Scientifically-Backed Anti-Aging Benefits of Exercise

You may have heard that exercise reverses aging but what does this mean exactly? The truth is that exercise can help combat many of the issues that occur with aging, warding off diseases and conditions that strike more commonly in people who are sedentary, especially as they age. As we know, there are many benefits of staying active, and exercise can be especially helpful to prevent common physical and mental problems that arise with aging.

How Exercise Reverses Aging

Here are 6 ways exercise reverses aging:

1. Improves Heart Function

Exercise improves cardiovascular function that declines with age. Your heart is a muscle, and if you don’t exert it enough, it will weaken with age. Regular cardiovascular exercise - such as running, walking, swimming, and cycling - helps strengthen the heart and can even reverse some of the effects of aging on the heart, according to Harvard Health Publishing.

Your heart’s left ventricle and your arteries become stiffer with age and with inactivity, which can lead to high blood pressure and accelerated aging of the heart. Doing 150 minutes of moderate cardio exercise per week helps your heart run more efficiently, loosening stiffness and even reversing some aging of the heart.

2. Reduces Muscle Loss

Regular exercise combats muscle loss that occurs with age. People lose muscle mass with age. Muscle mass decreases about 3 to 8 percent after the age of 30 and declines even faster after age 60, according to research.

Resistance exercise reverses aging by combatting this muscle loss and improving your lean muscle mass. If you strength train at least twice per week, you will see improvements in your muscle mass and experience less deterioration of muscles as you age.

3. Improves Balance and Coordination

Regular cardio exercise and strength training will help you retain and improve your sense of balance and coordination as you age and reduce your risk of injuries. This is important for a better quality of life for older adults. Aging causes a decline in sensory systems and the musculoskeletal system, and a fitness program that includes strength training and cardio exercise helps slow the decline of balance and coordination that comes with age.

4. Boosts Brain Health

Exercise improves mental health and also boosts cognitive functioning. Regular physical activity is linked to reduced risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, according to studies.

5. Combats bone loss

Bone mass stops increasing after age 30, and by the 40s and 50s, bone tissue starts to break down more than it’s replaced. Bone mass declines even faster for women after menopause. Resistance training helps slow down this bone loss process from aging, reducing the damage to bones. Strength training helps prevent bone conditions related to loss of bone density such as osteoporosis.

6. Delays onset of chronic conditions

Exercise helps delay the onset of 40 chronic diseases and conditions, according to researchers. Regular exercise helps prevent and delay the onset of coronary heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, bone fractures, colon cancer, breast cancer, cognitive dysfunction, hypertension, obesity, and other chronic conditions.

Best Types of Exercise for Anti-Aging Benefits

In general, the best exercise program is one you enjoy and will stick to. Both cardiovascular and strength training exercise reverses aging in the body differently. Aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise and 2 days of muscle-strengthening activity, which is the recommended amount from the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

Cardio activities - including running, walking, cycling, swimming, hiking, and rowing - strengthen your heart, help maintain a healthy weight, boost your mood, and help you stay independent as you age.

Strength training lessens muscle loss that occurs with age, boosts metabolism, reduces balance and coordination loss that happens with aging, and helps maintain bone density.

How to Get More Active

Small changes can have big results for your health in the long run, helping you to stay well as you age. Here are some tips to help you get more exercise in your daily life:

Take a walk every day. Create a habit of walking every morning, on your lunch break, or after work. Take your dog along for some extra enthusiasm and company.
Walk more when you do errands. You don’t always have to do high-intensity workouts. Walking more to do everyday things will help you stay active and healthy.
Partner up for workouts with a friend or family member and you’ll have fun and a built-in accountability buddy.
Learn strength training exercises. Many people have never had training on how to do weightlifting or other strength training exercises. Join a class, hire a trainer, or find someone who can show you the basics. Make sure you follow a credible source as there are plenty of people with exercise advice online and in gyms who do not have any scientific training in fitness.
Practice habit bundling. Add something you enjoy to your workouts to make them more positive. Listen to your favorite podcast or audiobook while you work out, or watch your favorite show only while you exercise. See how habit bundling can improve your fitness for more tips on habit bundling.

Aging Well with Exercise

As you can see, exercise reverses aging effects in many ways, from physical to neurological ways. If you want to improve your quality of life and reduce your risk of getting many diseases, regular exercise is the best thing you can do for yourself, coupled with healthy eating.

By combining a program of regular cardio and strength training, you can enjoy the many anti-aging benefits of exercise. The general guidelines are to do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise a week and at least two strength training workouts a week.

What do you do to stay active? Comment below. Get more training and fitness tips on my Runstreet Youtube and tag @Runstreet on Instagram to share your workouts and get cheered on.

Marnie Kunz is a NASM-certified trainer and USATF- and RRCA-certified running coach, dog lover, Akita mom, and writer based in Brooklyn, NY.

6 Ways Exercise Reverses Aging According to Science