Fit Seniors Can Have Hearts That Look 30 Years Younger

A study at the Human Performance Laboratory at Ball State University and published in the Journal of Applied Physiology determined a lifelong exercise habit may help seniors feel younger and stay stronger by maintaining cardiovascular health, reports National Public Radio . "People who exercise regularly year after year have better overall health than their sedentary counterparts," notes Ball State's Scott Trappe. The study involved Trappe splitting 70 healthy participants into three groups: those in the lifelong exercise group were on average 75 years old and kept their heart rates up via running and cycling; they also had a history of participating in structured exercise four to six days weekly for about seven hours a week. In the second cohort were individuals who were also, on average, 75, but did not engage in structured exercise regimens. Young exercisers, 25 years old on average, formed the third group, and they worked out with the same frequency and duration as the lifelong exercisers. "Lifelong exercisers had a cardiovascular system that looked 30 years younger," Trappe says. This is important because the ability to process oxygen declines by about 10 percent every 10 years after age 30 among average adults. Meanwhile, the lifelong exercisers' muscles were about the same as those of the 25-year-olds.