A new long-term study from Finland shows that adults who stay physically active throughout their lives have a much lower chance of developing metabolic syndrome by the time they reach their early 60s.
Even for those who weren’t very active earlier in life, becoming more active later on—especially by doing strength exercises—can still offer important health benefits.
The research is part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, which has been following the same group of people for over 50 years.
In this part of the study, researchers from the University of Jyväskylä looked at the physical activity habits of 159 people at ages 27, 42, 50, and 61. They then measured these people’s metabolic health when they were 61 years old.
Metabolic syndrome is a condition that includes several health risks related to the heart and blood vessels. These include having a large waistline, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and abnormal cholesterol or fat levels in the blood. People with metabolic syndrome have a higher chance of getting heart disease, diabetes, and other serious health problems.
The researchers found three different patterns of physical activity across adulthood. One group stayed active consistently and exercised several times a week throughout their adult lives. Another group started exercising more in midlife. The third group stayed mostly inactive and exercised at most once a week over the years.
At age 61, people in the consistently inactive group had nearly four times the risk of having metabolic syndrome compared to those who had always been active. Those who became more active in midlife had about twice the risk.
However, when researchers looked at how active people were at age 61, the differences in risk became smaller. This suggests that even being active later in life can help improve health.
According to Dr. Tiina Savikangas, one of the study’s researchers, long-term physical activity clearly supports better metabolic health. But the findings also show that it’s never too late to benefit from exercise. Strength training, in particular, seemed to play a key role in helping with waist size and cholesterol levels.
The study found that long-term physical activity was linked to smaller waistlines and healthier blood fat levels.
Even those who didn’t stay active their whole lives but were exercising at age 61—especially strength training and active commuting like walking or biking—had better levels of “good” HDL cholesterol. Strength training was also connected to smaller waistlines.
Dr. Eero Haapala, another researcher involved in the study, said the results back up the idea that physical activity is important at every stage of life. He stressed that people should be encouraged to stay active as they age, but also reminded everyone that it’s never too late to get started and still make a difference to their health.
This research used data collected from 2020 to 2021 as part of the TRAILS project. Participants answered questions about how often they exercised and what types of activities they did.
They also went through health checks and gave blood samples. The study looked at waist size, cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure, and also considered the use of medications.
People who showed three or more signs of metabolic syndrome were classified as having the condition. The study was funded by the Research Council of Finland, with additional support from the Juho Vainio Foundation.
This research adds to growing evidence that regular physical activity—especially strength training—can help prevent serious health problems later in life, even if you start being active in your 50s or 60s.
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The study is published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
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