Want to turn back the years? Run. According to a study in , a senior who runs for 30 minutes at least three times a week can walk as efficiently as a twenty-something. Walking doesn't have the same effect, say researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and Humboldt State University.
Older people who walk for exercise (rather than jog) expend about the same amount of energy walking as sedentary compatriots, and expend up to 22 per cent more energy walking than adults in their 20s.
"It's been known for a long time that as people age their maximum aerobic capacity, or 'horsepower', declines, and that is true for runners as well," says lead researcher Professor Justus Ortega. "What's new here is that we have found that old runners maintain their fuel economy."
