New research claims regular exercise keeps body younger

MUNCIE, Ind.

Exercising on a regular basis over a lifetime may help keep the body decades younger, says new research from Ball State University.

Cardiovascular and Skeletal Muscle Health with Lifelong Exercise, an analysis of septuagenarians who have been exercising for decades, found that they have heart and lung capacities and muscle fitness like healthy people in their early 40s.

The study, published in the “Journal of Applied Physiology,” provided an opportunity to assess the physiological benefit of lifelong exercise by comparing exercisers in their 70s with their younger counterparts and sedentary people their own age.