
Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds - sjcsjc
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39693462
======
zeteo
Looking at the funnel plot in fig. 3 in the linked meta-analysis [1], the high
precision studies (standard error < 0.268) are clustered around an effect size
of 0. The overall positive effect derives exclusively from the medium and low-
precision studies, with several visible outliers well to the right influencing
the mean significantly. The medium and low-precision studies had problems with
one or more of the following:

"randomisation; allocation concealment; blinding of therapists (intervention
supervisors); blinding of participants; blinding of outcome assessors;
handling of incomplete data (use of intention-to-treat analysis); selective
reporting and any other risk of bias." [1]

Also, the result was only statistically significant for poor quality control
groups that didn't engage in any shared activity:

"When the control group involved either no contact (eg, waiting list, usual
care; p<0.01) or education (eg, computer course, health lectures; p=0.01) the
estimate was statistically significant. Where the control condition was
exposed to an active control (eg, stretching; p=0.17) or social group
(p=0.62), the effect size was still positive but no longer statistically
significant." [1]

In summary, a few poor quality studies with large bias account for most if not
all of the effect reported in this meta-analysis.

[1]
[http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2017/03/30/bjsports-2016-0...](http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2017/03/30/bjsports-2016-096587)

~~~
QSIITurbo
If people used their time to study and learn new things instead of fretting
about their exercise, they'd be able to interpret the results of studies like
these.

~~~
npsimons
If people used their time to exercise instead of watch TV/Netflix/Hulu, they'd
be able to think more clearly and better absorb the results of studies like
these.

~~~
NotSammyHagar
Maybe they would, see above.

------
theprop
Do not say you're too busy to exercise. Your productivity is much higher when
you exercise. Do not say you're too old to exercise. The older you are, the
more crucial it is. Get in the habit. Start with even just 2 intense minutes a
day. Once you're in the habit, you'll work out longer.

~~~
r_singh
Precisely, one should quit all excuses!

My father was prescribed to storvas (for cholesterol) over a decade ago...
luckily he is an avid reader and soon found out what road the permanent meds
lead to.

He quit the meds and started working out consistently (never mind spondylitis
which he combatted with bed rest) for 10 years (and still continuing).

Today, he's over 50 and is killing it in every aspect in life. His mind is
sharp, business is good and best of all he can run over 6kms in 30 minutes
(plus all the weights and stuff)! He's now reducing running for his knees and
cycles out youngsters half his age 3 times a week (with 3 times weight
training).

This could've been a very different picture if he continued with prescribed
meds. After experiencing this, he's purchased workout plans for everyone in
the family for 9 years straight and wants us to treat workouts like we brush
our teeth (nevermind if we don't get competitive).

I work way better if I exercise, it's like the clock for my life even in my
20s. Never want to lose the habit.

~~~
ams6110
I just hate it. Not that I haven't tried. I've tried running, weights,
walking. It's boring, and makes me feel tired and irritable. I just want to go
to bed after exercise. Not my thing.

~~~
secstate
Not meaning to be snarky at all, but have you tried reading about mindfulness
first? I found that in my 20s running was awful and I was almost literally
counting the steps until I got to the end. But as I've gotten older and
embraced a more mindful worldview running, walking, swimming or any of the
traditional "slog" activities has become a really nice quiet time where I can
appreciate all the little motions and sensations of being awake.

Sorry if that comes off as patronizing or hokey, but if you can stay in shape
"enough" early, I've found that it becomes it's own reward as I've gotten
older.

~~~
sametmax
Meditation does help a lot with appreciating using one's body, and in many
other aspects of life.

But it's a lot of work and take some time to get benefits. Plus the benefits
don't arrive in the same order for everybody.

So while this is probably a good advice, I don't think it should be the only
solution applied. It's more like a long term advice.

------
dvcrn
My problem with exercise is simply time. There are a million things I want to
do and with a 10-7 work shift, I just can't do much.

Staying 30 minutes longer happens easily so it's 7:30. Commuting to the gym
would take another 20-30. 1h in the gym and it's 9 (or later). Commuting an
hour home and it's 10. Go to supermarket, maybe cook something up and it could
easily be 11 already. This leaves 1-2h max to do anything else, given I am not
dead from the gym. Now spinning up the brain to focus on something creative
also needs a bit of time.

Morning gym is hard as well. All gyms around my home open from 9:30/10:00
which is when I have to be on the way to the office already.

So the time slots that are free are very competitive. Pick one: Do I go to the
gym? Do I watch a movie with the gf? Do I program? Do I learn the next grammar
chapter? Do I work on other hobbies that I've been putting off too long? Do I
meet friends and catch up on social life?

To be honest, this 'problem' makes me currently think of switching into a part
time job, just so I have more time for the things I actually care about. (Part
time remote for optimum happiness but that might be impossible to come by)

~~~
yulaow
If you can't find the time for the gym and don't want or don't have the space
to buy and build a whole homegym, can I suggest to buy a good but simple in-
home rowing machine? It is, imho, the perfect combination between aerobic and
anaerobic exercises and it really works out every of your muscles in a good
way, the only downside is that you have to be careful and learn the correct
movements else you are just going to get pain in your whole back.

A good one, with a good variety of (high) resistance and a quality rope would
cost about 400/500$, double it if you want agonist-level equipment.

~~~
dv35z
Agreed - if you have the space, get a Concept2 rowing machine. Do 2km on that
every day (<15min), you have covered a lot of bases.

I'd also say, get a door-frame pull up bar and a set of adjustable dumb bells,
and you can do an extremely effective workout in minimal time.

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ck425
Does anyone else worry about staying fit as an office worker? As much as I
enjoy my career, I might give serious consideration to moving into something
more physical in future. While you can easily fit in a decent amount of
exercise outside of work if you only work 40 hours, it strikes me as much more
efficient to make your work exercise in and off itself. I spent one summer
working as a software engineer intern with 6 weeks in between working at a
summer camp where I was on my feet all day every day. When I got back to the
office my mood and focus were sky high compared to before but I never had to
try to do exercise at summer camp, the job itself just was exercise.

~~~
dv35z
I have mentioned this in previous threads, but here goes:

See if there are squash courts in your area. If so, take lessons (commit to
5-10 lessons), and ask the instructor to introduce you to other novice
players. The game is exhilerating, easy to learn, low-inpact, high cardio, and
has a huge supportive world wide community.

In one year, I went from doing no gym / physical activity, to playing squash
3x a week (or more). Additionally, since I'm at the gym anyway, I am now doing
gym routine alongside playing squash (something that during my 34 years of
living, I'd never managed to keep up as a routine). A funny aside - I've never
been a morning person, but I've been trying to "fix" that by scheduling squash
games with people at 05:30 am. It "stings" in the morning, but it's incredible
how awake you are at 6:30 after having battled it out on the court at full
blast. I might flake out on myself to get to the gym that early, but I won't
flake out on another person I committed to. Your mileage may vary, but just
sharing something which (finally) worked for me. Good luck!

(Just played an hour of squash, 2km rowing machine, full workout - all before
breakfast)

~~~
Woofles
I have similar experiences with hockey. It's obviously not as cheap as squash,
but most of the pickup in my area is 6:30am or so. The rink is also walkable
from my office, so sometimes I bring my skates to work and skate during lunch
just to get myself moving. The best part is, it's never too late to start! I
took lessons starting at 22, but I was easily the youngest person in the
class. Lots of people in their 40s learning to ice skate for the first time.

This is coming from a person who you couldn't pay to exercise two years ago.
Recreational sports don't feel like exercise, they feels like playing a game.
Also with something like ice skating all your improvements are very noticeable
and it feels really good to master a new skill or pull off a deke or score a
goal in a game.

Obviously also not for everyone, but these kind of stories are true for every
sport. Find something you like, it's never too late to try something new.

~~~
dv35z
That does sound really fun!

------
H1Supreme
Nothing helps me tackle a tough programming problem like a nice, long bike
ride. Is it grueling at times? Of course. Are my legs burning by the end?
Usually. But, hard physical activity is the perfect way to clear my mind.

Plus, the fact that your body will go to shit if you don't exercise. Before I
started lifting weights approx 10 years ago, I had back aches from sitting in
an office chair all day. After regular, challenging, weight training, those
problems vanished. Why? Because my muscles are strong now.

If you don't use your muscles, they soon because worthless, and painful. It's
amazing how much stronger you get in a short amount of time as a beginner in
weight training.

You don't like exercising? Boo hoo, no one does. I'd much rather eat pizza and
drink beer than put 30 miles on my bike. But, I know it's important, so I suck
it up and go. Even when I absolutely don't want to.

------
spodek
Saying that exercise keeps the mind sharp normalizes not exercising.

I prefer to think of exercise as normal and sitting around as the mind-dulling
deviation. I would say:

 _Not exercising can dull the mind._

or

 _A sedentary lifestyle instead of getting your heart pumping can dull the
mind._

------
oblio
"Mens sana in corpore sano", says 10000th study :)

The real question: is there anyone out there that really debates that
exercising constantly = better, longer life?

~~~
epalmer
I'm 63 and a bit overweight. But I have lost 50 lbs in the last 2 years. Wife
and I try to exercise for 50 to 70 minutes a day Monday-Friday. We are up at
4:30 am and at the gym at 5:10.

We feel better doing this for ourselves. Some weekends we go to the gym and
usually, when we do we stay longer.

I'm a believer.

~~~
Banthum
I'm with you but why so insanely early? 6:00am is early; at 4:30 you're waking
up before the crack of dawn!

Heck, I'm lucky if I can be asleep by 4:30am...

~~~
epalmer
The gym I go to is open 24x7 and there are people leaving when we arrive and I
thought we were early.

~~~
xarope
I remember going to gold's gym in austin (this would have been in the 90's, no
idea if gold's is still there) at 5am, and some of the people there were
already well into their workouts, if not also leaving for the day(!).

~~~
lkbm
We still have a number of Gold's in Austin, but the one by my office is
5AM–10PM on weekdays, so no one is finishing up at 5am.

------
2845197541
On one side of my family retirement for my grandparents meant long days
vegetating in front of the television with little dogs to pet. Church on
Sundays were really their only time out. This brought dementia by age 80 and a
host of other issues and they are on their way out. On the other side my
grandfather plays basketball, golfs, runs, reads a book every few days, even
drinks at a bar. No dementia. Sharp as a tack. Dare I say... no church.

~~~
imesh
Both my grandfathers where professors who kept working up until their
irrespective colleges forced them retire due to their alzheimers. One ran
marathons up until his 70s and the other one did moderate exercise. Both did
everything you are supposed to do, both got alzheimers. 80 isn't going to be a
party no matter how healthy you are, it's 80.

~~~
grecy
The guy who ran my white water raft guide course was 74.

He did a backflip out of the raft in a 3+ rapid, into a glacier melt river
North of 60. He laughed when I was given control of the raft for the first
time and I flipped it with him and five others in it within 30 seconds.

I'm willing to bet he will still be having a ball at age 80.

~~~
ekianjo
in your 70s you age much faster than you think. 5 years do a lot more damage
than you expect from 75 to 80.

------
clumsysmurf
Somewhat related, today I read

"Researchers found that the foot's impact during walking sends pressure waves
through the arteries that significantly modify and can increase the supply of
blood to the brain."

[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170424141340.h...](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170424141340.htm)

~~~
acchow
What is the evolutionary explanation for this?

~~~
aaron-lebo
Does there have to be? Doesn't evolution produce a lot of things which are
side-effects not goals?

~~~
sheldoan
yep. the biological term is "spandrel"

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel_(biology)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel_\(biology\))

------
mike_ivanov
Or - there is a confounding factor that makes people both sharp and willing to
exercise.

~~~
sooheon
This is the most common one line reply to any study, and it's a pet peeve of
mine. If you actually read past the headline, you'd see this was not a
population study, but a review of experimental ones, where your "confounding
factor" is literally the fact that experimenters asked people to exercise.

Please, be skeptical of studies, but don't be so arrogant to presume authors
aren't capable of the most elementary scientific reasoning.

~~~
acchow

      that experimenters asked people to exercise.
    

Where are you reading this? The article is about the meta review here
[http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2017/03/30/bjsports-2016-0...](http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2017/03/30/bjsports-2016-096587)

Even if you're right, it still doesn't remove the confounding factors. Let's
assume you're right and each study has a control group that doesn't exercise
(for.... x years...? seems ridiculous) and an experimental group which
exercises regularly. But then...unhealthy people wouldn't be able to be in the
latter group because they can't exercise regularly.

I humbly submit "healthiness" as a possible confounding factor contributing to
both "sharp mind" and "ability to exercise" (and thus be in the experimental
group). Not sure where healthiness would come from - genetics? Diet? Less
stress?

~~~
sooheon
I'm reading this in the same place you linked. It's a meta study of
experimental studies, where experimenters ask otherwise sedentary people to be
subject to "exercise interventions" (it's in the title...). Observations
weren't for years AFAIK, studies over 4 weeks were eligible and an effect was
observed.

Edit: as for your confounding effect, it doesn't strike at the heart of the
study. The study finds that actually doing exercise improves your cognitive
function. Not that there are "sharp" people and "active" people and these tend
to go together. Whether or not you're sharp or healthy to begin with, doing
"exercise intervention" will improve your cognition.

------
Mankhool
As someone who is in his fifties, and just took my first real break from the
gym in 40 years (2 months off) I can easily say I don't miss it. I still walk
to/from work, which is about a 12km round trip, 5 times a week.

And although I have considered never picking up a weight again, I know the
benefits of weight bearing exercise and so, sometime this year, will go back
to they gym, but less frequently and for a shorter duration.

And never forget that 50% of your health is nutrition.

~~~
itchyouch
People are so very emotionally tied to food they get blinded when it comes to
"proper" nutrition. For technical folk, I think if we start phrasing nutrition
alongside "limiting chemical reagents" all of a sudden the mind starts
thinking about making sure all the proper reagents are available in abundant
supply for the body.

------
nepotism2016
I hate direct exercising, ie running around my local area or going to the gym.
However what I do love is participating in activities which require
exercising; mountain biking, table tennis, football, hiking and badminton. I
love all of these sports for its social benefits and most of the time I forget
I'm exercising :)

------
vixen99
I found "Spark! How exercise will improve the performance of your brain"
(Ratey/Hagerman) to be a good popular summary of research in this field. (No
connection with the authors!).

------
js2
Recent study ("Running as a Key Lifestyle Medicine for Longevity"):

Abstract: _Running is a popular and convenient leisure-time physical activity
(PA) with a significant impact on longevity. In general, runners have a
25%–40% reduced risk of premature mortality and live approximately 3 years
longer than non-runners. Recently, specific questions have emerged regarding
the extent of the health benefits of running versus other types of PA, and
perhaps more critically, whether there are diminishing returns on health and
mortality outcomes with higher amounts of running. This review details the
findings surrounding the impact of running on various health outcomes and
premature mortality, highlights plausible underlying mechanisms linking
running with chronic disease prevention and longevity, identifies the
estimated additional life expectancy among runners and other active
individuals, and discusses whether there is adequate evidence to suggest that
longevity benefits are attenuated with higher doses of running._

Conclusion: _There is compelling evidence that running provides significant
health benefits for the prevention of chronic diseases and premature mortality
regardless of sex, age, body weight, and health conditions. There are strong
plausible physiological mechanisms underlying how running can improve health
and increase longevity. Running may be the most cost-effective lifestyle
medicine from public health perspective, more important than other lifestyle
and health risk factors such as smoking, obesity, HTN, and DM. It is not
clear, however, how much running is safe and efficacious and whether it is
possible to perform an excessive amount of exercise. Also, running may have
the most public health benefits, but is not the best exercise for everyone
since orthopedic or other medical conditions can restrict its use by many
individuals._

[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033062017...](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033062017300488)

NYT reporting on the study ("An Hour of Running May Add 7 Hours to Your
Life"):

[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/well/move/an-hour-of-
runn...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/well/move/an-hour-of-running-may-
add-seven-hours-to-your-life.html)

------
Myrmornis
I'm 39 and I can't do anything with my brain nowadays after exercising, so I'm
looking forward to that changing when I get to 50.

------
readhn
Can a person overcome lack of exercise by eating healthy?

Can a person overcome lack of good nutrition by exercising regularly ?

Exercise goes hand in hand with nutrition IMO. People who exercise tend to eat
better and healthier foods.

If someone did not exercise routinely - they could easily improve their health
by eating properly!

What is more important? healthy nutrition or regular physical activity or
both?!

* And dont forget about about sleep!!!

~~~
itchyouch
It's probably around 70-80% nutrition and 20-30% exercise/activity.

------
pavfarb
So that's why Taleb deadlifts like a madman.

~~~
xarope
TIL (!). I deadlift (amongst other things), as I believe it's a fundamental
movement (what Dan John calls "pick heavy stuff off the floor").

Here's a writeup Taleb did about strength training (whether I agree or
disagree in totality is a separate issue, but we can all agree to 80% and
disagree on the rest):

[https://medium.com/@nntaleb/strength-training-is-learning-
fr...](https://medium.com/@nntaleb/strength-training-is-learning-from-tail-
events-7aa2c074569d)

~~~
3131s
I'm not sure that I agree with a lot of that article, but one piece really
resonates with me. I had a chronic hamstring injury from sprinting
(tendinitis, with a couple recurring minor pulls over the years) and physical
therapy was a complete waste of time. The first physical therapist I went to
told me that it would take over a year of sessions to recover from a grade 1
tear (which is absolute bullshit). She had me doing a bunch of different weird
balancing exercises and working with elastic bands. I dealt with this injury
for years until I started doing 1) foam rolling and myofascial release, and
more importantly 2) squatting, deadlifting, and olympic lifts. The difference
was almost overnight, and I haven't had a single issue with my hamstring in
years now.

~~~
xarope
Thumbs up on this, we can agree on the basics and disagree on the minutiae;
after all, as individuals, we are different to some degree.

------
mycoborea
Purely anecdotal: I'm in my early 30s and find a brisk run to have a huge
positive effect on my mental function and general energy levels for the rest
of my day (I work in biotech and spend half my day in the lab, half behind a
screen). In fact, I noticed this difference my very first (pitiful) day of
running.

------
agumonkey
I wonder about travel too. My mind buzzes whenever I'm a new environment.

I now wonder about walking far...

------
posterboy
correlation causation fallicy anyone?

------
ruleabidinguser
Meh. I'll take the shitty brain.

