With the Winter Olympics starting this week, the attention on world-class athletes may motivate some of us to get off the couch and move more ourselves.
And if you think you're too out of shape, or too told to accomplish any physical feat, take it from Luise Easton, 87: You may be capable of more than you think.
Easton has competed in triathlons near and far to her home in Cleveland, and she's still at it. "When I was 80 I won in Denmark," she says. She also won a medal in Ibiza in 2023. "It feels good," she says with a girlish laugh.
"There's not much competition in my age category," she acknowledges, so it's a bit easier to come in first, but it's just as thrilling. "You still get on the podium and everybody claps," she says.
Staying athletic as you age presents its challenges, of course. Like most Americans over the age of 60, Easton has chronic health conditions — including some issues with her heart — that require treatment and monitoring. But she's tackled them proactively.
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And her story shows the payoff of focusing on early diagnosis and treatment, combined with smart choices, and an awareness of evidence-backed lifestyle habits that can slow down or prevent chronic heart conditions. These steps can help improve your health at any age.
A wake-up call
Easton has always been active. In high school she attended a school that stood up girls basketball and field hockey. But five years ago, she feared her athletic days were behind her when she started feeling short of breath during workouts. She made an appointment with a sports cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic.
"They did all kinds of tests and found out that my heart isn't as strong as it's supposed to be," Easton says. Doctors measured her ejection fraction, or EF, which is an estimate of the amount of blood a person's heart pumps out with each heartbeat.
Hers was below normal, a sign the heart is not pumping efficiently enough to keep up with the body's oxygen demands. She also had some abnormal rhythms.
There are several medications that can help, including beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers which also help lower blood pressure. Easton takes some medications that help regulate her heart beat and keep the muscle working as efficiently as possible.
But her doctors also wanted to help her stay active.
"We know exercise helps the heart," says Dr. Tamanna Singh, a sports cardiologist who treated Easton.
She helped her switch up Easton's training regime, "incorporating more recovery time," and fine-tuning intensity and exercise volume. "I think all of those things have helped her be able to continue to race," Singh says.
Easton's shortness of breath was a wake-up call. Rather than assume it would go away — or assume her racing days were over — she got the medical attention that's helped keep her in the game. And Easton says she focuses on a healthy diet and prioritizing rest.
There's a lesson here for all of us would-be weekend warriors wondering how much our bodies can handle.
"It's really a reminder of our innate capacity to do things that we are passionate about," says Dr. Victoria Maizes, an integrative medicine expert, and the author of a new book, Heal Faster. "We have this intrinsic recovery system that supports us in recovering from a wide range of conditions."
Preventable problems
Though heart disease is the top cause of death for both men and women in the U.S., a new Cleveland Clinic survey finds 1 in 4 adults don't realize they are at risk for it, even though the vast majority have risk factors, such as high blood pressure.
But if you choose to address it, Maizes says here's the good news.
"Close to 80% of heart disease is preventable through lifestyle changes," she says. "Many people don't recognize how much agency they actually have to reduce their risks."
Everything from not smoking to tweaks to daily habits that can make a difference. "What you eat, when you eat, how much exercise or movement you're getting, and managing your stress," she says.
Maizes pointed to a study that found heart-health benefits of time-restricted eating, which means limiting the number of hours you eat each day to about 10 hours a day.
Maizes' approach with patients combines conventional medicine, using all of the tools of medications and traditional therapies, with lifestyle-related interventions and complementary therapies, such as acupuncture and stress-reduction techniques.
Luise Easton says she's under no illusion that she can run, bike and swim forever. "I'm 87 now, so as I age, everything I do is a little bit harder," she says.
But she's not giving up. When it comes to competing she has adjusted her expectations. "Now, instead of running, I walk. But there's no rules that say you can't walk," she says, her sprightly tone intact.
She may be slower, but she's still in the race.
6 tips to stay active and healthy
If you want to emulate Easton, here are tips to stay active and healthy as you age:
Find a workout buddy: "I don't like to workout alone," Easton says. Over the years, depending on the activity, she has participated in group training, or found a friend to train with. She's also hired trainers to help her compete. If that's not in your budget, find a local cycling or running group. Training with other people can help you stick with it.
Set a specific movement goal: Easton was motivated by the allure of competing in Ibiza. It's easier to get through a winter training in Cleveland, if you're imagining the dreamy blue waters of the Mediterranean, rolling hills with scents of pine and olive groves. Having a specific date and event helps you organize around that goal.
Maintain a flexible approach: It's important to stay positive and optimistic. "A lot of it is mindset, discipline, self-motivation and drive," despite the inevitable challenges of aging, says Singh. Older athletes can be successful she says, in part because they bring more life experience in overcoming obstacles. Just as Eaton now walks instead of running, it's important to pivot and adjust when you can no longer compete at the same level.
Use wearables to track progress: From Apple Watch to Oura Rings, there's lots of ways to peer inside your body, to track measures such as sleep, exercise and heart rate variability, which is a window into how well you're handling stress. "Wearables give you personal feedback about how you're sleeping, how you're moving, what your heart rate variability is," says Maizes. "These can be really useful tools."
Keep up with preventive screenings: Many people ignore warning signs because they lack access to quality health care or are hesitant to see doctors. The fragmented U.S. health care system is often called "disease care" since the model has been predicated on providers being paid to make sick people better, rather than keep them well.
But there are many preventive tests that the Affordable Care Act mandates for coverage, typically with no out-of-pocket costs. And it's worth staying up to date on these, says Maizes. They include cancer screenings, blood-pressure, cholesterol and mental health screenings, as well as counseling for people with diet-related diseases.
Consider more specialized testing: Maizes recommends that people at risk of heart disease consider options for more comprehensive cardiac screening, including tests, taken from blood samples, that measure apoB and lipoprotein(a), which can provide a more detailed assessment of cardiovascular risk, inflammation, and metabolic health. These tests will require out-of-pocket payment, typically beyond what insurance may cover.
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