Don’t be afraid to prescribe exercise to elderly patients, fitness experts tell doctors – CTV
January 27, 2025
TORONTO — Bob Bursach has worked with professional athletes over the course of his career as a personal trainer — but these days, he’s focused on helping seniors make exercise part of their lives.
“The first thing that they notice is that (their) strength is coming back,” said Bursach, who is 82 and lives in Toronto.
His oldest client is a 96-year-old woman he trains twice a week.
Bursach attributes his good health and youthful appearance to his near-daily workouts. He enjoys seeing his clients improving their quality of life through exercise — such as when they realize they can get up from lying down without taking his hand or using a chair for assistance.
Regular physical activity is critical to improving health at any age, including people in their 80s and 90s — and doctors should be prescribing it more often to their oldest patients, a new paper published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says.
Physicians sometimes worry more about the risk of injury than the benefits of exercise for seniors with chronic conditions, who are considered frail or who might be at risk of falling, said lead author Dr. Jane Thornton, Canada Research Chair in Injury Prevention and Physical Activity for Health at Western University.
