Kayaking and muscle health: new frontiers for later life adventure

Learnings from a remarkable river expedition to Nepal

Our latest study will look at why kayakers in their 60s and 70s are still able to tackle some of the world’s biggest whitewater.

Why do some forms of exercise have a longer shelf-life? What makes an activity better suited to later life? It’s a pertinent question for a general population whose average age and later life expectations are both rising inexorably.

Understanding what enables people to stay active in later life is a growing area for study. The better we can understand the science of maintaining muscle mass, the more we can help people live well for longer. It raises questions about the best forms of exercise for later life. Running? Cycling? Swimming? Or even kayaking?

Last month a team of 22 UK, US and Nepali kayakers completed a descent of the Sun Kosi — one of Nepal’s biggest whitewater rivers — to its confluence with the Dudh Kosi, the ‘Everest river’. What made this trip special was that eight of the paddlers were more than 60 years old, and four were in their 70s. Among them was Mick Hopkinson, who‘d been part of the celebrated first descent of the Dudh Kosi — ‘kayaking down Everest’ — in 1976.

Exercise for Science’s own Professor Alister Hart has been a keen whitewater kayaker ever since that year, when he was inspired by the BBC film of the Dudh Kosi expedition, so it was particularly resonant for him to be part of this trip.

Alister says: “With four of the kayaking group aged over 70, we were keen to measure the health of their muscles, with a focus on the core, as strength in this area is integral to the sport. Mick and the other older paddlers were entirely at ease on the water and supportive of this project to study the underlying factors.

“Understanding 3D muscle volume and fat percentage in each of the core muscles will give us new and important data. We’ve carried out MRI scans of the paddlers at the Tesla Diagnostic Clinic (3T MRI) in Kathmandu. Next, we plan to compare the results with a group of non-kayaking volunteers in their 70s for a research study. We look forward to sharing our findings.”

With thanks to Dr Nirmal Neupane, the radiologist conducting the scans and Nirajan Kadel and Ram Silwal, study coordinators in Kathmandu.