Men and women become less fit as they age, according to a new report in the October 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

This should come with a big "duh". But it also comes with some good news.

First the not-so-good news. "The U.S. population is aging and is becoming more obese and sedentary", the authors tell us. No surprise there. But it's a vicious circle. Cardiorespiratory fitness of both sexes declines with age: two of the best indicators of cardiorespiratory fitness are body composition (fat vs. muscle) and physical activity.

The more fat you've got and the less active you are, the higher the chances of disease, not to mention the ability to function independently.

And by the way, the decline gets worse after age 45, and it's worse for men than for women.

What to do, what to do?

Researchers from the University of Houston studied about 20,000 women and men between 20 to 96(!) in a study called the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study between 1974 and 2006. The 30 years of data collected on such a large group of people offer some strong take home messages for anyone who wants to age well. (Here comes the good news.)

Once, I was at my son's school during recess and noticed that (other than a few exceptions) it was mostly boys playing kickball and girls sitting in small groups around the jungle gym chatting and playing cats cradle. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but I was reminded of it the day when I read an article about how young and old females aren't as active as males.

Researchers from Liverpool John Moores University followed 10 and 11-year-old children during recess and found that boys tend to engage in more active play than girls. On the flip side of the coin, another study found that women over age 70 are less likely to be active than men.

It's important for everyone to be active. But it's certainly important for girls (during the formative years when their bones are growing) and older women (who need to maintain bone density) to be physically active.

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Here, experts explain what happens to the body as it gets older and highlight what workouts work best for each age, beginning at two years of age -- because just as you're never too old to break a sweat, it's also never too soon to exercising.

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When you're in your 20s--especially your early 20s--you feel invincible. You can eat what you want, live on tequila and go without sleep for days at a time and you'll still look fresh-faced. Well, in the short term, at least. The long term is a different story. As far as your health and looks go, what you do at any age in your life will affect you later in life.

Take sun tanning, for instance. It will age your skin, fast, because tanning equals wrinkles. No two ways about it. Wearing heavy earrings? How does lobe surgery sound? Wearing high heels too often can irreversibly damage the tendons in your legs, and toting a heavy purse around on one shoulder can lead to shoulder damage that may force you to carry around a backpack. Sexy, huh?

What you do in your 20s matters. Read this article for more proof.

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There's no stopping the hands of time. We're all going to age, and there's not a thing we can do to stop the process.

I don't know about you, but I'm happy to get older. The older I get, the better, in fact – because right now, I'm not too fond of the alternative.

If, like me, you want to keep tacking on the years, try these five Woman's Day magazine secrets for aging long into the future.

• Don't smoke. And avoid secondhand smoke. These two practices will help prevent cancer, heart disease, stroke, and lung disease.

• Do play. Working too much can increase your risk of high blood pressure and heart attack, so take a breather from work-related fatigue and stress whenever you can. Start this weekend.

• Don't eat fried foods or drink soda. Too much fast food and soda contributes to weight gain and can cause chronic inflammation, which prompts the entire body to age.

• Wear sunglasses and a hat. Protecting your eyes from the sun's UV rays will cut your risk of cataracts and macular degeneration -- it's the leading cause of blindness by about 45 percent.

• Get important health screenings. Get checked for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high blood sugars. Get screened for cancers of the skin, breast, cervix, colon, prostate, and more. Catch any of these conditions early, and you have a good chance of surviving them.

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Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones character will have aged in real time in his newest movie, but I swear the 66-year-old actor himself has turned back the clock. His physique this week at the Cannes Film Festival rivals that of many actors half his age.

Over a year ago, his girlfriend Calista Flockhart (whom he is reported to be marrying this summer) said Ford was working hard to get buff for the role by eating a high-protein diet with lots of fish and vegetables, wanting to make sure "Indy is as tough as he always was."

Ford performed many of his own stunts for this latest film, and Steven Spielberg said that he managed them "amazingly well, far beyond what I expected. And he did it so brilliantly and so effortlessly. He was just a little more out of breath after every stunt, just a little more -- and so was I."

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Shows like Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City have given the world a new way to look at aging. Turning 40 or 50 no longer necessarily means a party with an "Over the Hill" theme -- older men and women can be just as sexy as their much-younger counterparts. And that's a good thing. Right?

Well, yes and no. It's fantastic that we are shedding our stereotypes regarding middle-age, for men as well as for women. Most men would agree that Halle Berry and Heather Locklear are just as sexy as any 20-year-old actress, and men over 40 include George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Pierce Brosnan -- 'nuf said.

However, eating disorders for adult women are on the rise. We see celebrities like Teri Hatcher, Demi Moore, and Kim Cattrall and while we know that the way they look simply isn't attainable for everyone, it doesn't mean many women don't try by resorting to anorexia or bulimia. Check out our gallery of super sexy celebrities who've celebrated 40 or more birthdays, but use these as inspiration, not for comparison. And, head over to AOL Body to see who they think is over 40 and still smokin' hot!

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Who lies more about their smoking habit when asked about it by doctors and friends: Older smokers or younger smokers? You may be surprised to find out that it's actually the older group.

An extensive survey of over 15 thousand reported "nonsmokers" revealed that 8 percent of respondents were, well, lying their butts off. What's more, based on the results of the survey, researchers were able to determine that smoking denial actually increased with age.

What causes this age-related increase in denial? Researchers posit that it may be related to the social stigma associated with being an adult smoker, although there doesn't appear to be any other explanation beyond this speculation.

Personally, I would have guessed that younger people would be more apt to lie about their smoking habit, but I guess I'm wrong. It's definitely not the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last, either.

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Depending on what you do for a living, if you're a woman chances are you wear makeup to work. Very few of us look good or normal with absolutely no makeup on at all, so it becomes a huge part of how we present ourselves to the world. What if that big part of how you present yourself, of how you work to make yourself look better, was actually making you look worse? What if it was adding years to how you look instead of taking them off? What a shame to work so hard to stay a healthy weight and keep in shape only to sabotage yourself with your makeup!

Now of course no amount of bad makeup can equal the negative impact of being overweight or unhealthy, but there is something to be said for the magnifying power of how you do your face. You can either magnify the good things or you can magnify the bad things: anybody up for some painfully obvious wrinkles?

Here are 6 beauty blunders to avoid, unless of course you're going for an "antiqued" appearance:

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It's sad to hear that a new study concluded that older Americans are less likely than younger patients to receive lifestyle guidance if hypertension is in the picture.

Why on earth would doctors not want to suggest preventative measures to patients over 60 who have high blood pressure from making changes to lower it? Isn't there an oath in there somewhere that's being neglected here?

Over 28,000 adults were surveyed here before the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill research team came up with their conclusions.

Sad.

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Depression is seen as pretty standard by caretakers in nursing homes and other areas where some elderly citizens live -- but trying to find ways not to contribute to that would be nice.

In that vein, new research from the U.S. this week concluded that correcting the vision of many nursing home residents would not only assist in elevating their quality of life, but would lower the risk of depression as well.

After reading how the study was conducted, it became clear that the clarity of vision directly correlated to activities like reading, activities, hobbies, social interaction and more. Therein lies the decline in depression to those in nursing homes who had the best vision they could.

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The 'baby boomer' population may be getting older but they certainly aren't letting it slow them down. In fact, statistics show that boomers are more active than other age groups, joining the gym in record numbers and being assertive with trying new forms of fitness like yoga and boxing. The YMCA has really been catering to the 78 million member boomer crowd too, creating programs and classes that focus less on muscles and physical appearance and more on health and quality of life (something we should all do!).

But as motivated and ambitious as the boomers are, they do have their own set of unique needs and wants. Safety is the biggest issue, as injuries can not only sideline current health efforts but can put a serious kink in the plan for months or even years into the future. Here are some good things tailored just for the boomers out there:

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I don't know about everyone else out there but I think that the amount of factors that can potentially lead to breast cancer are pretty scary. Things like genetics, radiation exposure, early onset of menstruation, having a first child later in life, using the birth control pill, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption can all increase your chances of getting the disease.

Being overweight or obese is also a risk factor and, according to this, women who maintain a healthy weight after menopause have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than women who start out at a normal weight, but steadily put on pounds as they get older. Apparently, this increased risk was not a factor for women who took hormone replacement therapy after menopause. As the piece points out, the study helps show why it is so important to work to maintain a healthy weight as we age.

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Younger siblings with older brothers may have an increased propensity to become more aggressive with time as opposed to siblings with older sisters, according to a recent study's results.

451 sibling pairs were studied by California researchers (ages nine through 18), and such factors like aggressive behavior, family economic pressures and the hostility of the parents towards the kids were observed.

The conclusions showed that the younger males with older brothers exhibited more aggressive behavior over time, as well as older siblings with younger sisters becoming less aggressive over time. Quite naturally, another conclusion to the study said that parents' hostility also played a role in the aggression development in their kids.

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Women runners out there, this article is for you! Men may have the edge with aging when it comes to sex appeal (why can't wrinkles make women look sexier?) but women seem to have the edge in athletics, specifically running. In this article in the New York Times one woman shares her observations about how men in races seem to consistently run longer times as they age, versus women who are "all over the place" and are often faster in their 30s and 40s than they were in their 20s.

Experts surmise it's not so much about physiology but more mental instead. Women don't often learn to assert themselves and really set challenges until they get older and more confident -- suddenly they realize what they're really capable of.

Watch out guys, here we come.

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