Healthy Body, Healthy Mind: The Relationships Between Aging, Injury, and Mental Health
Aging is a race against time we cannot win – but we’ll be damned if we don’t try! As a species, the human quest to defy our own mortality is perhaps more tied to our existential anxiety than to any other topic. It’s comprised of the very deepest human themes, such as what and who we are and life after death. And more superficially, it’s rooted in the tribalistic pursuits of rigorous training to combat the diminishing of those all-important masculine features.
It can be challenging to know where exactly on the spectrum one should be in their effort to preserve the body and mind. A life spent worrying excessively about getting older is a life not lived, yet endeavors of personal health usually aren’t fully appreciated for the transformative effects they can have.
As with most things, a strong sense of balance goes a long way in charting your way forward. Amidst the intertwined relationships of exercise, mental health, injury and recovery, and illness and recouperation, we can begin to piece together both how aging affects us and what we can do to mitigate the damaging effects. And maybe, just maybe, we can even learn to enjoy the process for the benefits it brings.
The Role of Physical Activity in Aging and Mental Health
Our attitudes toward aging and health have a way of leading to something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s clear now, for example, that if we expect to lose our mobility and mental sharpness with age, we’re more likely to act in ways that bring those thoughts to fruition. But if we change our expectation, can it change our actions in a way that will have a positive impact on our physical and mental aging process?
The latest systematic reviews on the topic highlight a clear relationship between the damaging physical effects thoughts, feelings, and attitudes can have, with other recent research detailing just how widespread of an issue existential terror around aging actually is.
Physical activity is intrinsically at the forefront of many people’s minds as a remedy. Everyone is acutely aware of how important exercise is in keeping physically healthy. Still, a substantial body of research supports the idea that it’s also an incredibly potent defense against the most significant mental health challenges we face. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique lens through which to view these effects; large cross-sectional studies completed at the height of the pandemic showed the hugely positive impact exercise had on alleviating the rapidly increasing levels of stress, isolation, and anxiety most people felt.
Neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki’s research into the effects of exercise on the brain has shed even more light on the surprising positives of simply moving more. Her findings exposed the exciting connection between the neuroprotective power of exercise (the protection of nerve cells from injury or degeneration) – and how it’s thought to significantly reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia by promoting neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to adapt and reorganize the way it’s structured and functions).
Moreover, cardio and resistance training are thought to attack the root causes of aging directly. An exciting area at the moment is the potential of exercise to alter the expression of certain biomarkers in the muscle to slow aging, and other groups have started to explore the innate abilities physical activity has to reduce oxidative stress: a problem thought to have possibly the largest, systemic impact on aging of all processes.
Starting a new workout program should be a no-brainer, then – but doing so is not always easy or without its potential pitfalls.
The Exercise-Injury Paradox
So, we know that negative beliefs about aging can make the problems associated with aging worse and that exercise is one of the best things you can do to live healthier for longer. But what about when something goes wrong?
Whether it be traditional cardio, weight training, or every option in between, the risk of injury for beginners is high.
This is particularly true considering how recreational weightlifting has grown as a hobby. These days, everyone and their grandma is being taught to squat, deadlift, and bench press, and that’s great: weightlifting significantly reduces the risk of all-cause mortality and is key in preventing age-related muscle-wasting disorders like sarcopenia.
This is particularly true considering how recreational weightlifting has grown as a hobby. These days, everyone and their grandma is being taught to squat, deadlift, and bench press, and that’s great: weightlifting significantly reduces the risk of all-cause mortality and is key in preventing age-related muscle-wasting disorders like sarcopenia.
Get an injury as you’re shifting all that weight, though, and the cost to your health can be huge. The mental toll of being injured has been shown to multiply those negative emotions associated with aging and perceived frailty. It makes for the saddening reality of a person trying to better their physical and mental health, only to fall back behind where they started.
At the end of the day, when we seek to engage in a practice to improve our health, we’re extra vulnerable to it all falling down like a stack of cards. With several complex relationships at play, navigating the best path can present itself more as a minefield than as the yellow brick road the research describes. Some risk is inevitable, but how can we stack the deck in our favor?
Practical Steps
Exercise safety is, on the whole, very simple. Thanks to the advent of YouTube, a huge variety of evidence-based content from qualified professionals illustrates how to safely perform practically any exercise imaginable. There’s also the relatively recent advent of online personal training, meaning that if you can’t find a reputable trainer in person, Zoom or Skype sessions are available for visual coaching through a variety of programs.
Even though the internet can be a major contributor to the rapidly increasing spread of misinformation, we’re also in a better position than ever to learn how to execute things properly. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Start With Machines: If you’re new to weight training, start with machine variations of exercises before moving on to free weights. Each barbell or dumbbell exercise usually has a machine-based alternative, whether a machine chest press for bench press or lat-pull down for barbell rows, the machine equivalent should be easy to find. Machines lock you into a fixed path of resistance and reduce the load on your stabilizer muscles, which are weak points when you’re just starting out and are prone to the types of strain that can result in an injury. Spend a few weeks progressing slowly through the machine’s weight stack to get used to the movements before you try the more demanding exercises or before moving into free weights.
Replace the Treadmill With a Stationary Bike or Cross Trainer: Many people go straight to running when they first decide to start exercising. It’s a great form of exercise, but having said that, you can greatly negate the risk of repetitive strain injuries (the most common type of sports injury) by using a cross trainer or stationary bike instead where you remove the impact. These machines are just as effective at training your cardiovascular system, and you don’t have to focus as heavily on technique as the machine guides you smoothly through the movement.
Pay Attention to Your Diet: Proper nutrition isn’t only crucial to fueling your body and growing your muscle mass – it’s also essential for preventing injury. Research shows that you’re at a greater risk of injury when you’re inadequately recovered from your last session, with these effects being enhanced if you’re calorie deficient. Ensuring a daily intake of a wide variety of high-quality macro and micronutrients is a must, and if you’re weight training, you should aim to hit 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day to maximize your body’s recovery process.
Always Warm-Up: Proper warm-ups are crucial for preventing injury; by doing so, you’re also putting your body in a better position to perform well. Like many aspects of our lives, preparation is key: whether you’re training for a 10K or to increase your back squat one rep max, spend time before the heavy work building up to that point and getting both your nervous system and muscles fired up.
Exercise is far more than just a physical endeavor, and we’re only just on the cusp of discovering the extent of its impact on the brain. While it’s common to resent the idea of starting a workout program, no one ever finishes regretting it. Listen to your body, lean on the now readily accessible wealth of science-based advice, and enjoy the benefits of exercise so you can age into the best version of yourself.
