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In order to get closer to longevity, many advise to remember proper nutrition, rejection of bad habits and physical activity. It became known what daily habit can strengthen the body and add several years to life.
In 1966, five healthy men were selected for a landmark study by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. The participants of the experiment agreed to a 30-year follow-up.
This study is one of the longest evaluations of a group's response to exercise. It is noted that it provided new results regarding the effects of training on endurance.
The initial study evaluated the response to endurance training after a 20-day period of bed rest. Testing the men before and after exercise, the researchers found devastating changes that included a faster resting heart rate, higher systolic blood pressure, a decrease in the heart's maximum pumping capacity, increased fat deposits, and decreased muscle strength.
In just three weeks, the 20-year-old participants developed many physiological features of men twice their age. To evaluate the effect of physical activity, the researchers assigned the men an eight-week exercise program.
It turned out that they not only reversed the deterioration caused by bed rest. Experts said that the effect was colossal.
The relatively moderate-intensity endurance training program was able to reverse the 100 percent loss in "cardiovascular capacity," returning the group to their 1966 baseline aerobic capacity, the researchers reported.
They specified that two participants of the study were engaged in walking, two were jogging, and the fifth was training on an exercise bike. Endurance training increased each week.
