It’s often said that a major sign you’re getting older is when you struggle to recover from exercise as quickly as you did back in your younger days.
The same body that could cope readily with a weight-training session at the gym 20 years ago will ache for hours after bringing a few bags of shopping in from the car, or so the assumption goes.
But in a new study from Hartpury University, researchers found age is no barrier to keeping fit and healthy.
The team analyzed data from previous research relating to aging, muscle damage (ie feeling sore in the days after exercise) and recovery, to help inform future health and exercise guidance and support further research.
Regular resistance training, such as lifting weights or through the use of a power band, is understood to decrease the risk of heart disease by lowering body fat, decreasing blood pressure, and reducing cholesterol.
The research team wanted to find if there were any differences in the length of time it took men aged 35 and upwards to recover from resistance training than younger men aged from 18 to 25.
They found that in a handful of studies, older men did take longer to recover and exhibited more signs of muscle damage, such as soreness, from resistance training than younger men.
However, in the majority of cases, there was actually no difference between age groups and in some examples, in fact, older men recovered more quickly and showed fewer signs of muscle damage than younger males.
The research contests the suggestion that aging is associated with greater muscle damage and impaired recovery, with everyone I’d tested or spoken to previously about aging and recovery thinking it took longer.
These data refute the anecdote that aging is associated with an impaired recovery from exercise.
The team hopes the study will encourage older men to take part in some type of resistance training for the benefit of their long-term health and wellbeing.
If you care about fitness, please read studies about this exercise may improve memory in seniors and findings of this walking exercise could improve fitness and health in older people.
For more information about exercise and health, please see recent studies about 1 hour of this exercise per week may protect against heart attack, stroke and results showing that diet, not exercise, may be key to addressing biggest cause of liver disease.
The study is published in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. One author of the study is Dr. John Fernandes.
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