We might not worry about getting wrinkles but certainly everyone would rather those little lines would stop appearing on their face. And no doubt if there was a simple way to prevent wrinkles most people would do it.
Guess what? There is.
In a small study, scientists at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada found that exercise may not only keep skin younger, but may also reverse skin aging, even in people who take up exercise later in life.
Previous studies by the same university examined the affect of exercise on mice. Researchers split mice into two groups, giving one group access to exercise wheels. The mice that didn't exercise quickly became weak, bald and ill while the mice that exercised regularly enjoyed healthy brains, hearts, muscles and reproductive organs. In addition, they kept their fur longer and it didn't go grey.
The researchers questioned if exercise could have the same impact on people, so they performed a second study that involved 29 male and female volunteers ages 20 to 84.
Half of the participants completed at least three hours of moderate or vigorous exercise per week, while the others were mostly sedentary, exercising for less than an hour a week. The researchers then asked volunteers to uncover a buttock because they wanted to look at skin that's rarely exposed to the sun.
The researchers found that, after age 40, those who had been active had visibly younger looking skin, similar to that of someone in their 20s or 30s.
This was also the case for participants was over the age of 65.
After first obtaining skin samples from their buttocks, researchers then had the sedentary participants over the age of 65 start exercising each week. At the end of three months, they studied the volunteers' skin microscopically and compared it to the way it looked before they started exercising.
The researchers reported that the skin samples looked very different after the exercise, with outer and inner layers of skin looking like those of 20 to 40 year-olds.
This was a small study so there is certainly the need to do further research. However, given the array of benefits that regular exercise has, it is not hard to imagine that it helps our skin stay younger.
What does it mean?
As well as slip, slop, slap to protect your skin, you can add skip (or some other form of exercise) to the list.
Article Author: David Beard, Calico's Exercise Physiologist & Healthy Aging Expert
