It's never too late - a huge 50-year study just revealed the key to slowing down ageing

Everyone knows that exercise is good. Working out and getting fit has a positive effect on our muscles, bones, and brain, but a new study can now reveal the impact of exercise on how quickly we age - and when that process really starts to happen.

The 47-year study, published recently in the ​​Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, followed 427 Swedish people (48% women) from age 16 to 63 to see how their muscles and fitness changed with age. The authors found that our bodies start to age from as young as 35, but that the rate of decline can be slowed down if we stay physically active.

The researchers examined the participants’ aerobic capacity, muscular endurance, muscle power and performance in strength training exercises, such as bench press and vertical jump, as part of the Swedish Physical Activity and Fitness study (SPAF). The study’s main finding was that peak ability was reached before 36 years old, and that after 40, there was a decrease for both sexes.

It's not all doom and gloom, though. Becoming active in adulthood and doing exercise as a teenager were associated with better performance.

The team from the Karolinska Institutet says the data is also consistent with results from studies which have looked at the peak physical fitness of elite athletes.

Even if you didn’t exercise regularly as a teenager or young adult, the authors say taking it up when you’re older “leads to measurable improvements in performance, even in later decades in life”. The researchers found that adults who became physically active improved their performance in the tests by 5 to 10%.

The functional exercises in the study mirrored movements we do in everyday life. For example, the vertical jump forces power through the legs, which you need for walking and climbing stairs. It also challenges balance, which typically declines with age. While a 5 to 10% improvement may not sound like a lot, it suggests that many signs of ageing (such as losing balance easily or decreased strength) can be prevented somewhat by exercise.

“It is never too late to start moving," said Maria Westerståhl, lecturer at the Department of Laboratory Medicine and lead author of the study. "Our study shows that physical activity can slow the decline in performance, even if it cannot completely stop it. Now we will look for the mechanisms behind why everyone reaches their peak performance at age 35 and why physical activity can slow performance loss but not completely halt it.”

The study is ongoing, and when the participants turn 68 this year, they’ll be examined again. This time, the researchers will be looking for links between physical capacity and lifestyle, health, and biological mechanisms.

Exercising over 35

Age really is just a number for a lot of women, who actually find that they become stronger and fitter athletes after the age of 35. You’ll have seen the stories of women who have children and then go on to become ultra-marathon runners, and others who are lifting heavier weights in their 40s and 50s than when they were younger.

For many, learning how to run as a beginner or picking up a new hobby, like weighted Pilates workouts, and going to the gym becomes easier.

There are several reasons for this, including potentially increased mental capacity to take on challenges, a more balanced lifestyle, and physiological adaptations.

Many of us are also more in tune with our bodies by the time we reach middle age, so we’re more aware of good nutrition, smart training, our hormones and sleep optimisation. These can all lead to us becoming stronger, both physically and mentally, than when we were in our 20s and 30s.