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17 February 2006
Never Too Late To Exercise 
It turns out that you're never too old to enjoy the benefits that regular exercise can bring. The Journal of Aging and Health reports on a University of South Florida study that showed participants - with an average age of 84 - in a moderate exercise program benefited from increases in flexibility, balance and agility. The participants included 45 women and 19 men, ranging in age from 66 to 96. Trained instructors provided supervision for the participants through warm-up, stretching and flexibility exercises and their subsequent work-outs on resistance training machines. Researchers Ross Andel and Robert Simons found that the participants showed significant increases in body strength, flexibility, balance and agility after participating in a program that included walking and resistance training exercises.
"Our findings demonstrate that exercise can lead to improvements in functional fitness even among very old, previously sedentary individuals" said Andel. "Physical inactivity correlates to an accelerated depletion of function and deficits in muscle strength and neuromuscular activity, which can in turn lead to decreased functioning and increases in frailty and falls. While little is known about the benefits of exercise among those older than 80, they are the fastest growing age group in the country," he added. "Our findings suggest that, in advanced old age, the benefits of exercise may be rather universal and less exercise-specific than earlier in life. Growing evidence suggests that physical activity can off-set age-related functional decline and preserves independence longer into old age," concluded Andel. Source: University of South Florida
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