New Studies Find That Regular Exercise Really is the Fountain of Youth

If you are looking for a New Year's Resolution, here it is.

A new study by Scott Trappe, director of Ball State University's Human Performance Laboratory, and an eleven person research team found, as expected, that "people who exercise regularly year after year have better overall health". But the extent of the benefits shocked the researchers.

The study compared men and women in their 70s who worked out regularly to people 30 years younger, aged around 40, who rarely exercised. According to Trappe, the older group "have similar cardiovascular health to a 40- to 45-year-old.”

A second study published in the European Heart Journal found similar results which they attribute to the length of our "telomeres" which appear to protect our DNA from damage during cell division but shorten as cells age. Exercise, especially endurance exercise, is seen to protect telomeres and slow the aging process.

New York Times: "There is mounting and rousing evidence that being physically active affects how we age, with older people who exercise typically being healthier, more fit, better muscled and less likely to develop a variety of diseases and disabilities than their sedentary peers. But precisely how, at an interior, molecular level, exercise might be keeping us youthful has not been altogether clear. Past studies have shown that exercise alters the workings of many genes, as well as the immune system, muscle-repair mechanisms and many other systems within the body."

The bottom line; there is no better gift to yourself this Christmas than a gym membership. Just do it!

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