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Never Too Late to Exercise
(Thursday June 11 2009)
 | It's never too late to gain significant health benefits from exercise - but that's no excuse to put it off, given the ongoing damage you'll do to yourself via years of a sedentary lifestyle. "It seems that the older we get, the less active we are. But why? According to the findings of a [recent study], the most powerful 'deterrent' among the over-65s is a lack of interest, and disbelief that exercise can enhance and/or lengthen life. It's what Bob Laventure [classifies] under the 'it's too bloody late for me' excuse. [But] studies show improvements in balance, strength, gait, muscular power, blood pressure, endurance and bone density as a result of regular physical activity in older age. For example, one study on 90-year-old women in a nursing home found that 12 weeks of strength training took the equivalent of 20 years off their thigh muscle age, resulting in improved walking and mobility. Another study found that six months of regular exercise increased VO2 max (a measure of aerobic fitness) by 30% in 60-70-year-olds. Exercise even helps you live longer - research from Harvard University found that men who burned 2,000 calories a week through exercise lived two-and-a-half years longer, on average, than sedentary men." |
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