It's never too late to reap the benefits.If middle-aged men are any indication, the tides of time need not rob any of us of our youthful edge. In a recent study published in the journal Circulation, the effects of a 30-year layoff Layoff1. When a company eliminates jobs regardless of how good the employees' performance. 2. A risk reduction, made by investment bankers, that minimizes the potential downside associated with a commitment to purchase and sell a stock issue unsubscribed by stockholders holding were reversed with six months of exercise training. The study began with five healthy 20-year-old men in 1966 in research designed to examine the effects of three weeks of bed rest on aerobic aerobic /aer·o·bic/ (ar-o´bik) 1. having molecular oxygen present. 2. growing, living, or occurring in the presence of molecular oxygen. 3. requiring oxygen for respiration. 4. capacity. After a six-month program of aerobic exercise aerobic exercise, n sustained repetitive physical activity, such as walking, dancing, cycling, and swimming, that elevates the heart rate and increases oxygen consumption resulting in improved functioning of cardio-vascular and respiratory systems. that gradually increased to one hour, four to five times a week, they regained the fitness lost during the previous 30 years. These findings were surprising in two ways. First, time had taken its toll on these men. Their weight had increased by 25%, body fat had doubled, and aerobic capacity had decreased by 11% during the 30 year-period. Despite that, they were able to achieve the same degree of cardiovascular fitness cardiovascular fitness Fitness A benchmark of a subject's cardiovascular and respiratory 'reserve', assessed by exercise testing; improved CF ↓ risk of acute MI. See Aerobic exercise, Exercise, MET, Thallium stress test, Vigorous exercise. Cf Anaerobic exercise. they had as 20-year-olds with a regular, moderate exercise program. This is encouraging to anyone whose fitness routines are interrupted--it's never too late to get it back. A second and even more surprising finding was uncovered in this study; three weeks of bed rest at 20 years of age was worse for physical capacity than three decades of aging. Despite the implications for potential layoffs, don't despair: the loss is always reversible reversible, adj capable of going through a series of changes in either direction, forward or backward (e.g., reversible chemical reaction). reversible hydrocolloid, n See hydrocolloid, reversible. . (Circulation, 2001, Vol. 104, pp. 1350-1357) |
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