Intense exercises help the cardiac health of older men, a latest study shows.
Researchers found that the heart benefits were similar in people who had started exercising before the age of 30 or after the age of 40. They stated that the men who turn 40 are not too old to begin the "relatively intense" exercise.
For the study, the researchers examined 40 healthy men aged between 55 and 70 years. They were divided into groups based on their fitness levels and ages at which they began endurance training. Researchers noted that 10 of the participating men never exercised for more than 2 hours a week in their entire lives, 30 had exercised for at least seven hours a week for over 5 years.
The most common form of exercise was running or cycling. The study found that men who began exercising before the age of 30 had been training for averagely 39 years, and those starting at 40 for 18 years.
Maximal exercise testing, echocardiography at rest and during submaximal exercise, and heart rate analysis showed that resting heart rate was similar between the two exercise groups (T30 56.8 bpm, T40 58.1 bpm), but considerably faster in the non-exercising men (69.7 bpm).
The study findings showed that maximal oxygen uptake was also similar between the T30 (47.3 ml/min/kg) and T40 groups (44.6 ml/min/kg), but lower in the non-exercising group (33.0 ml/min/kg).
"We think this result is of interest because it is related to cardiovascular health and well-being," David Matelot from the Inserm 1099 unit in Rennes, France, said in a press release.
The study found that those in the non-exercise group also showed significantly thickened vessel walls than those who exercised. "Thus, cardiac remodeling seems to be different between both of the trained groups and the non-trained subjects," Matelot said.
No differences were seen between 30 and T40 in cardiac echocardiography tests. "Despite biological changes with age, the heart still seems - even at the age of 40 - amenable to modification by endurance training. Starting at the age of 40 does not seem to impair the cardiac benefits," Matelot explained.
"However, endurance training is also beneficial for bone density, for muscle mass, for oxidative stress. And these benefits are known to be greater if training was started early in life," he added.
"But it's never too late to change your way of life and get more physically active," said Matelot. "This will always be beneficial for the heart and well-being. And there's no need for a high level of training for many hours a week. Using the stairs rather than the elevator, or gardening regularly, can also be beneficial."
The findings were presented today at the 'EuroPRevent' congress 2014 in Amsterdam.
