Ten Ways that Exercise Will Keep You Young

“Aging is a physiological process, not a disease.” Max Testa, M.D.

The aging process is very similar to the de-training process some athletes go through after they “retire” and stop working out: the strength of the heart goes down, as does the volume of their plasma, their arteries harden, etc. If the athlete starts to train again, that can all come back, but if the athlete stops training, those changes become permanent. There are genetic and environmental factors that affect the aging process, but  some research has pointed to another theory. According to Dr. Max Testa :  “We age because we don’t exercise long enough or hard enough. In mice, we know that the mice who exercise age slower than the control group who didn’t exercise.” (Study)

Athletes in the Masters Categories

We know that aging affects performance and exercise ability as we age. As athletes reach their 40’s or 50’s there is some slowing of their performance, but there is no reason to for aging athletes to drop training and competition and some of that performance drop can be controlled. “We are finding people in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s that are performing at previously unheard of athletic performances,” states Dr. Testa, one of the foremost cycling trainers, physicians and exercise physiologsts in the world.  “They are still training for athletic performance. It’s a new phenomenon that needs to be studied. (Yet)  no dedicated institute in US has studied the population of athletes over age 50.”

In a cardio-vascular sense, athletes in their twenties are in their prime, but when it comes to endurance, and knowing how to pace themselves, when to push and when to hold back:  that comes with the wisdom of a more mature athlete, so top endurance athletes don’t peak until their 30’s (with women peaking later than men in sports such as distance swimming and running.) Yet there are many examples of great athletic endurance feats in athletes in their 40’s & 50’s.   In power sports such as sprinting, women show a drop-off in performance at menopause while in endurance, there is not as much of a change in performance with menopause for female athletes. In fact, male and female athletes show a similar drop-off in athletic endurance performance, but that doesn’t come until age 65.

“Some of these older athletes don’t train that hard, but they never give up and continue to train and work and overcome any problems or injuries they might have to deal with. They want to push through and maintain their exercise regimen, “says Dr. Testa

Sadly, only 20% of the adults in US exercise enough, and the older we get, the more we stick to the couch. Quiz: What percentage of 50 year olds get some moderate exercise at least one day a week? (See answer at bottom of the article.)

TEN WAYS THAT EXERCISE KEEPS YOU YOUNG:

1. Younger-looking Skin: Exercise will give you increased circulation and the more efficient delivery of nutrients to your skin cells and subsequent removal of toxins that will help soften up crow’s feet and expression lines, and will prevent new ones from forming. Skin color will also improve giving you that “healthy glow. (Bonus, it also reduces acne breakouts.) For more info—go here.
2. Healthy Hair: Exercise also improves circulation of blood to the head, giving your hair the nutrition it needs to grow a healthy mane of hair. (Study)
3. Healthier Teeth: Exercise (+eating right & good dental hygiene) helps keep the gums healthy, and prevents periodontal diseases that lead to tooth loss.    (Study)
4. Slow Brain Aging: Studies show that physically fit women going through menopause tend to have more gray brain matter and better executive control than women who are less fit. (See study here)
5. Keep your bones young and strong: Even moderate levels of exercise such as walking will help post-menopausal women keep bone strength and lower the risks of bone fractures. ( NIH study)
6. Keep up Balance & Coordination: Balance and coordination are still trainable as you age and regular activities that use them such as cycling keep your inner ear in tune for balance and the neural transmitters stay sharpened. (A top concern over age 65 is from a lack of balance: falls.) (See study here)
7. Stay flexible: avoid the natural stiffening of muscles that comes with aging. With lack of use, muscles will shorten and become stiff with age. Without exercise that takes your body through a full range of motion, you may someday struggle with an everyday task like tying your shoes. Exercise can also alleviate arthritis symptoms (see study here.)
8. Keep the eyes & ears young: Studies show that baring genetics other risk factors (e.g. noise) physically fit seniors in their 70’s can have the hearing of 30-somethings. (Study) Active exercising older adults also have a 70% less chance of developing macular dengeneration.
9. Keep your muscles strong:  A study on seniors in their 80’s and 90’s showed that those who did some exercise & strength training were able to walk faster, climb more stairs and give up walkers for canes. The results showed the main reason  many elderly grow chair bound is that their muscles are weak from lack of exercise (More info)
10. Make your DNA Nine Years Younger: Scientific studies with identical twins showed that those who exercise vigorously at least 3 hours a week had chromosomes with longer telomeres (the ends of the chromosomes) and thus, younger DNA—which slows aging in almost every respect and consequently, the whole body can be nine years younger. (Study here)

Sadly only 10% of 50 year olds in the USA exercise at least one day each week !

Need more inspiration?  Read this article about 86-year old cyclist Alice Telford.