From 1987 to 2003, there was a meteoric rise in older people going to the gym. The jump was measured at 343% more people aged 55 or over joining the gym. That number is still rising as people look to keep fit as they get older. After all, it does become a much tougher proposition and something all the more harder to keep on top of as we start to age. Yet still, 44% of adults over the age of 70 years enjoy a 20-minute walk less than once a year, or never.

So why is it more important for older people to go to the gym?

A whole range of reasons are medical. Men who burn 2,000 calories a week have a life expectancy two-and-a-half years longer than a bloke who doesn’t. Without exercise, aches and pains you’ve never experiences will be sure to creep in as your muscles and joints become less active. The gym will keep these moving and also keep them stronger. Exercising regularly will slow down the decline in function your body goes through as you get older.

Older people who exercise are less likely to be at risk of illnesses such as type two diabetes, depression, dementia and some forms of cancers. That’s if you aim for 150 minutes of exercise per week. As you get older your metabolism also slows down, which means chemical reactions happen slower in the body and in addition to that, the lower your muscle mass the slower your metabolism is likely to be. Therefore, it becomes much easier to put on weight as you get older and getting in the gym and eating the right things as a result won’t only make you lose or maintain your weight, but speed up your metabolism.

Exercising is also a great way to socialise. With the leap in number of elder gym goers over the years, you’re bound to meet someone a similar age as you with the same motivation for going to the gym, adding to your social life and you may even become gym partners to push each other that step further to become more active in later life.

Older people should aim for a slightly cardio-based workout to maintain and lose weight, but don’t underestimate the value of strength exercises. A study on 90-year-old women in a nursing home found that a 12-week strength training programme took the equivalent of 20 years off their thigh muscle age, leading to improved mobility. Strength workouts can keep the brain more active and also allow you to do more during the day. Older people who don’t exercise regularly may find walking into town or standing at the bus stop a lot more difficult than those who find themselves on a treadmill frequently.

There are hundreds of gyms around aimed at older people, some of which even offer classes aimed at older people and their needs, make sure you make use of these and they’re also another great chance to socialise with a large group who all have the same aim, to stay fit.

60% of adults in the UK are overweight or obese. The UK is the ‘fat man’ of Europe, there is more obese people in England than anywhere else on the continent. Scary fact, right? Slightly behind that unnerving figure are our Irish neighbours, followed by Spain, Portugal and Germany rounding off the top five.

So it’s safe to say there’s probably a large amount of people who caught a glimpse of themselves int the mirror and decided that it was time to go on a diet. There are hundreds of diets available for weight loss, whether it be simply buying and cooking better food and taking more time over it, joining a weight-loss club or tougher, stricter diets such as the Atkins diet, the Blood Type diet or the Caveman diet.

It’s all well and good dieting, but without going to the gym or regular exercise, all your time and effort in the kitchen can go completely to waste. A study in the US found reducing your calorie intake by 30% without exercising will likely lead to no weight loss at all, as the body deploys its natural compensatory mechanism, reducing physical activity in response to the reduction in calories.

Joining a sports team or club is also a popular option. Sports teams may offer more social benefits as well as a more active lifestyle, but a couple of pints here and there after a football or cricket match all add up. By joining a gym, you can target certain areas of your body and give yourself a more rounded workout as opposed to pure cardio during a football game or going for a run every now and again. There’s no point dieting and attempting to lose weight if you don’t then tone your muscles, which an 80 minute rugby game once a week or the odd hockey training session certainly won’t do.

The best, most effective and quickest way to lose weight and look better is to exercise and eat well. They go hand in hand; you wouldn’t go to the gym but maintain bad eating habits, so why improve your eating habits but not increase your frequency of exercise? Food and exercise complement each other providing you do it right, so as well as dropping the donuts and finding the fruit, make sure that a solid and regular gym workout is also part of your weight loss programme.

Many of us enjoy the odd tipple every now and again, whether it’s a quick pint after work on a Friday to celebrate the weekend or a special occasion such as Christmas or a birthday.

However, most of people don’t realise the effects alcohol has on your body or the effects that it has on your workout routine.

Alcohol-related deaths in the UK may slowly be rising but in 2014 there were over eight-and-a-half thousand deaths relating to alcohol through problems such as liver disease, alcohol hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Of those 8,697 deaths in 2014, 65% were in males. Liver disease and cirrhosis are serious results of alcohol but the UK’s most popular drug can also have less serious effects that affect your daily routine.

Over time, alcohol can affect areas such as the brain, heart and immune system in daily life. Alcohol can interfere with your brain’s communication pathways which can lead to increased mood swings and make it harder to think clearly.

One of the most common areas alcohol can damage is your liver. This is in two ways. As the liver breaks down the alcohol the chemical reactions involved in doing so can affect the cells in the liver leading to inflammation and scarring as it tries to repair itself. Alternatively, alcohol can damage the intestine and let toxins from the stomach into the liver which also leads to inflammation and scarring.

When it comes to the pancreas, alcohol causes a production of toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents successful digestion. Alcohol can also weaken the immune system which will make the body more liable to diseases, even small problems like a cold or cough.

But when it comes to exercise, exercising with alcohol in your body is not the wisest idea as alcohol is a diuretic. This means alcohol dehydrates your body and will be detrimental to your performance as you need to be hydrated whilst exercising to ensure the flow of blood around the body so that your muscles can receive the oxygen they need to exercise.

With alcohol in the body you will also produce less glucose leading to low bloody sugar. Good blood sugar levels are essential during exercise to make sure you have enough energy to exercise and perform to the standard you want.

Over a longer term period, alcohol will cause unusual heart rhythms, especially for irregular drinkers. The risk of unusual heart rhythms increases if you are exercising and can still affect you up to two days after you’ve had a drink.

Alcohol can also affect recovery from sports injuries. Boozing will slow down your recovery process after injury meaning you cannot exercise for longer and therefore prolonging your period of regression after weeks or even months of training.

Remember, alcohol contains sugar meaning that it is high in calories. A pint of Fosters contains 227 calories, whereas a pint of Strongbow contains 239 calories. A 100 gram glass of wine can have 83 calories in it, whilst a shot of vodka alone has 97, that’s before you mix it with something such as coke, red bull or lemonade. As alcohol is not a nutrient it can only be stored as fat, your body will prioritise breaking down the alcohol over fat and carbs, meaning if you want to lose weight, it will be much harder if you are a regular drinker.

Finally, alcohol also affects sleep. Studies have revealed those who drink more often have reduced sleep and increased wakefulness. A disrupted sleep cycle can reduce the output of the muscle-building human growth hormone by as much as 70%.

November sees UK Active’s annual National Summit take place in London.

The event, which is the leading political event for the physical activity sector, will take place on the ninth of November at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in Westminster.

The event this year is focused around physical activity, which UK Active claim is the central theme for this year’s event, which follows National Fitness day which took place on September the seventh.

This year’s meeting aims to explore how the sector can support the NHS in delivering its ambition for a healthy and active nation. The day will also aim to ensure that physical activity is at the forefront of achieving the preventative health agenda set in place by the government, a scheme designed to ensure people do all they can physically to avoid developing medical problems as a direct result of a lack of exercise and poor nutrition.

There will be over 500 stakeholders attending the event from the public health sector, as well as clinical commissioning, local authorities and the physical activity sector, each of which share the goal of ensuring more people are active on a more regular basis.

The event is hosted by 11-time Paralympics gold medallist Tanni Grey-Thompson, whilst Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England has also been announced as a guest speaker.

In 2015, MPs Tracey Crouch and Jane Ellison attended the event alongside Andrew Lansley, the former health secretary. Sport England CEO Jennie Price and former Olympic champion Sally Gunnell also featured on a star-studded guest list, when the event was held at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and focused around building an active Britain.

To attend the event, you can book tickets via the UK Active website, or go to test.ukactive.com.