If you take a look at a lot of the 20 year-old people out there, you may not be so surprised by what I am about to tell you. When you think of a 20 year-old, you may assume that a 50 year-old would lose to that 20 year-old in a fitness test. Yet, a lot of times, if you compared a sedentary 20 year-old to a 50 year-old, the 50 year-old could out do their younger opponent.

Studies have shown that while age could result in making it more difficult to build strength, that does not mean that a 50 year-old can’t be as fit as a 20 year-old. The key component is activity. Increasing the intensity of your workouts and how often you do them determines your fitness levels rather than how long you do the activity. Some older people may be disappointed to hear that going for that 5 mile walk is not as effective as a 2 mile run, but please, if you cannot run, strive to continue to walk. Who knows, perhaps you will build up the strength to increase your intensity!

One method that the study used is something called the 4×4 interval training. This is one of the methods that is used in place of aiming for long duration exercises. With 4×4 interval training, four or more short periods of about 4 minutes of high intensity exercise are then followed by four short periods of lower intensity exercise. The study shows that your body can benefit greatly from that type of exercise if you are looking to increase your fitness level.

I am always an advocate for endurance training over strength training. I personally think that going for a long run at a 9 minute mile is worth more than a mile sprint. Perhaps I just misinterpreted the study done by the  K.G. Jebsen Center.

However, their study also emphasized the effects on fitness levels and diseases. I will agree with them on this one; risks of cardiovascular disease will be reduced no matter what type of exercise you do – as long as you are doing something!