A recent major report by Swedish researchers announced the benefits of people aged 50+ taking regular exercise, which can add years to their lives.

A study of over 2,000 Swedish men tracked for more than 20 years from the age of 50 showed that exercise made no difference in premature death rates for at least a decade for those who waited until later in life to start physical activity. A researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden, Liisa Byberg said: “It has been shown that young people benefit from exercise but this is the first time we have been able to demonstrate that older people can also benefit from increasing their physical activity and it is never too late to start.”

Not surprisingly, death rates were highest amongst the sedentary group and lowest amongst the more active volunteers in the first five years of the study. But, after 10 years people who began exercising at 50 had similar death rates to people in the higher activity group.

Commenting on this announcement, Kathy Cook, joint Managing Director of Ramblers Worldwide Holidays said; “Whilst these findings might appear obvious, it is always good to have them endorsed by official research. As a company who has long championed the benefits of walking for pleasure we are at the forefront of providing an unrivalled choice of holidays spanning 250 destinations in 70 countries.”

Kathy Cook added, “Our holidays, which are graded according to various fitness levels, are not solely concentrated on walking but many other dimensions like, culture, flora, birdwatching and cruise and walk programmes. What could be more satisfying than combining all these pleasurable elements and at the same time increasing your health and longevity ?”