Midlife exercise may improve health even after years of inactivity: Study

With an aging population facing a rise in chronic diseases like dementia, heart disease, and weak bones, there's a growing desire across all ages to live not just longer, but healthier.

For women in their 40s and 50s, it's not too late to take action. A study that monitored more than 11,000 women in Australia has found that midlife is a crucial time to meet physical activity guidelines of at least 150 minutes a week.

Women who consistently followed the guidelines for 15 years showed better physical health compared to those who didn't.

Even women who were not previously active saw significant benefits. By the final study, their physical test scores were practically on par with those who exercised regularly before their 50s – and a full 3 percentage points ahead of those who never followed the guidelines. While further research is needed to confirm these benefits in men, the results are promising.

"Our findings propose that to maintain good physical health-related quality of life at around age 70, one may be able to make up for not being active earlier by becoming active in the mid-50s," write the research team, led by scientists at the University of Sydney.

Interestingly, women in the study who only started exercising consistently in their 60s did not see the same benefits as those who started in their 50s. 

Lead author Binh Nguyen, and her colleagues believe that is because there had not been enough physical activity for the health benefits to be evident by around age 70."

Regular exercise is hardly a new prescription for middle-aged people, or people of any age in reality. Many large population studies have linked physical activity to a lower risk of death, yet surprisingly, few long-term studies have tracked the health effects of exercise as a person ages.

The study tracked 47- to 52-year-old women in Australia from 1998 to 2019, with intermittent check-ups for mental and physical health occurring every three years.

The study relied on self-reported physical activity, which can be prone to inaccuracy. However, even after accounting for social and economic background, diet, and other health factors, researchers observed a "small but meaningful" benefit.

"Combined with current evidence, this study add to growing evidence of the benefits of maintaining or adopting an active lifestyle in mid-age," the researchers concluded.

(With inputs from agencies)