It’s time for a change.

You may remember when being older was associated with frailty and rocking chairs, not new careers and adventure travel. A lot has changed over the past 20 years. Older adults today are looking at services and products to help them live a longer, healthier life. For example, the pharmacist Express Scripts recently revealed that older adults now spend more on products to combat the effects of aging—including mental alertness, sexual dysfunction, menopause, aging skin and hair loss—than they do on drugs to treat chronic disease.

This increased focus on healthy aging is the catalyst for a multitude of new products and services aimed at helping age 50+ adults achieve a better quality of life. Yet, the most effective tool we have does not come in a pill bottle, requires a small investment of time and effort, and is accessible to almost anyone. I am speaking about physical activity.

Research shows that regardless of age, education, and socioeconomic or marital status, you can achieve a significantly higher quality of life if you increase your physical activity levels. Our challenge? Only 21% of men and women ages 25–64 years old meet the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. This percentage declines with age to 14.2% of people ages 65–74 years and 7.7% of those 75 years and older.

So, how do we get adults in their 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and older to achieve at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes (1.25 hours) of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week? Not to mention the Guidelines’ call for moderate- or high-intensity muscle-strengthening activities involving all major muscle groups on two or more days a week.

Maybe the first step is to “up the ante.”

Discussing seminal studies conducted with frail older adults at Tufts University in the 1990s, exercise science pioneer Dr. Steven Blair stated: “[These studies] show that you take older adults into the weight room and you push them. They don’t die; they double and triple their muscle strength and throw away their walkers.” He added, “If exercise was going to kill people, it would have killed that group.”

So, to reach the Guidelines and achieve significant health improvement benefits, we must challenge older adults to exercise more intensely to become stronger and walk longer. Doing anything less is a disservice to them—and to you. The message we need to absorb is that older people are not automatically fragile.

“It’s a myth that older adults are fragile and cannot exercise,” according to Dr. Blair. “Yes, there are frail individuals. Certainly, as you go up the age spectrum, you have more health issues and potential adverse events, but they are still pretty rare. A facility needs to be aware and have an emergency plan in place.”

 
If we are ever going to help older adults meet the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, we need to look at what we’re doing and change the way we help people get there. 

How might an average Boomer summarize his attitude towards starting a new physical activity program? I doubt you'd hear, "No pain, no gain," but probably something more like, "My mind says GO, but my body says NO." Much has been written about Boomers' need for physical activity, but what can we - as health, wellness, and fitness professionals - do to make sure this age group actually meets the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommendations?

In the Y, we've created a program called PressPlay, which is targeted specifically for Boomers and is based on the principles of 1) Autonomy, 2) Competence, 3) Relatedness, and 4) Connectedness. By incorporating these principles, we have found that Boomers have been able to work their way up to meeting the recommended levels of physical activity (2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate activity each week) while having fun in a safe, supportive environment. And the beauty of PressPlay is that it isn't specific to just a certain sport or activity. Here's what it is all about.

Autonomy: PressPlay reinforces to participants that they are in control of their lives and that the choices they make about their health are indeed their own. Participants are challenged, but not pushed, to make healthy choices about their physical activity levels, and over time, they feel empowered to make these healthy choices. "I am capable of making good choices about my health, physical activity, and well-being."

Competence: PressPlay focuses on developmentally appropriate skill instruction and practice so that participants are indeed competent at some aspect of their chosen activity. In some cases, participants learn sport- or exercise-specific skills, and in other instances they learn how to use technology to enhance their physical activity experiences. "I'm good at this."

Relatedness: PressPlay is facilitated to create strong feelings of affinity among the Boomers participating. When surrounded by other Boomers who share similar life experiences and are also entering the same stage in life (Empty Nest, or Retirement, etc.), PressPlay participants find new friends and want to be around the group of like people. "People around me are like me."

Connectedness: PressPlay facilitators and instructors spend time during every class connecting participants with each other and creating bonds of friendships. The relationships that are formed become a motivator for regular participation in the selected activity. "I like the people in the class, and they like me."

When people are in control of their decisions and actually see that they are getting good at something, and feel connected or bonded to people like them, their participation in the activity that brought them all together becomes a joyful habit. Instead of a workout, their physical activity becomes fun, playful, and joyous. And over time, they can meet the Physical Activity Guidelines recommendations for overall health and wellness.

PressPlay isn't for everyone, but in the Y, we've found that applying these principles when working with Boomers in particular, leads to regular and long-lasting participation in our classes.

What principles are guiding your physical activity programs for Boomers so they meet the Physical Activity Guidelines?

How might you incorporate autonomy, competence, relatedness or connectedness into your Boomer programs?

How do you get people to do what's good for them? Parents of young children may wrestle with getting them to eat vegetables or write thank-you cards for holiday gifts. (Some of us struggle with such things well into adulthood, hence our recurring New Year's resolutions.) Motivating people of every age to be physically active is an ongoing challenge, despite the familiar and well-documented benefits.

Lifestyle modifications can be a tough nut to crack. As parents of toddlers and teens know, it's important to consider how your message is conveyed, received and timed. There are no guarantees, as we humans are dazzlingly different from one another. Still, considering the mindset and predilections of those we talk to bumps up our chances of being heard and understood - and, ultimately, of persuading people to take action.

Research underlying the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans shows that exercise is good for individuals of any age or physical condition. Older adults, though, have distinct reasons to stay active, and calls for a special focus on fitness for individuals ages 50 and up. Muscle mass tends to decline with age, and age-related balance problems can lead to falls. Also, exercise improves coginition and fends off chronic diseases - thus affecting "secondary aging."

Mining the Data

So how do we encourage older adults to stay active?

Marketers know to bring tailored information to their target audiences? What they know about television viewer demographics leads to the placement of pick-up truck commercials during boxing matches and pharmaceutical ads during the nightly news. So to reach older adults, we need to think like marketers.

Consider the following from the 2010 Del Webb Baby Boomer Survey:

• More than half of all Boomers are more active than they were 15 years ago.
• The top reasons to exercise are to "optimize health," "improve appearance," "reduce stress," and "improve self-confidence."
• Boomers plan to retire later (age 67, say those turning 50) and continue working after retirement.
• Approximately 40 percent of Boomers have taken up a new hobby or activity in the last few years.
• 71 percent of younger Boomers and 60 percent of older Boomers participate in volunteer activities.

  

Other research tells us:

• Americans age 47 to 74 own the highest percentage of e-readers than any other age group (Pew Research Group)
• 57% of consumers age 55 and up prefer to bank online rather than in branches - a 20% increase between 2010 and 2011 (American Bankers Association)
• Older boomers and adults age 74+ are catching up to other age groups in their use of social networking sites, growing 360% and 400%, respectively, between 2008 and 2010 (Pew Research Center)

Lessons Learned

These data suggest strategies for reaching Boomers and their elders with appropriate and persuasive messages about being physically active. Show them how they can maintain health, work longer and enjoy life. Reach them through hobbies and volunteer activities. Include social media and other online channels in the mix. Remember to segment the audience - don't treat everyone born before 1965 as if they have the same interests, needs, and habits. The Internet, of course, is a bountiful resource for demographic data, and provides tips on marketing and communication.

Here's to a year of better health for all!

What do your insights about Boomers and older adults suggest by way of strategies to encourage them to be more physically active? How best to reach various segments of this expansive demographic?