Exercise could help protect the muscles of older people

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A study in racehorses suggests that regular aerobic exercise could decrease the incidence of muscle soreness on exertion.
Older people often say that they feel stiff and sore when they take exercise. So they may avoid exerting themselves, which merely compounds the issue. A team at Ohio State University now presents new evidence on why it's important to keep active.

They were looking at muscle samples taken from retired racehorses. Given the equivalent of galloping on a treadmill, muscle samples taken from the animals showed less signs of exertion damage than those left alone. The researchers suggest the results could apply to aging skeletal muscle in humans as well.

Regular exercise could prevent not just the soreness associated with exertion, but also prevent injuries, protect mobility and a tendency to fall. In the horses, just eight weeks of regular exercise was enough to make muscles stronger and more resistant to exercise. Clearly people should not push themselves so much that they are really sore, but a little discomfort after exercise should not be used as a reason to stop.

Source
Ohio State University 23rd March 2005

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