Research
Adherence
Lifelong physical activity prevents the age-related decline in cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max), maintaining fitness levels comparable to individuals four decades younger and significantly reducing mortality risk.
To maintain your heart health and longevity, you must keep doing aerobic exercise throughout your life. Don't stop when you hit middle age; consistent training keeps your fitness level comparable to someone much younger and cuts your risk of early death significantly.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
cross-sectional data show that with lifelong aerobic exercise training, trained individuals often have the same VO2max as a sedentary individual four decades younger (Booth et al. 2012).
Why this rating
Based on large-scale epidemiological studies and consistent cross-sectional data cited.
Source
Health Benefits of Exercise
Gregory N. Ruegsegger et al. · Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine · 2017
DOI 10.1101/cshperspect.a029694
narrative_reviewCited 669×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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