Middle-aged Americans who exercise now will enjoy longer, healthier lives later

The more you maintain good physical fitness from your mid-40s to your mid-60s, the likelier you are to add years to your life and life to your later years. 

So conclude researchers at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center who tracked cardiorespiratory health in around 25,000 adults from midlife through elder stages. 

The team, led by Clare Meernik, PhD, MPH, assessed participants’ fitness using a treadmill test until age 65. From that point on, the researchers used Medicare data to watch for and record the onset of 11 major chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease and cancer.

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology published the results April 21.

Better and stronger for longer 

The study report shows men who were highly fit in midlife had a 2% longer span of continued good health in older age. They also had 9% fewer diseases and a 3% longer life compared with low-fit men.

The figures were slightly different for women, but the patterns were similar. 

In addition:

• Higher-fit men and women generally had later onsets of cardiovascular conditions, cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic diseases and cancer outcomes. They also developed fewer conditions overall. 
   
• On average, the onset of each of the 11 chronic conditions occurred at least 1.5 years later among high-fit men and women compared with low-fit individuals. 
   
• Results were consistent across clinical subgroups defined by clinic visit year, age, smoking status and weight (according to body mass index: healthy weight vs. overweight or obese).

“Compared with people who had low fitness levels, those with high fitness in midlife experienced clear benefits later in life,” Meernik and co-authors remark.

It doesn’t take much now to do enough for later 

In a news release, the American College of Cardiology amplifies the study’s finding that “health span”—not just lifespan—gets a boost from good midlife health. 

“The findings underscore the public health value of physical activity,” ACC adds, “as cardiorespiratory fitness can be improved through regular movement such as brisk walking, cycling or other aerobic exercise.”  

Working out during midlife, the organization points out, “may be a key strategy for promoting healthy aging and preserving quality of life later on, even with modest increases in physical activity.”