Endurance exercise, of a relatively intensive level, among healthy men in their 50s and 60s, may confer beneficial effects on the heart, with benefits evident and comparable in those who had started training before the age of 30 or after the age of 40. As a result, Inserm (France) researchers submit that the age of 40 is not too old to start endurance training. David Matelot and colleagues assessed 40 healthy men (without cardiovascular risk factors), ages 55 to 70 years, who were divided for assessment according to the level of exercise they took and the ages at which they began. Thus, 10 of the men had never exercised for more than 2 hours a week throughout their lives, and 30 had exercised for at least 7 hours a week for over five years, either beginning their programs before the age of 30 (16 subjects) or after the age of 40 (14 subjects). Engaging in either running or cycling, those beginning before the age of 30 had been training for an average of 39 years (since the age of 22) and those starting at 40 for 18 years (since the age of 48). Each of the men was assessed by maximal exercise testing, echocardiography at rest and during submaximal exercise, and heart rate analysis. While resting heart rate was found to be similar between the two exercise groups (56.8 bpm among the age-30 exercisers, 58.1 bpm among the age-40 group), it was significantly faster in the non-exercising men (69.7 bpm). Maximal oxygen uptake was also similar between the exercising groups (47.3 ml/min/kg among the age-30s and 44.6 ml/min/kg among the age-40s), it was significantly lower in the non-exercising men (33.0 ml/min/kg). Further, Echocardiography showed that the left ventricle and both atria were bigger in the both exercising groups men than in the non-trainers, who also exhibited significantly thicker vessel walls than trainers. The study authors submit that: “Regardless of the age at which it has been started, relatively intensive endurance training presents the same benefits on heart and its regulation by autonomic nervous system in healthy senior men.”
