Long years of training help you age more resiliently

The idea of vitality capacity has become particularly relevant after the UN declared 2021–2030 the Decade of Healthy Aging: the focus has shifted from simply the absence of disease to the preservation of functional capabilities. Vitality capacity is assessed using biomarkers in three key areas: immune and stress responses, energy and metabolism, and neuromuscular function. In the new study, the researchers sought to take all three areas into account equally, using 12 biomarkers recommended by the WHO.

The experiment involved 39 healthy adults over 55 years of age from the Nice area: 19 people who had regularly engaged in aerobic exercise (at least three times a week) over the past 30 years, and 20 people who led a predominantly sedentary lifestyle. To more precisely identify the relationship between exercise and the body’s reserve, the researchers included only those who had no chronic diseases, no signs of acute inflammation, and who did not take medication regularly.

Over the course of three visits, a detailed picture of each participant’s health and physical fitness was collected. They recorded the training history over 30 years, took blood tests to assess metabolic parameters, measured heart function parameters, and performed DXA scans to determine the proportion of muscle mass. In addition, people performed endurance and muscle strength tests. Based on all this data, the final indicator of vital capacity was calculated.

The results showed that those who had been practicing aerobic training (running, swimming, cycling) for decades had a higher overall vitality capacity than their inactive peers — the difference amounted to 0.2 z‑scores. At the same time, age still mattered: vitality capacity declined with age for everyone, regardless of activity level.

The most noticeable benefits in trained participants were observed in the areas of immune and stress responses. At the same time, certain indicators, such as the level of inflammation in the blood or a subjective assessment of the immune system’s condition, were quite similar in both groups.

The greatest contribution to individual differences in vitality capacity was made by indicators of neuromuscular function — grip strength, leg strength, and lung volume. However, the researchers did not find any significant differences at the group level. In terms of energy and metabolic parameters, the groups also turned out to be similar, although in active women the proportion of muscle mass was noticeably higher and the proportion of fat mass was lower than in inactive women.

The study is exploratory in nature, as it shows a connection but does not prove that aerobic exercise directly preserves physiological reserve. Larger and more diverse studies are needed to verify how well this assessment system works in different populations.

Nevertheless, the results provide another compelling argument in favor of the idea that physical activity is a long‑term investment in healthy aging. This is not just about weight control, but also about maintaining the body’s ability to adapt to stress and preserve functionality.