Exercising After 50 is As Good As Quitting Smoking

Not exercising is associated with increased obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and cancer. So it’s pretty obvious that exercising can help reduce the risk of all these dread conditions, and you’re likely to live longer. Swedish researchers have tried to quantify the benefits for men over 50, and reported their results in the British Medical Journal.

Participants in the Swedish study were 2,200 men aged 50 in 1970-1973, who were re-examined at ages 60, 70, 77, and 82. At each exam they were questioned about their level of physical activity, smoking, and alcohol intake, and had the following measurements made: weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.

At age 50, half the men had a high level of physical activity (at least 3 hours of sports or heavy gardening a week). A third reported medium activity (walking, cycling); and the rest were classified as sedentary. Overall, the mortality rates were highest among the sedentary men, and lowest among the most active.

After 10 years, the mortality rate in those men who increased their activity from “sedentary” had fallen to the same level as the ones who'd maintained a high level the whole time. (During the first five years their mortality rate was higher in men who increased their activity level, but the numbers were small, and still no higher than those who continued to be sedentary.)

The benefit for the late starters was on par with quitting smoking. The conclusions for 50-year-old sedentary men are fairly clear. If you smoke, stop. If you can’t stop, exercise vigorously at least 3 hours a week (preferably more); after 10 years, you’ll have “caught up” with the other hard exercisers, and live, on average, 2.3 years longer than sedentary men, and 1.1 years longer than the moderate exercisers. (Maybe exercising 7 days a week for 30-40 minutes a day would buy you an extra 5 years?)