As if You Need Another Reason to Exercise

We’re big fans of exercise at our assisted living homes. I bet I’ve mentioned this in previous emails.

Today I want to show you how even a VERY small amount of exercise can still be beneficial. Especially for elderly people.

A study recently came out in July 2024 that looked at eight healthy men. The study’s authors had the men exercise one leg using resistance training just one time.

The other leg did not receive any resistance exercise (lifting weights) to act as the control group.

One hour after the resistance exercise session, the researchers took biopsies from the muscles of both men and examined them.

The biopsies from the leg with exercise showed an increase in markers associated with mitophagy. There were no indications of mitophagy from the biopsies of the sedentary legs.

What is mitophagy? I had to look it up as well. It is like the autophagy process but for mitochondria.

Those of you who fast know about autophagy. It is the process your body goes through, especially when it doesn’t have to digest food, of clearing out dead and dying cells. It’s a cleansing of your body to make way for new and stronger cells.

Mitophagy is a process within cells to clear out dead or dying mitochondria. It’s a very important process in your body. The process also can limit the production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) from your mitochondria.

ROS are the main drivers of oxidative stress on your body. Reducing the amount of ROS can be beneficial for people with diseases like Parkinson’s.

Mitochondria are the energy factories of your cells. They are the engine that provides the power for all your other cell processes to operate. By clearing out the bad mitochondria and leaving the good ones, your cells, and your body, work much better.

What amazes me is that they saw a difference after just one exercise session. Imagine the benefit if you exercise every day. Or you encourage your elderly parent or spouse to exercise every day. You’ll probably see some wonderful benefits.

We certainly do. When I have the Department of Health come over to my homes and tell me how wonderful it is that all my residents seems so healthy, I get a rush!

Yet many medical people, and many health care facilities do not push exercise at all. When you go to the hospital, you may lay in bed your entire stay. Maybe your health condition requires bedrest. Then you should avoid exercise until you’re better.

However, many conditions that put you in the hospital do not require you to just lay in bed. Yet that’s what hospitals do.

It’s easy to put an elderly person in front of the TV all day. It’s easier for the caregiver as well. And it decreases the risk of falling.

Apparently it also increases the risk of poor metabolic health. And poor metabolic health can lead to all sorts of other problems.

So maybe it’s time to encourage your whole family to exercise? Here’s a link to the study if you’re interested.