Study: Exercising Can Reverse Years of Inactivity

We all know the importance of exercising. Unfortunately, many people still don't get enough exercise in their daily life. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only one in five Americans get the recommended amount of exercise. If you fall under this category, you could be placing yourself at an increased risk of disease and illness. The good news, however, is that you can negate the otherwise harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle by exercising now.

According to a study published in the medical journal Circulation, middle-aged men and women who previously didn't get enough exercise can turn their health around by increasing their levels of physical activity. Researchers found that participants in the exercise group, all of whom had an average age of 53 at the beginning of the study, increased their cardio fitness by 18% and their cardiac compliance by 25%.

So, why is this important? Well, cardiac elasticity plays an important role in a healthy heart. When you don't get enough exercise, your heart loses some of its elasticity, thus increasing the risk of heart disease -- the number one cause of death among men and women worldwide. Therefore, exercising can potentially lower your risk of heart disease, even if you didn't get a lot of exercise earlier in life.

"The biggest and most surprising result of our study was the magnitude of the increased cardiac compliance," said study author Ben Levine. "A 25 percent increase in cardiac elasticity is huge. It allows the heart to fill more easily and pump more blood."

This isn't the only study attesting to the beneficial health effects of exercise. Another study, published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, found that middle-aged men and women who increased their physical activity levels for at least 4.2 years were 40% less likely to die from all causes than their counterparts who maintained or decreased their physical activity levels.

These studies attest to the importance of exercising as we age. When you don't get enough exercise, certain changes happen in your body. You lose muscle mass, your heart becomes weaker, your body's metabolism slows down and more. The culmination of these effects can leave you susceptible to disease and illness.

You don't have to necessarily hit the gym every day for a high-intensity strength training regimen, however. On the contrary, light- to moderate-intensity cardio is recommended for middle-aged men and women.