It’s all downhill from here.
At least, that’s what researchers are reporting from a new study on how our strength, fitness and muscles change as we age.
But not all hope is lost when it comes to gym gains with each passing birthday.
A 47-year-long study published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle found that physical fitness abilities start to decline as soon as age 35.
The extensive Swedish Physical Activity and Fitness study at Karolinska Institutet followed more than 400 men and women, aged 16 to 63.
Study participants performed various exercises, such as bench press, a vertical jump test and cycling for at least 10 minutes, to measure muscle endurance, power and aerobic capacity.
The researchers tracked how the exercises were performed at different ages, as well as their levels of physical activity.
But regardless of how much people worked out before hitting their mid-30s, cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength began to deteriorate.
In their teens and 20s, participants unsurprisingly saw steady gains..
But the average hit their peak at 35, and after, fitness levels steadily worsened as age increases.
There were slight differences between men and women, however.
While both started to see declining aerobic endurance at age 45, women start to lose muscle power a few years before men, at the age of 32.
But there is good news when it comes to working out and getting older.
The sooner you start exercising as an adult, the better chances you’ll have to improve physical fitness.
The study saw that those who had become physically active at age 16 and continued into adulthood had better performance across all measurements.
And other research shows that continuing to be active even as you get older can help maintain a better quality of life.
“It is never too late to start moving,” said lead study author and lecturer at the Department of Laboratory Medicine Maria Westerstahl. “Our study shows that physical activity can slow the decline in performance, even if it cannot completely stop it.”
The study will continue with the same participants, with some of the oldest being 68.
“Now we will look for the mechanisms behind why everyone reaches their peak performance at age 35 and why physical activity can slow performance loss but not completely halt it,” Westerstahl said.
