dance.
Go ballroom dancing.
Join a dance group.
Dance with the grandchildren.
Movement accompanied by music can challenge coordination, balance, cardiovascular fitness and memory without feeling like a conventional workout.
And enjoyment matters enormously.
The theoretically perfect exercise programme that you abandon after two weeks is probably less useful than a supposedly less efficient activity that you happily do for twenty years.
Sailing Is More Physical Than It Sometimes Looks
Sailing is an interesting example because from the bank it can occasionally look as though everyone is simply sitting in a boat.
That is certainly not always how it feels from inside one.
You may be constantly adjusting position, balancing against the movement of the boat, pulling sheets, moving from side to side, ducking underneath the boom and reacting to changes in wind.
In stronger conditions the physical demands can increase substantially.
I find this particularly interesting because sailing illustrates the wider point beautifully: you can be active because you are doing something you genuinely want to do rather than because you have decided that you "must exercise".
The same might be true of gardening, walking, cycling, dancing or playing with grandchildren.
That may ultimately be a far more sustainable approach.
Exercise Changes as We Age — and That Is Perfectly Sensible
There is no reason why the exercise we choose at 70 needs to look identical to what we did at 25.
In fact, that can be the wrong objective.
At 25 you might concentrate on speed or performance.
Later, maintaining strength, mobility, balance and cardiovascular fitness may become increasingly important.
For adults, the UK recommendation is at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a combination. Strengthening activity should also feature on at least two days.
For adults aged 65 and over, maintaining strength, balance and flexibility on at least two days each week becomes particularly important, alongside regular aerobic activity.
But there is an especially important sentence in the guidance:
It is never too late to start.
Even light activity can offer benefits compared with remaining sedentary.
At 70, 80 or 90, The Objective May Be Independence
The meaning of fitness can change dramatically later in life.
Being able to run 10 kilometres may no longer matter very much.
Being able to:
get out of a chair without assistance;
walk safely to the shops;
carry a shopping bag;
climb a staircase;
maintain balance on uneven ground;
bend down and stand up again;
or continue gardening
may matter enormously.
Strength therefore isn't just about sport.
It can mean independence.
Balance isn't about athletic performance.
It can mean the confidence to continue going out.
Cardiovascular fitness isn't necessarily about running races.
It can mean being able to walk somewhere without becoming exhausted.
That is why maintaining these abilities is worth thinking about before we begin to lose them.
What If You Haven't Exercised for Years?
This is where fitness advice often becomes unhelpful.
Telling someone who has done very little exercise for twenty years that they should immediately achieve a large weekly target can make the entire task seem impossible.
A better first target may simply be:
Do slightly more than you do now.
If you normally walk for five minutes, try seven.
If you sit for several hours, occasionally stand and move.
If you use the car for every journey, identify one that could sometimes be walked.
If you have stopped gardening, perhaps start with one small job.
The Chief Medical Officers' guidance explicitly recognises gradual progression and notes that for less-active older people, alternating walking with periods of rest can be an appropriate way of building capacity.
You don't need to transform yourself overnight.
Consistency usually matters more than heroic enthusiasm for one weekend.
People who have significant medical conditions, have recently undergone surgery, experience concerning symptoms such as unexplained chest pain or dizziness, or have particular mobility difficulties should of course seek appropriate professional advice about suitable activity.
Don't Forget the Exercise You Are Already Doing
There is another psychological benefit to broadening our definition of exercise.
People often say:
"I don't do any exercise."
Then you discover they walk the dog twice a day, spend hours gardening, cycle into town and look after two grandchildren.
They are exercising.
Recognising that can be important because the next question becomes much more positive.
Not:
"How do I become an exercise person?"
But:
"What am I already doing, and what is missing?"
Perhaps you walk plenty but need a little more strength work.
Perhaps gardening keeps you strong but you could add some brisk walking.
Perhaps you cycle but rarely do anything that challenges your balance or flexibility.
Fitness becomes a matter of filling gaps rather than completely reinventing your life.
Try a Four-Part Movement Check
Rather than counting gym visits, periodically ask yourself four questions:
Cardiovascular: Do I regularly do something that raises my breathing and heart rate?
Strength: Do I regularly ask my muscles to push, pull, lift or carry?
Balance: Do I do anything that safely challenges my stability and coordination?
Flexibility and mobility: Can I comfortably perform the movements everyday life requires?
You don't need a perfect score every day.
Look at the week as a whole.
That is a much more useful picture of physical fitness than simply counting how many times you entered a gym.
Movement Can Be Good for the Planet Too
There is a particularly nice connection between physical activity and going green.
Walk rather than drive a short journey and you gain movement while potentially reducing fuel use.
Cycle instead of taking the car and the same is true.
Garden and you can exercise while growing food or improving biodiversity.
Walk through your neighbourhood and perhaps take a bag and collect litter.
Spend an afternoon maintaining something rather than replacing it and even DIY becomes part of a more resource-conscious lifestyle.
Going green is not exclusively about solar panels, electric cars or heat pumps.
It can also be about creating lifestyles that are healthier, more local, less wasteful and more active.
The Best Exercise May Be the One You Don't Call Exercise
Perhaps we need to stop thinking of physical activity as another obligation we have failed to fit into our day.
Instead, put movement back into the things we already do.
Walk somewhere.
Grow something.
Repair something.
Dance.
Cycle.
Sail.
Take the stairs.
Play with the children or grandchildren.
Go outside.
None of these has to produce a medal, a personal best or an impressive fitness-app screenshot.
The objective is much simpler.
Keep moving, keep your strength, preserve your balance and maintain your ability to do the things you enjoy for as many years as possible.
You don't need to become a gym enthusiast.
You just need to give your body reasons to keep doing what it was designed to do.
Move.
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