Home health remedies Elderly people should lift weights to fight frailty, experts say

Elderly people should lift weights to fight frailty, experts say

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If you were looking forward to clocking off from your daily grind and sitting around in your underpants all day come retirement, we’ve got some bad news.

Old age is often seen as something of a get-out-of-gym-free card, but health experts are warning that, in reality, the opposite is true.

Thanks to advances in technology, nutrition and medicine, elderly people today have a longer life expectancy than perhaps their great grandparents would’ve had. 

(Related: This 70-year-old ran a sub-three hour marathon)

However, despite the extra birthday candles, it’s estimated that one in 10 pensioners are infirm, according to the Daily Telegraph, rising to half of those over the age of 80. 

To combat this growing trend, researchers from University College Dublin reviewed 46 studies on ‘frailty interventions’; initiatives such as exercise programmes, nutrition supplementation, home visits, counselling and so on, which are essentially designed to help frail elderly people become less frail.

(Related: HIIT beats weight training at slowing signs of ageing)

The study, which spanned 15,690 people, concluded that shifting tin and upping protein intake were the most effective and easiest-to-implement solutions.

Writing in the British Journal of Practice, lead author John Travers said: “Frailty screening is increasingly recommended in primary care and in some cases contractually required, but there is a lack of guidance on interventions, once frailty has been identified.

(Related: 7 ways to age-proof your brain)

“This study outlines both the relative effectiveness and ease of implementation of frailty interventions in primary care, and these findings may help the choice of appropriate primary care interventions.”

GPs should recommend 20 to 25 minutes of activity four days per week, comprising of 15 exercises to improve strength, balance and coordination. Researchers suggested that older people should focus more on eggs, tuna, chicken or a protein shake at mealtimes.

(Related: People with weak muscles are more likely to die early)

Spotting your grandad as he hits a PB on the bench? We’re here for it. 

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