Many have heard that life begins after 40.

A new study suggests that to start physical training 40 - it's not late, because you can get the same benefit for the heart as people who have been engaged since 30 years.

A research group from the University of Rennes (France), led by David Maitloth (DavidMatelot) presented its findings at the European Congress EuroPRevent, which was held in the Netherlands.

For their study, scientists selected 40 healthy men from France aged 55 to 70 years. All participants were divided into groups depending on the level of physical activity and age at which they started.

In the first group were enrolled men who in their entire lives never exercised more than 2 hours a week. The second group consisted of men who, before the age of 30, practiced at least 7 hours a week for 5 years. And the third group included participants who began to exercise at least 7 hours a week after 40 years. In all groups, the main exercises were running or cycling.

To examine the effect of exercise on participants' health, scientists measured heart rate and oxygen consumption during the maximum physical exertion. He also conducted an echocardiography test, during which a sound of the beating heart is generated, using sound waves, at rest or under load.

Heart is grateful for the exercises at any age.

The researchers found that the average heart rate at rest is about the same for everyone who regularly exercises. Those who started training before the age of 30 had a pulse at rest of 56.8 beats per minute, and those who started after 40 years - 58.1 beats per minute.

The maximum oxygen consumption was also close in both trained groups. Men who started exercising before the age of 30 had a score of 47.3 ml / min / kg, and those who took on themselves already in adulthood - 44.6 ml / min / kg.

At the same time, the physically inactive first group had a much larger pulse at rest - 69.7 beats per minute. The maximum oxygen consumption in these men was only 33.0 ml / min / kg.

The results of echocardiography showed that the left ventricle and the atrium in the physically active groups were larger in size than the inactive participants. In inactive men, the walls of the coronary vessels were much thicker.

"Thus, cardiac remodeling is significantly different in low-active people and in people who train, regardless of the age at which they began training," say the researchers.

The scientists also found that in both physically active groups there was a better diastolic function - a process in which the left ventricle is filled with blood during a relaxing heart.

When comparing the results of echocardiography in physically active groups, the researchers found no significant differences.

In his article, Meitloth writes: "Despite age-related biological changes, the heart, even at the age of 40, remains very susceptible to changing loads. Starting to practice at 40, we get the same benefits ".

Moreover, endurance training is useful for the health of bone tissue, muscles, respiratory system. And these useful results will be all the more significant, the sooner you start practicing yourself.

Dr. Meitloth notes that as we age, our cardiovascular system undergoes negative structural and functional changes. Although the exercises can not reverse these changes, they can significantly slow them down.

Scientists can not answer the question of how late the begun physical training can correct what happens in the body of a sedentary person for decades of habitual hypodynamia.

But they say with confidence that it's never too late to start: "It's never too late to change your way of life and become physically active. From this you always get some benefit for your health and well-being. And this does not require a high level of training for many hours a day. Use the stairs instead of the elevator, work in the garden - even this is useful ".

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