Good News in Your 40’s, 50’s or 60’s

Great news if you are in your 40’s, 50’s or 60’s…

or maybe you are in your 40’s and feel like you are in your 50’s or 60’s 🤣

Starting to exercise NOW has just as much benefit as if you were physically active in your adolescence according to a study published in the JAMA Network Open (study can be found by clicking HERE)

The study followed over 300,000 participants across 8 states, using data from AARP for a year.

The findings?

That adults aged 40-61 who became physically active enjoyed comparable benefits to long term exercisers and lowered mortality risk about 32-35%!

In addition, a mid-life start to physical activity seemed to cut the odds of death from two major killers: heart disease and cancer.

The study found that for people who began exercising in their 40s and 50s, rates of death from heart disease fell by 43 percent compared to people who’d never exercised, and the cancer death rate fell by 16 percent.

These numbers are compelling enough to make anyone want to jump into a new routine!

But before you do….

If you are starting to exercise after 40 or 50, there are of course some considerations for your regimen and ways you can ensure a safe start:

• Perform a proper warm-up for your exercise modality to prepare your muscles and increase joint range of motion
• Include flexibility and stretching in your program to decrease the likelihood of tendon tears or injuries
• Listen to your body! If you have pain or discomfort lasting more than a few days, you might want to get checked by your doctor
• Include strength and weight training: as we age, training is key to maintaining muscle and bone density, which can lower the risk of falling and other injuries

Not that we really needed a study to understand how important exercise is in our daily lives, but it is always interesting when we find new research to enhance our knowledge!

This also indicates that it is, in fact, never too late to start!

– Brittany