 We know we need to exercise for our health, but a lifelong exercise habit may also help us feel younger and stay stronger well into our senior years. 众所周知我们需要锻炼来保持健康，但终身锻炼的习惯也可能帮助我们感觉更年轻，保持更强壮，一直到我们的晚年。 In fact, people in their 70s who have been exercising regularly for decades seem to have put a brake on the aging process, maintaining the heart, lung and muscle fitness of healthy people at least 30 years younger. 事实上，那些在过去几十年里经常锻炼的70多岁的人，似乎已经延缓了衰老的进程，让自己的心肺和肌肉健康水平至少年轻了30岁。  Take 74-year-old Susan Magrath, a retired nurse practitioner who lives in Muncie, Ind. 以74岁的苏珊.马格拉斯为例，她是一名退休的执业护士，住在印第安纳州的曼西市。 Magrath has been running almost daily for 45 years. 马格拉斯每天坚持跑步已经有45年了。 She often runs outdoors and describes it as addictive. 她经常在户外跑步还说已经跑上瘾了。 "It's just such a release, just a wonderful release," she says. “这真的很放松，而且是一种很棒的舒缓方式，”她说道。 "I ran today and there were little snowflakes coming down, and I was down by the river and it's just wonderful. And I think it's become more of a contemplative meditative process for me." “我今天也跑了，有几朵雪花落下，我跑到河边，景象简直美极了。我认为这对我来说更像是一个沉思冥想的过程。”  Magrath may be living proof that lifelong exercise helps with cardiovascular and muscle health. 马格拉斯可能就是一个终身锻炼有助于心血管和肌肉健康的活生生的例子。 She recently took part in a study at the Human Performance Laboratory at Ball State University, also in Muncie, headed by exercise physiologist Scott Trappe. 她最近参加了同样位于曼西市的波尔州立大学人类行为实验室的一项研究，该实验室由运动生理学家斯科特·特拉普领导。 Trappe is among the first to study the enticing new population of lifelong exercisers. 特拉普是首批研究迷人的新一代终生运动人群的科学家之一。  After the running and aerobic boom of the 1970s, large numbers of septuagenarians stuck with it and have been exercising regularly for the past 50 years. 在20世纪70年代跑步和有氧运动蓬勃发展之后，大量70多岁的老人坚持锻炼，并在过去50年里一直定期锻炼。 In this population, Trappe says, "We were interested in basically two questions: One, what was their cardiovascular health? And two, what was their skeletal muscle health?" 特拉普说，在这一人群中，“我们基本上对两个问题感兴趣:一个是，他们的心血管健康状况如何?第二，他们的骨骼肌健康状况如何?  What he saw surprised him. 他看到的结果让他大吃一惊。 "We saw that people who exercise regularly year after year have better overall health than their sedentary counterparts. These 75-year-olds — men and women — have similar cardiovascular health to a 40- to 45-year-old." “我们发现，年复一年定期锻炼的人比久坐的人整体健康状况要好。这些75岁的男性和女性的心血管健康状况与40岁至45岁的人相似。” " 'Exercise wins' is the take-home message," he says. 他说:“'锻炼胜出’是一个很重要的信息。” In the study, Trappe divided 70 healthy participants into three groups. 在这项研究中，Trappe将70名健康的参与者分为三组。 Those in the lifelong exercise group were on average 75 years old and primarily kept their heart rates up through running and cycling. 终生运动组的平均年龄为75岁，主要通过跑步和骑自行车来保持心率。 They had a history of participating in structured exercise four to six days a week for a total of about seven hours a week. 他们有参与有组织的锻炼的历史，每周四到六天，总共约七小时。  The second group included individuals who were also, on average, 75 years old but did not engage in structured exercise regimens, although they might have participated in occasional leisure walking or golf. 第二组受试者平均年龄也为75岁，但没有进行有组织的锻炼方案，尽管他们可能偶尔会进行休闲的运动比如散步或打高尔夫球。 The third group consisted of young exercisers who were, on average, 25 years old and worked out with the same frequency and length of time as the lifelong exercisers. 第三组是年轻的锻炼者，他们平均年龄25岁，锻炼的频率和时间与终生锻炼者相同。 All participants were assessed in the Human Performance Laboratory at Ball State University. 所有参与者都在波尔州立大学的人体性能实验室接受了评估。 Cardiovascular health was gauged by having participants cycle on an indoor bike to determine VO2 max, also known as maximal oxygen uptake, which is the measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use during intense exercise and is an indicator of aerobic endurance. 心血管健康是通过让参与者骑室内自行车来测定VO2 max（也称为最大摄氧量）来衡量的，最大摄氧量是指一个人在剧烈运动中可以使用的最大摄入氧气量，也是有氧耐力的一个指标。 During the cycling test, which became increasingly challenging, individuals exhaled into a mouthpiece that measured oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. 在这个越来越具有挑战性的自行车测试中，受试者向一个测量氧气和二氧化碳水平的测试入口呼气。  The aerobic profile of the participants' muscles was measured by taking a sample via a biopsy about the size of a pea, says Trappe. 特拉普说，研究人员通过豌豆大小的活检取样，测量了参与者肌肉的有氧状况。 Then in the lab, researchers examined the micro vessels, or capillaries, that allow blood to flow through the muscle itself. 然后在实验室里，研究人员检查了允许血液流经肌肉本身的微血管。 They also looked at specific enzymes that provide fuel to the working muscle and help break down carbohydrates and fats. 他们还研究了为肌肉提供能量并帮助分解碳水化合物和脂肪的特定酶。 Although the study was relatively small, the findings, which were published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in August, suggest a dramatic benefit of lifelong exercise for both muscle health and the cardiovascular system. 尽管这项研究规模相对较小，但研究结果表明，终生锻炼对肌肉健康和心血管系统都有显著好处，研究结果于今年8月发表在《应用生理学杂志》上。  "Lifelong exercisers had a cardiovascular system that looked 30 years younger," says Trappe. “终身锻炼会让人的心血管系统仿佛年轻三十岁，”特拉普说道。 This is noteworthy because, for the average adult, the ability to process oxygen declines by about 10 percent per decade after age 30. 这一点值得注意，因为对于一般成年人来说，30岁以后，处理氧气的能力每十年下降10%左右。 "It's kind of a slow decay over time that's probably not so noticeable in your 30s or 40s," says Trappe, but eventually as years go on, becomes apparent. 特拉普说:“这是一种慢慢衰退的过程，在你30多岁或40多岁时可能不太明显。” People can get out of breath more easily and may have difficulty pushing themselves physically. 人们会更容易地喘不过气来，而且可能在体力上有困难。 The age-related reduction in VO2 max is directly associated with an increasing risk of multiple chronic diseases, mortality and loss of independence. 随着年龄的增长，最大摄氧量的降低与多种慢性病、死亡和独立性丧失的风险增加直接相关。 Maintaining a strong heart and lung system has been shown to decrease these health risks. 维持一个强健的心肺系统已经被证明可以降低这些健康风险。  As for muscle health, the findings were even more significant, says Trappe. 至于肌肉健康，研究结果甚至更为显著，特拉普说。 Trappe says researchers were surprised to find the 75-year-old muscles of lifelong exercisers were about the same as the muscles of the 25-year-olds. 特拉普说，研究人员惊讶地发现，终生锻炼的75岁老人的肌肉与25岁年轻人的肌肉几乎相同。 "If I showed you the muscle data that we have, you wouldn't know it was from an older individual. You would think it's from somebody that's a young exerciser," he says. “如果我给你看我们拥有的肌肉数据，你不会知道它来自一个更年长的人。你可能会认为这是一个年轻锻炼者的数据，”他说。 David Costill, 82, was not part of the study but is a former colleague of Trappe's and professor emeritus of exercise science at Ball State University. 82岁的大卫·考斯特没有参与这项研究，但他曾是特拉普的同事，也是波尔州立大学运动科学荣誉退休教授。 As an exercise physiologist, he has always known about the benefits of exercise and has been committed since high school. He says he has spent about "60 years actively exercising." 他说他花了大约60年的时间积极锻炼 Costill ran marathons for about 20 years until his knees started to bother him, so he headed to the pool. "And I've been swimming for the last 35 years." 考斯特跑了大约20年的马拉松，直到他的膝盖开始困扰他，所以他去了游泳池。“我已经游泳35年了。”  When Costill looks at his friends, he says he finds he can do a lot more physically than they can. 考斯特看了看他的朋友们说，他发现自己可以比他们做更多的体力活。 "If I'm out with a group of my peers, guys who are near 80, and we're going someplace, it seems to me they're all walking at half speed." “如果我和一群同龄人一起出去，他们都快80岁了，我们要去某个地方，在我看来，他们都是以半速走路的。” Trappe says the findings are clear: 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day may be the key to a healthy life. 特拉普说，研究结果很清楚:每天锻炼30到60分钟可能是健康生活的关键。 But you don't have to run marathons or compete in cycling events. 但你不必非要跑马拉松或参加自行车比赛。 "If you want to do 30 to 45 minutes of walking a day, the amount of health benefit you are going to get is going to be significant and substantial," he says. 他说:“如果你想每天步行30到45分钟，你将会得到大量的健康益处。” "Will it equal the person training for competitive performances? No. But it will outdo the couch potato." “它能与为竞技表演而进行的人员的训练相提并论吗?不能。但它将超过电视迷们。” Unfortunately, couch potatoes are the norm.不幸的是，电视迷是常态。 Federal guidelines recommend two hours and 30 minutes of moderate exercise a week, or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. 联邦指南建议每周进行2小时30分钟的适度运动，或者每周进行1小时15分钟的剧烈运动。 Yet 77 percent of Americans do not come close to getting that amount of exercise. 然而77%的美国人都远远没有达到这个运动量。  Dr. Clyde Yancy, spokesperson for the American Heart Association and chief of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says the findings suggest "a lifelong investment in health and fitness appears to be associated with a really sustainable benefit out until the outer limits of life." 美国心脏协会发言人、西北大学芬伯格医学院心脏病学主任克莱德·扬西博士表示，研究结果表明，“在健康和健身方面的终生投资，似乎与真正可持续的益处有关，这种益处一直持续到生命的尽头。” Since we are living longer, maintaining a good quality of life is more important than ever. 由于我们活得更久，保持良好的生活质量会比以往任何时候都重要。 While the study was small and the findings need to be confirmed, they present a "strong argument" for lifelong exercise that is inexpensive and accessible for everyone. 尽管这项研究规模不大，而且研究结果有待证实，但它们为终生锻炼提供了一个“强有力的论据”，这种锻炼既便宜又每个人都能做。 "If you can swim, do yoga, cycle, or walk," you can benefit," Yancy says. “假如你能游游泳，做做瑜伽，骑骑自行车或者走走路，你就会获益。”扬西说道。 |
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