A Swedish study published on Friday shows that people who begin exercising at the age of 50 can still take advantage of physical activity, even though the effects may take 10 years to begin showing, Reuters reported.
Researchers from Uppsala University asserted men that began exercising after the age of 50 had exactly the same life expectancy after Ten years as men that had exercised throughout their life.
The study followed 2,205 Swedish men for more than Two decades from the age of 50, who have been placed into low, medium and high activity groups.
Around 50 % from the volunteers reported an advanced of exercise, corresponding to at least three hours of sport or heavy gardening every week.
The researchers wrote within the British Medical Journal that the third from the men said they exercised moderately, for example taking walks and cycling, while the rest did little if any exercise.
For people who waited until later to start physical activity, exercise made no improvement in premature death rates not less than ten years, the study found.
Liisa Byberg, a researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden, told Reuters Health that hitting the half-decade mark doesn’t mean it’s past too far to start exercise.
“It’s been shown that young people benefit from exercise however this is the very first time we have been in a position to reveal that old people can also benefit too,” she said.
The authors wrote that increased physical activity in middle age is eventually followed by a decrease in mortality to the same level as seen among men with constantly high exercise.
During the first five years from the study, death rates were highest one of the sedentary group and lowest one of the most active volunteers. However, after Ten years, people who began exercising at 50 had similar death rates to individuals in the high activity group.
“This reduction is comparable with that associated with quitting smoking,” the report said. Byberg said that nevertheless there is an impact, there’s a small delay.
“These answers are very interesting,” said Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health. “It shows that it’s never too late to start exercising. I think this era is very important for men and what’s probably happening here’s that the exercise over these years is strengthening their heart.”
