Inactivity, not age, makes you old

Shortly after I moved to Sedona I started a running group.  True to the demographic of Sedona, many of the runners were in their 60s and 70s.  My first observation was that these people were not your stereotypical senior.  It turns out that current research has shown that my observation was correct.  More and more research is supporting that aging is simply different in active people.

While that chronological clock is going to keep ticking regardless of what we do, it now appears that if we remain active we can keep our bodies younger than those who succumb to the idea that getting older means we need to stop moving.  New research has shown that regular physical activity reduces the inflammation in the body that comes with aging.  We already know that scientists and doctors are now recognizing that heart disease is caused by inflammation in the body rather than high cholesterol levels.  The research suggests that reduced inflammation can not only decrease our risk of heart disease, but other diseases or chronic conditions such as depression, decreased mental function, and loss of muscle mass.

Neil Resnick, MD, chief of the division of geriatrics and director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute on Aging says, "People have been looking for the secret to a long and healthy life for millennia.  It turns out the most powerful intervention is exercise."  Numerous studies back up his claim.  A study at Harvard found that exercise can be at least as effective as prescription drugs for treating heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.  Dr. Resnick also cited a study that showed that just 15 minutes of moderate physical activity extended people's lives by three years.

I don't necessarily want to live longer if I can't live stronger.  So the exciting part of some of the new research is that this is likely if we keep moving!  The research shows that active older people resemble much younger people physiologically.  A study by scientists at King's College London and the University of Birmingham in England looked at the health of older people who remain active.  For the study they recruited men and women cyclists between the ages of 55 and 79.  The subjects were all serious recreational riders but not competitive athletes.

The scientists performed a large array of physical and cognitive tests.  They discovered that on almost all measures their physical functioning was much closer to that of young adults than of people their age.  As a group, even the oldest cyclists had younger people's levels of balance, reflexes, metabolic health, and memory ability.  The study did show some inevitable effects of aging, showing less muscular power and lower aerobic capacities in the oldest cyclists.  However, those measures were still higher when compared to same-aged sedentary people.

In summarizing the results, Dr. Harridge said, "If you gave this data set to a clinician and asked him to predict the age of one of the cyclists based on his or her test results, it would be impossible."  On paper they all look young, suggesting that active individuals do age differently.

All this research simply verifies what we already know.  Our Warriors are some of the fittest, strongest and youngest looking people we know!