Starting physical exercise after 50 beneficial: study

Here is a study I came across that I wanted to share. It is never too late to start taking care of ourselves. For all the money we spend on things such as Cars, TV’s, Designer Clothes, the newest gadgets, etc. We fail to account that our most precious thing we own is our body. Without our health, we can not experience the joys of living. The weather is getting nicer out there and I think it is time to make a commitment to ourselves to reduce our stress, drop some extra weight and prolong our lives.

Dr Andy
Starting physical exercise after 50 beneficial: study AFP/File – A man stands at a bus stop in Manchester in 2006.Taking up regular physical exercise after the age of …

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – Taking up regular physical exercise after the age of 50 is as beneficial for men as quitting smoking, a Swedish study published Friday on the website of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) showed.

Men who began exercising after the age of 50 had the same life expectancy after 10 years as men who had always exercised, the researchers from Uppsala University said.

The study surveyed 2,205 men at age 50 in 1970 and divided into four groups (sedentary or low, medium or high physical activity levels). They were followed up at ages 60, 70, 77 and 82.

It showed that starting to exercise after the age of 50 was as beneficial as giving up smoking, but it had to be a regular regimen for five to 10 years for the positive effects to be observed.

“Increased physical activity in middle age is eventually followed by a reduction in mortality to the same level as seen among men with constantly high physical activity,” the study said.

“This reduction is comparable with that associated with smoking cessation,” it added.

The study noted that around half of middle aged men in Western countries do not exercise regularly.