The march of time is inevitable, and we’re under no illusions that the shifting sands won’t come for our fitness first. But exactly when our strength starts to slip has been a relative mystery… until now. New research tracked a group of guys through the decades and pinpointed the exact moment when easy gains turned into quick losses.
The Study: Your Physical Capacity on the Clock
As part of a long-term study conducted in Sweden, researchers tracked a group of 427 people through almost five decades – from age 16 to 63. At various stages, the researchers assessed their physical capacity to gauge their strength and fitness levels, ultimately finding that from their teens through to their golden years these levels dropped by up to 48%.
But what’s more interesting is that the tipping point, from green to red, tended to land around age 35. It’s not a sudden drop off a cliff, but these landmark digits represented the moment participants showed a, at first, gradual decrease in physical capacity that accelerated over time.
READ MORE: At What Age Does Your Metabolism Start To Slow Down?
Why? Simple: as you age, your muscle fibre composition will change, your nervous system becomes less efficient at activating your muscles and you’ll gradually lose muscle mass. Inflamation and metabolic and hormonal changes also play a role in this overall decline.
Bottom line: your physical capacity will always drop off as you age. However, the speed at which this happens can vary drastically from one person to the next. For instance, staying active (or spending more time on the couch) is one of the biggest factors. The researchers discovered that those in the study who made time for regular physical exertion throughout their lives tended to have a less steep decline than their sedentary peers.
The Fix: Physical Activity, Variety and You
Fortunately, it’s not all doom and gloom. While the course of time might cause you to lose muscle mass, there are plenty of steps you can take right now – whether you’re in your early 20s or strolling towards your 60s – that can help slow the steady march (read: decline) of time.
As pointed out by the study’s researchers, those who remained active throughout their lives (or focused on keeping up their physical activity in their 40s, 50s and 60s) tended to show a more gradual decline than the more sedentary participants in the study.
Varied Exercises Can Help Lower Your Risk of Death
You don’t need to solely shift tin in the weights room to stay in fighting shape. In fact, one study found that ‘variety’ could be one of the best additions to your workout routine. The research, published in BMJ Medicine, tracked the weekly exercise habits of 110 000 people across three decades to figure out whether there was an association between variation in sweat sessions and risk of death.
READ MORE: Mastering Longevity, According to a Medical Doctor
The participants would report how long they spent each week doing specific activities such as cycling, rowing, running, walking, and sports (i.e., padel, 5-a-side) in addition to lower-intensity undertakings like outdoor chores and yoga. Participants were then scored according to the variety of their physical exertions as long as they were consistently doing a particular physical activity.
Ultimately, researchers found that those who dabbled in the greatest assortment of exercises had an almost 20% lower risk of death than those who tended to engage in the less varied exercise itineraries. The lesson? Not only can staying active extend your lifespan, but it’ll also ensure that when things inevitably begin to drop off after your 30s, that you’re enjoying a higher quality of life, too.
