“Regular physical activity, preferably aerobic, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke because it helps keep blood pressure under control and prevents hypertension. Benefits that are obtained at 80 years of age, even if you start late”. This is how Nicola Ferrara, professor of Geriatrics at the University of Naples Federico II, comments to Adnkronos Salute on the increase in over 75s enrolled in gyms, highlighted by ‘Corriere della Sera’.
The elderly who frequent fitness centers “are not new,” Ferrara clarifies. “If anything, what is new is the fact that the benefits of physical activity come even if up to the age of 70 one has not lifted a weight or done a structured sporting activity, as confirmed by a study conducted by the University of Birmingham” and published in the journal Frontiers of Physiology.
“Let’s be clear, at this age you don’t need to go to the gym to build bodybuilder muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger – warns the geriatrician – but it is enough to avoid the elevator, get off the subway or bus 2-3 stops early, take the stairs”. All this, “combined with a correct lifestyle, helps you age better and well. The sooner you start, the greater the results will be, both in terms of the functioning of the organs and systems, not only muscular, and in terms of active aging. However, woe betide you if you don’t first consult an expert doctor”, he concludes.
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