After 40, a person often begins to feel that in order to maintain normal well-being, one needs to change their lifestyle. The idea of increasing physical activity — whether to start exercising or just moving more — often comes to people who have always led a sedentary lifestyle. Let's see if it will give a good effect in this case.
Many people know that physical activity reduces the risk of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, the inner hypochondriac can tell a person over 40 years old: “I used to have to think, it’s too late to start now.” Therefore, it is important to know how effective physical education really is when you first start it in middle age.
It's never too late
In a study published in 2019, researchers compared the effects of physical activity on the health of people who started exercising at different ages. The study involved more than 315 thousand people aged 50 to 71 years. The authors of the study found that people who began to devote four to seven hours a week of physical activity at the age of 40-61 years had a 35% lower risk of death compared to those who continued to be sedentary. The risk of death for those who started exercising at an earlier age and maintained activity at the same level was about the same.
This is not the only study that can motivate. The work, which was published by scientists from the University of Cambridge later that year, showed a similar result. Older people (participants were aged 40 to 79) with cancer and heart disease live longer if they start exercising than those who do not become more active. Those who did 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per day had a 25% lower risk of death.
That is, it is not too late to start exercising at any age. In addition, it is not necessary to be an athlete with impressive abilities to extend your life: moderate-intensity exercises include jogging, intensive cleaning of the apartment, vigorous walking, cycling. In addition, participants in these studies benefited from exercise, regardless of weight, blood pressure, or blood cholesterol levels.
Exercise can reverse some of the side effects that a sedentary lifestyle has on the heart. In a study published by Circulation, people who started exercising in their 40s had more elastic heart muscle, meaning they had a lower risk of heart failure. To do this, it is important to change your lifestyle and start exercising before the age of 60.
Will there be any benefit for the muscles?
In middle age, people lose muscle mass faster against the background of physical inactivity than in their youth. Lack of muscle in the elderly is associated with an increased risk of disability and a decrease in a person's autonomy.
At the age of 40, of course, it is not too late to start taking care of the muscles. For example, in a study published in Frontiers in Physiology, researchers compared how muscle grows after exercise in men aged 60-80 who have been exercising regularly for the past 20 years and those who have never exercised. It turned out that the ability to synthesize muscle fibers in people from both groups is noticeably the same.
The authors of the study believe that their work clearly demonstrates that if a person has not exercised regularly throughout his life, he will benefit from strength training, at what age would you not start exercising.