If someone were to ask you, “Do you get stronger as you get older?” how would you reply?
If you assumed the question was about physical strength, you might respond “no,” since we start to lose muscle mass as we age. But this alone doesn’t mean our bodies are destined to get weaker as we reach middle age and beyond.
In fact, a study published earlier this year in the journal Geriatrics found that 45% of the participants, ages 50 and older who were followed for up to 12 years, improved in their cognitive abilities, physical function (as measured by walking speed), or both.
So, can you get better with age? These and other study results imply the answer is a resounding “yes.”
A Critical Factor: Having Positive Age Beliefs
“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” — Frank Lloyd Wright, architect
The researchers who conducted the study mentioned above say their findings demonstrate that older adults who adopt more-positive beliefs about their own aging are more likely to show improvement in both cognitive and physical function.
As a potential explanation, they say the brain appears susceptible to the influence of such beliefs. In earlier research, they found an association between negative age beliefs and physiological changes in the brain that typically accompany Alzheimer’s disease.
In an article published by Time magazine, Becca Levy, the lead investigator of the study and a professor of public health and psychology at Yale School of Public Health, says:
“Those who take in more negative age beliefs are more likely to show worse physical, mental, and cognitive health outcomes. Conversely — and this is the good news — it goes the other direction, too. If people are able to take in more positive age beliefs, or switch from the negative to the positive, that can have health benefits in a number of different ways.”
The article focuses on why we should stop using several common phrases when talking about age and aging, including some that might seem positive until you look at them more closely. An example is “You look good for your age.”
“The trouble is, when a number — your age — becomes your identity, you’ve given away your power to choose your future.” — Richard J. Leider, author, executive-life coach, and motivational speaker
For Best Results, Pair Positive Mental Exercise With Strength Training
Along with adopting a more positive attitude toward aging, engaging in simple but effective daily activities can help you counteract the effects of muscle loss that occurs naturally with age, according to an article published by Consumer Reports.
Evelien Van Roie, an assistant professor in healthy aging and geriatric rehabilitation at Hasselt University in Belgium, says, “You don’t need fancy equipment or long training sessions” for strength training. “What matters is consistently engaging in exercises that genuinely challenge the muscles.”
Katy Bowman, a kinesiologist and movement expert, recommends thinking about strength training as “strength snacks” you engage in throughout the day instead of sessions you do two or three times a week.
Activities suggested in the article include:
- Taking the stairs on a regular basis
- Sitting on the floor at times instead of on the couch
- Gardening and doing chores around the house
Yoga and swimming can also help build muscle.
What About Emotional Experience?
“The great thing about getting older is that you become more mellow. Things aren’t as black and white, and you become much more tolerant. You can see the good in things much more easily rather than getting enraged as you used to do when you were young.” —Maeve Binchy, author
Do you get more emotional as you get older? It’s difficult to say whether aging intensifies our emotions, but research has evaluated the effect aging seems to have on other aspects of our emotional lives.
An earlier study found that aging is associated with:
- More positive overall emotional well-being
- Greater emotional stability
- More complex emotional experiences, defined as the co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions, or poignancy
What’s more, researchers found that emotional well-being can help predict survival. Study participants who experienced relatively more positive than negative emotions in their everyday lives were more likely to have survived during the 13-year period evaluated.
“Evidence is growing that experiencing positive emotions may not only improve quality of life, it may add years to life,” the researchers note.
With regard to emotional wellness in older adults, the findings suggest that our emotional lives may not peak until we’re well into our 70s. At advanced ages, improvement in the ratio of positive to negative emotional experience either plateaus or declines slightly — but they don’t return to the negative levels observed in younger adults, according to the researchers.
Newer research supports these findings, such as this study published in 2023 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Lead investigator Susan Charles, a professor of psychological science at University of California, Irvine’s School of Social Ecology sums up the study results in this article:
“We found that when looking at all responses across all participants, older adults reported the highest level of well-being compared to all other age groups. They reported the lowest levels of distress (great sadness and anxiety) as well as the lowest level of reported negative emotions (feeling lonely, afraid, and upset). They also reported the highest levels of positive emotions (being calm, enthusiastic, and cheerful).”
Taking Life’s Lessons to Heart
“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.” — Albert Einstein, physicist and philosopher
Although it can be tempting to reflect on what we’ve lost as we get older, it behooves us to ponder, instead, what we’ve gained.
For example, a certain amount of wisdom is achieved only with life experience. We can try to pass along this wisdom to younger generations, and they may get the gist of it, but oftentimes it takes a personal experience for the “Aha!” moment to occur.
Older adults are also frequently more patient and more emotionally resilient than their younger counterparts. This may be because seniors have developed more of a capacity to live in the present. Their priorities may be different. And they probably have more time to slow down and assess what’s going on rather than automatically reacting.
Sometimes a particular incident leaves us in a position to appreciate the aging process:
“I have absolutely no objection to growing older. I am a stroke survivor, so I am extremely grateful to be aging. I have nothing but gratitude for the passing years. I am aging — lucky, lucky me!” — Sharon Stone, actor
To learn more about Park Senior Villas and how we celebrate the positive attributes of older adults, call 602-345-1992. You can also complete our brief contact form to arrange a visit at any of our four communities.
