Cycling Wins the Race For the Older Adult
Cyclists on the road can be the bane of a car driver’s life! And if we ask the cyclists, aggressive car drivers are equally troublesome! One thing is certain: cycling is here to stay. It is an activity with a multitude of health benefits, and is being suggested as the perfect sport for older adults.
As we age our muscles typically become smaller, less elastic and striped with fat and connective tissue. As a result, we feel weaker and slower to move than we did in our younger years. Maintaining or minimising this loss of muscle strength as we age is very important - it has been shown to directly affect balance, walking ability, ability to perform daily activities, and overall quality of life 1 .
A recent study by Pollock et al. looked at the muscle quality of a group of cyclists between the ages of 55 and 79. When they took tissue samples, the muscle quality showed no deterioration across the age groups, suggesting that exercise, and more specifically cycling, can slow or halt the process of muscle aging 1.
Lets’ look at some of the positives and negatives of cycling as the sport of choice for the older adult:
Health Benefits of Cycling:
Resistance Exercise Without the Impact – Cycling is a good form of resistance/strengthening exercise for our leg muscles, but unlike running or a step class it does not place any jarring or impact forces on our joints. This is important for those starting to experience normal age-related joint changes, such as osteoarthritis.
Closed Chain Exercise, Safe for Joints – ‘Closed chain’ exercise is a term used to describe an exercise where the foot is held or fixed, rather than free to move around in the air. For example, if we squat, we are doing a ‘closed chain’ knee exercise, but if we kick a ball or lift a weight with our foot we are doing an ‘open chain’ knee exercise. In a closed chain exercise there is less shearing or sideways force on the knee joint, making it more comfortable and less likely to cause irritation to joint surfaces. This again, makes cycling a good choice for those with osteoarthritis 2.
Aerobic Exercise for Heart and Lungs – Cycling uses all our big leg muscles, meaning it burns lots of energy and is a good aerobic workout. It is as good as running for our cardiovascular (heart and lung) fitness, but without the impact on our joints that running may cause.
Weight-bearing Exercise for Bone Health – Research shows that to improve or maintain bone density we need to perform regular weight-bearing exercise. Unfortunately, most weight-bearing forms of exercise involve high impact that may not be suitable for those with osteoarthritis or osteoporosis. Cycling is a great alternative, as it is weight-bearing, but low to moderate impact, and unlike swimming it provides good benefits for our bone density.
Strength and Endurance - Cycling has the added bonus of being highly variable – depending on our level of fitness we can ride short or long distances, low or high speed, up and down the hills or on flat ground. It is an exercise that can be tailored to improve our muscle strength, muscle power or muscle endurance, depending on how we ride.
A Green Mode of Transport – On top of all the benefits to our health, we can use cycling to get to our destination. By not driving we are helping to keep our planet green, and we will also reap the rewards of being out in the open air and the natural environment - shown to boost our mental health.
Improves Cognitive Function – Research has shown that older adults in aged care facilities who perform regular self-paced cycling have better cognitive function. This suggests that cycling regularly can provide some protection against the typical age-related changes to our brain function 3.
The Downsides:
Crashes - Outdoor cycling clearly involves some risk of accidents and injury. On average (according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics) approximately 9 Australians over the age of 65 die in cycling-related accidents per year 4 . Are you under 65? Watch out! Between 25 and 40 Australians under 65 are killed in cycling accidents per year 4. We may be able to minimise the risk of a crash by selecting our cycling routes carefully, or by choosing to cycle at times of the day when it is less busy on the roads and pathways.
Lack of Arm Exercise – Cycling is predominantly an exercise for your legs and so will not greatly improve or maintain arm muscle strength if performed alone. Your arms will do a little weight-bearing on the handlebars, and even more if you are standing up on the pedals to ride up a steep hill. But, we would certainly recommend that specific arm exercises should be added to your fitness program if cycling is your main focus. For more ideas see our Exercise Ideas Page.
References:
1. Pollock, R. D., O'Brien, K. A., Daniels, L. J., Nielsen, K. B., Rowlerson, A., Duggal, N. A., ... & Harridge, S. D. (2018). Properties of the vastus lateralis muscle in relation to age and physiological function in master cyclists aged 55–79 years. Aging Cell, 17(2).
2. Mangione, K. K., McCully, K., Gloviak, A., Lefebvre, I., Hofmann, M., & Craik, R. (1999). The effects of high-intensity and low-intensity cycle ergometry in older adults with knee osteoarthritis. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biomedical Sciences and Medical Sciences, 54(4), M184-M190.
3. Varela, S., Cancela, J. M., Seijo-Martinez, M., & Ayán, C. (2018). Self-Paced Cycling Improves Cognition on Institutionalized Older Adults Without Known Cognitive Impairment: A 15-Month Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of aging and physical activity, 1-29.
4. Australian Government: Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development. Road Safety of Older Australians: Recent Statistics. Accessed on 27 of April 2018, at https://bitre.gov.au/publications/2014/files/is_50_amended_2016_III.pdf