Aging hearts need exercise too

You might think you need to be more and more gentle with your body as it ages. Consider the heart, for example. As it ages, it gets smaller, muscle cells decrease and degenerate, valves thicken and narrow, arteries thicken and become less pliable, and the electrical system that causes the heart to beat may change. Overall, our hearts become weaker and pump less blood as we age. Clearly, you might think you need to baby that body of yours as it gets older and older. But then you'd be wrong.

Certain natural changes take place in the heart as we age, but the prescription for good heart health remains the same: Eat well and exercise regularly, regardless of how old you are. If you're inactive and happen to be older than 65, see your doctor before beginning a new exercise program.

Not only is exercise good for the heart at any age, it might also fight off some of the age-related changes in the cardiovascular system. A study in the journal Circulation found that athletes in their 60s had blood vessels that functioned as well as those as those in their 20s. The bottom line: Long-term exercise protects the inner lining of the blood vessels and causes them to behave more like those of a young person.

Walking more than 1.5 miles a day can reduce heart disease risk in older individuals. So get on that treadmill. Or head outdoors and hit that pavement. Your heart will thank you.