Cross-train if spirit is willing but joints are weak

You have stopped smoking, traded your martinis for an occasional glass of wine and never drink coffee after noon. Now, to your horror, the doctor says you have to cut the intense workouts that give you that beloved endorphin rush.

"We're living longer now - we're trying to stay more active on an ageing frame," said Dr Nicholas DiNubile, 48, an orthopaedic surgeon in Havertown, Pennsylvania, who has given up running because of a bad left knee.

But, although the aches and pains of ageing are as ancient as old age itself, baby-boomers raised on the "no pain, no gain" ethos of exercise are not going gently to the couch. Instead, they run, play tennis and lift heavier and heavier weights, long after their joints can take the pressure.

Dr DiNubile coined the term "boomeritis" to describe the combination of "tendinitis, bursitis, arthritis and fix-me-itis" he first noticed at the gym where he works out.

What is happening, experts say, is that, at the same time as wrinkles and grey hair appear, tendons become stiffer and develop tiny tears, cartilage wears away and spinal discs shed water, so they look less like grapes and more like raisins.

Unlike muscles and skin, cartilage has little ability to renew itself because it does not have a good blood supply.

While the bad news is that ageing boomers may have to give up the beloved morning run, athletic-minded experts say the best response to aches and pains is cross-training. That means listening to your body and concocting a combination of exercises that give a good workout while putting as little stress as possible on whatever joints are aching.

Running, jogging and playing tennis are considered high-impact and may become too painful as people age. Swimming, biking and walking may be better options.

But even these exercises have their drawbacks. Swimming, for example, is notorious for causing shoulder problems.

Even yoga, the ultimate in low-impact exercise, can blow out knees.

But joint pain is not a reason to give up exercise for ice cream in front of the television. "It's not an excuse to go back to the couch," Dr DiNubile said. "Sedentary behaviour is as dangerous to you as smoking a pack a day."

- REUTERS