Good news for sedentary people: after 50, it is also possible to get in shape.

[G h o s t l y.]

31% of the po[CENSORED]tion that declares itself openly sedentary (according to the study of the World Burden of Diseases, published in The Lancet magazine) and that in the mid fifties does not do any physical exercise, will be interested to know that, according to new research, It is still time to avoid muscle and bone degeneration that can make you an old man ahead of time. The study, carried out jointly by 5 universities, has compared muscle function, bone mineral density (the amount of calcium and other minerals present in an area of the bone) and the body composition of older people who have practiced sports throughout his adult age with those who started late, specifically after 50 years. The objective was to determine if the fact of having started training so late prevents reaching the level of athletic performance and musculoskeletal characteristics of those who trained all their lives.

To do this, the researchers evaluated two groups of people between 70 and 80 years old. On the one hand there were those who had been moving all their adult lives, some even still competing, and, on the other, those who passed 50. All of them were ever given weight training and followed up before and after the activity, evaluating the intensity of training, performance according to age and musculoskeletal characteristics. The results that there were no differences between the groups in terms of training intensity or performance according to age, a difference weight of 30 years in the training history. The researchers, who initially tried to show how people who have exercised throughout their lives have a greater ability to develop muscles in adulthood, discovered that both groups had the same ability to build muscle in response to sport.

Of course, the work also selected veterans in training less body fat and greater lean mass in the legs than those who had been more sedentary. However, the body composition and performance were very similar in both groups and the bone mineral density of the hip was also the same. It must be said that there are very rare cases of increased bone mass related to physical exercise exceeding 50 and that when talking about the ability to develop muscles in advanced ages, as in this study, experts face a lower loss of mass that is to say, that it is more related to the saving effect than to the gain. Enough to prevent serious diseases.

"When we reach forty begins the loss of bone mass, a process that in women is more accelerated because of menopause. As we blow candles, from that age, the bones lose flexibility, strength and modeling ability , and osteoporosis appears, a disease that will cause, in case of any bruising, the possibilities of automatic fracture, something very similar occurs with the muscles.If there is no stimulation of exercise, in older people sarcopenia can occur; , the degenerative loss of muscle mass, which causes a weakness that can affect the person in the form of loss of strength, balance and falls, "explains David Curto, family doctor and head of health care management at Sanitas Mayores.

Ideally, start before 30

What does all this mean? "Well, I started in the practice of physical activity has no age and the recommendation as to staying active includes them all, always adapting to the needs of each po[CENSORED]tion group and taking into account, if they exist, medical contraindications. It is true that ideal to see the reward in adulthood is to acquire those healthy habits at an early age, but also the recommendation to stay active also extends to people from 55 years, "explains Eva Ferrer, a doctor in the Medicine unit of the sport of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu of Barcelona.

Starting to exercise at an early age (before 30) has its advantages because "it allows the body to adapt progressively. This implies that there is a better tolerance to exercise, especially at high intensities. But that does not mean that a start late exercise or physical activity is harmful or not good at all. It is true that from this age you have to be cautious and take it as a background race, but in no case is it bad to exercise (proof of this is that, in patients with acute cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarctions, exercise is recommended as part of cardiac rehabilitation, "says David Curto.

It is not that you have to relax and keep running away from exercise like the plague because one thinks there is plenty of time to start moving. The new research shows that sport can contribute some hope to all those who have moved a muscle in their lives, but it is necessary to start with biological evidence: the process of bone development grows from childhood to adolescence. Then, the bone mass generation slows down until the peak at 30 years is acquired. Thereafter only bone tissue forms naturally in case of fracture. Therefore, all the benefits of physical exercise on sea density occur mainly in the early stages of life.

Benefits beyond the muscles

Recently, researchers from the University of Birmingham and King's College in London demonstrated, once again, that there is a great benefit for those who exercise throughout their lives. The scientists set out to evaluate the health of adults over 55 who have done to see if this activity delays aging. They recruited 125 amateur cyclists aged 55 to 79, of which 84 were men and 41 were women. They had to travel 100 kilometers in less than 6.5 hours, while women had to cover 60 in 5.5 hours. The study identified that the loss of muscle mass and strength did not have in those who have exercised.

Cyclists also do not increase their levels of body fat and cholesterol with age, and men's testosterone levels also permanently high, which may have prevented most of the symptoms of andropause, which is male menopause. But the study also revealed that the benefits of exercise extended beyond the muscles, because cyclists also had problems with the immune system that had not aged either. An organ called a thymus, which produces immune cells called T cells, begins to encode after age 20 and produces fewer cells. However, cyclists' scams were producing as many as those of a young person.

But what really distinguishes active people from sedentary people? There are probably several things, but one of the most important is perhaps the motivation. "Many times, and especially in people who have not practiced sports all their lives, the lack of motivation comes because they do not have an exercise program," explains Curto. For all those who are a little lost, the recommendation, according to the Spanish Geriatrics Society, is a combination of aerobic exercise, strength training, balance and flexibility.

Of course, Eva Ferrer recommends asking for help to design a work plan. "You can start with a program of exercises and activities in which the body works both globally and specifically, do aerobic exercises (walking, swimming, dancing, cycling ...), which will help reduce the risk of heart, vascular and metabolic diseases, combined with the practice of flexibility exercises (stretching), balance (tai-chi) and those in which you work strength and endurance (weights) in order to improve health muscle and bone. " It is not about overcoming laziness, but about investing in health to reach retirement in the best possible way.