Exercise and age

Written by: Dr. Rowena | Posted: Mar 17 2009

Q: I am a male and almost 81 years of age. Exactly 12 years ago I had a triple bypass and since then I am working out every second day on the treadmill and a cross-trainer. I’ll do a total of 60 minutes, covering 5-6 miles, being in my target zone of 112-120 for 40 minutes. At the end it tends to become somewhat hard, however, I experience no angina and feel refreshed during the day. After my aerobic exercises I do my resistance training followed by stretching. A trainer in the gym recently remarked that I am “overdoing” it at my age. Once a year I have a stress test doing between 15 and 16 minutes What are your recommendations?

A: Age is not a reason to cut back on exercise. Your body will tell you if you are over exercising. As long as your stress test continues to be okay and you aren’t getting any heart symptoms or painful muscles and joints, you can exercise as much as you like. Everyone should be so motivated. Be sure to keep your doctor aware of your exercise program.

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