Gym workouts can make ageing muscles ‘younger’

Gym training can rejuvenate the muscles of older people, powering the molecular cells in muscles to reverse the ageing process to become as active as young people in their 20s or 30s.

Canadian researchers evaluated the results of 25 over 65 year olds with an average age of 70 who took part in a six month study involving gym training with resistance equipment . Not only did they build strength but the molecular machinery powering their muscles became as active as that in people much younger.

Chief researcher Simon Melov from McMaster University Centre in Hamilton, Ontario said, ” We were very surprised by the results of the study. We expected to see gene expressions that stayed fairly steady in the older adults.”

“The fact that their genetic fingerprints so dramatically reversed course gives credence to the value of exercise, not only as a means of improving health, but of reversing the ageing process itself.”