Midlife #Workout, Better Final Days
Working out in Your 30s, 40s and 50s (Midlife) Can Help Reduce #Chronic Disease
Do you think it’s too late to make changes and start exercising? Think again. According to researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and The Cooper Institute, starting a fitness regimen even in middle age can help to reduce chronic disease (diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, etc.) at end of life.
So, it’s not just that exercise helps you live longer, the positive results continue until the end of life meaning that the last five years will be better.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s exercise recommendations are: 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., brisk walking) every week and weight training muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms) two or more days a week.
Exercise Also Protects against the Daily Grind
Not only does exercise help you live better in the later years of your life, it can also help reduce the emotional toll of life’s daily grind. According a study by kinesiology researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public #Health that was published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, moderate exercise may help you to handle anxiety and stress for an extended period of time meaning that the benefits continue even after your workout is finished. The authors concluded that, “If you exercise, you’ll not only reduce your anxiety, but you’ll be better able to maintain that reduced anxiety when confronted with emotional events.”
Participants were told to exercise for 30 minutes or to sit quietly. At first, both were equally effective at reducing anxiety levels. However, once the participants were emotionally stimulated, the “anxiety levels of those who had simply rested went back up to their initial levels, whereas those who had exercised maintained their reduced anxiety levels.”
