Luxor Nursing and Rehab at Mills Pond Urges You That it is Not Too Late to Start Exercising

We at Luxor Nursing and Rehab at Mills Pond would like to share some surprising news with you – even if you’re older and you’ve never exercised regularly, your body still has the ability to build muscle.

That was the result of a study done by the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. 

Researchers there followed people older than 60 and placed them into two groups:

1. People who spent at least 20 years exercising a minimum of two times per week.
2. People who never had a consistent exercise routine in their life.

The team measured how proteins were building in muscle before and after each group exercised over the course of a week.

They found that everyone had the same ability to build muscle from exercise, regardless of their prior work-out history.

This is great news for people who neglected their physical health and believe it’s too late to make a difference.

“Our study clearly shows that it doesn’t matter if you haven’t been a regular exerciser throughout your life: You can still derive benefit from exercise whenever you start,” lead researcher Leigh Breen, Ph.D., told Healthline.

The key, researchers said, is to make sure that the level of exercise is challenging, regardless of your skill level. That’s what helps grow muscle. 

Now, of course, this doesn’t mean it’s okay to neglect exercising until you’re older. The study did find that people who exercised regularly throughout their adult life were generally in better physiological shape. 

If you would consider yourself sedentary, be sure to consult a doctor before beginning an exercise program.