Kayaking and muscle health: later life adventures in Nepal
Reflections on a remarkable river trip
Our latest study is inspired by a personal passion —and a group of kayakers who are showing what’s possible in their 60s and 70s.
Why do some forms of exercise have a longer shelf-life? What makes an activity better suited to later life? It’s a key question for a general population whose average age and later life expectations are both rising inexorably. One sport that’s caught our interest recently is whitewater kayaking. Despite the extreme appearance of the sport, a remarkable number of people continue to pursue it in later life.
The Everest river
For ExerciseForScience orthopaedic surgeon Professor Alister Hart, kayaking has been an enduring passion. He recalls from childhood the 1976 BBC film of the Dudh Kosi expedition to ‘kayak down Everest’. And last month, as part of the 2024 ExerciseForScience Nepal MRI project, he got to join a mixed team of 22 UK, US and Nepali kayakers on a trip down one of Nepal’s biggest whitewater rivers — the Sun Kosi — to its confluence with the Dudh Kosi, the ‘Everest river’.
In their element
This trip was remarkable because eight of the paddlers were more than 60 years old, and four were in their 70s. Among them was Mick Hopkinson, who was on the 1976 Dudh Kosi expedition. Meanwhile, Everest descent veterans Roger Huyton and Mke Hewlett were also in Nepal paddling the Karnali river. The four women kayakers on the trip included Jenny Hammond, in her 60s, and Pam Weiss, age 70. All these later-life paddlers are evidently still very much in their element negotiating big-volume whitewater.
A later-life kayaking scene
Back in the UK, there’s a small but growing scene of septuagenarian and later-life kayakers. Pam Phillips, age 75, helps run the Lee Valley paddlesports club in North London, based at the 2012 Olympic Whitewater Centre. The club has a thriving membership of people over the age of 50. She says: “I began kayaking 10 years ago aged 65, through a 'this girl can' initiative and instantly got hooked. I love the challenge of white water paddling, the camaraderie, and the support and help of my paddle buddies, some of whom are younger than my grandchildren!. I still feel like a 25-year-old in my head, but unfortunately, my shoulders and wrists do keep reminding me otherwise.
“I love the challenge of white water paddling, the camaraderie, and the support and help of my paddle buddies, some of whom are younger than my grandchildren!”
Pam Phillips, age 75yrs, of Lee Valley Paddlesports Club UK
Peter Knowles, age 79
Pam goes on to say: “Big river trips are more of a challenge now, but living close to Lee Valley Whitewater Centre, UK, I'm lucky to be able to pick and choose when and which course I paddle. But I do always try and push my paddling as much as possible. I enjoy fast and furious paddling for short bursts, interspersed with longer sessions at a more leisurely pace. This seems to suit my energy levels, enabling me to achieve a good aerobic workout while hopefully maintaining stamina. However I paddle, I hope that the sport will help maintain muscle mass, mental and physical agility and my 'gung-ho' attitude to life for a while longer yet!”
Peter Knowles, a well-known veteran of many whitewater kayaking expeditions, was on the Sun Kosi trip. He commented: “I’ve spent a great life kayaking and canoeing - mainly exploring long famous white water rivers around the World. I am now nearly 79 and have just had a fantastic ten-day trip on the Sun Kosi river in Nepal. That sounds tough but in fact it was easy on my body because it was a fully supported trip where I had lots of help and I could ride the gear raft if the paddling got too hard. Every expert I’ve talked to confirms that canoeing and kayaking are great all round exercise and especially good for a strong body core and flexibility.”
“Whitewater kayaking is great in later life for core strength, maintaining muscle mass, physical and mental agility and all-round fitness and wellbeing.”
Professor Alister Hart
New insights
For Alister this was a golden research opportunity. He says: “Our ongoing aim is to improve our understanding of sarcopenia, which is the loss of muscle with age. We can gain new insights by focusing on people of older age who have spent a large part of their life dedicated to a specific physical activity.
“We’re also particularly interested in the core muscles — a muscle group that’s key to many activities and sports, including kayaking. Having this group of top-level kayaking veterans coming together from all over the world provided an ideal opportunity.
“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.
“Having completed the river trip we’re now collecting data on the 3-D muscle volume and fat percentage in each of the core muscles of these kayakers . We’ve carried out MRI scans at the Tesla Diagnostic Clinic (3T MRI) in Kathmandu. The next step will be to compare the results with a group of non-kayaking volunteers in their 70s.
“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. We look forward to sharing our findings.”
We’d like to thank the following sponsors and funders for making this project possible: Arthroplasty for Arthritis; Maurice Hatter Foundation; RNOH Charity; Rosetrees Trust; Stoneygate Trust, and the National Institute for Health Research University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre.
With special thanks to Dr Nirmal Neupane, the radiologist conducting the scans and Nirajan Kadel and Ram Silwal, study coordinators in Kathmandu.
