Fit For Life

Many people assume that getting fatter, weaker and stiffer are inevitable with age. But a growing body of research suggests that much of the decline attributed to aging actually comes from being sedentary, and that regular exercise can help people remain healthy and independent as they get older.

One of the most intriguing studies documenting the "anti-aging" effect of physical activity comes from the Adult Exercise Research Program at University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where exercise physiologist Lawrence Golding has collected data on nearly 1,000 adults who have taken the exercise class he's taught there since 1976. Currently, 66 men and 31 women, ranging in age from about 30 to 70, take the one-hour class, which the 72-year-old professor teaches five days a week.

Many of the participants have been attending for years, typically exercising about three days per week. When 18 men celebrated their twentieth anniversary with the class last year, Golding marked the occasion by comparing their fitness levels with that of the "normal" nonexercising population.

"The dramatic age drop that occurs in the normal population isn't present with the regular exercisers," he says. "The data show a powerful trend that exercise maintains physiological function."

Way Above Average

In body composition tests, for example, the 20-year exercisers had an average body fat of about 20 percent, compared with the nonexercising population norm of 26 percent. Over time, the exercisers did show slight age-related declines in strength and aerobic capacity, but they were still "way far ahead of the average population," Golding says "Even those who stayed the same came out ahead when you compare them to nonexercisers who experienced a sharp decline."

Everyone in the study made the greatest improvements in the first three years or so, then reached a maintenance level. In general, the more people came to class, the greater their improvements. But even people who attended just once or twice a week showed some benefits. And regardless of their age, all participants showed improvements in all the areas studied.

Surprisingly, flexibility was the one variable that showed no age-related decline. "The stiffness many people associate with age actually comes from disuse," Golding says.

These findings support research published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine, which concluded that people with good health habits — thin nonsmokers who exercised at least two hours per week — remain free of even minor disabilities for up to seven years longer than those with poor health habits. The study of 1,741 University of Pennsylvania alumni found that middle-aged people who watch their weight, exercise and don't smoke not only live longer, but have fewer years of sickness and dependence on others when they get old.