{"id":778662,"date":"2026-09-22T07:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T07:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/778662\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T07:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T07:44:11","slug":"lifelong-exercise-slows-ageing-study-confirms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/778662\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifelong exercise slows ageing, study confirms"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A lifelong physical activity routine can help the body respond better to stress and illness in older age and lead to healthier ageing<\/a>, a new study shows.<\/p>\n

Studies probing the benefits of physical activity<\/a> in older adults have, until now, mostly probed exercise\u2019s link to death risk later in life.<\/p>\n

But the latest research assessed how exercise <\/a>is linked to a health parameter called \u201cvitality capacity\u201d, which is a measure of how the body remains resilient as one ages, helping one remain active and disease-free.<\/p>\n

Researchers probed this connection in a small group of about 40 participants in Nice, France<\/a>, who averaged 64 years old.<\/p>\n

Nearly half of them had performed aerobic exercise <\/a>at least three times a week for 30 years.<\/p>\n

Their physical activity regimen included at least 2.5 hours of moderate weekly exercise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The other 20 participants did not exercise or take part in regular sport<\/a>, with no more than 75 minutes of weekly physical activity.<\/p>\n

\"AA 90-year-old bodybuilder, trains in his gym in Hiroshima, Japan (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Information collected from the participants included data on heart rhythm, muscle strength, blood markers, and lung function. <\/p>\n

The data was collected via questionnaires and a wearable sensor and combined into a single \u201cvitality score\u201d.<\/p>\n

This measure can be used to better understand the body\u2019s ability to fight stress with age, also called the physiological reserve, researchers say.<\/p>\n

It has been introduced to highlight the distinction between healthy and pathological ageing.<\/p>\n

On comparison, researchers found that there was no particular difference in energy and metabolism or nerve and muscle function between the two groups.<\/p>\n

There was no stark difference between the groups in terms of grip strength, knee strength, and lung function, as well as in the levels of molecules indicating inflammation.<\/p>\n

However, specific aspects of people\u2019s physiological reserve varied, they found.<\/p>\n

The average blood-oxygen saturation of the exercising group was 96.8 per cent, compared with 94.8 per cent in the inactive group, scientists found.<\/p>\n

\u201cVitality capacity was higher in lifelong active participants,\u201d scientists wrote in the study published in the journal GeroScience.<\/p>\n

It also decreased as one aged, but not in the same way for people who remained active and those who didn\u2019t, the study found.<\/p>\n

\u201cLifelong aerobic physical activity is associated with higher vitality capacity in older adults, particularly within the immune and stress response domain,\u201d scientists wrote.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn elderly woman exercise at a public garden along a road in Beijing (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The findings, according to researchers, highlight the strong link between physical activity and physiological reserve.<\/p>\n

They also reinforce the relevance of studying lifelong aerobic physical activity in healthy ageing, they say.<\/p>\n

Citing some limitations of the research, scientists said the study was small and exploratory, in a predominantly healthy, older, and white participant group.<\/p>\n

They call for further studies to validate the use of \u201cvitality score\u201d as a measure in clinical tests.<\/p>\n

The study also could not reveal the best type of amount of exercise needed to produce the same results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-778662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}