Studies: Working Out Keeps your Skin Young Too!

 In Blog, Healthy Steps

calmLive longer, move better, think faster, and now… we know that exercise may even keep your skin younger! A recent article in the New York Times — Younger Skin Through Exercise — examines a few studies that may show proof that working out may slow down your skin’s aging process.

In one study, scientists gathered male and female volunteers ages 20- 84, about half were active, while the other sedentary, and tested skin from their buttocks (an area not often exposed to the sun.)

“When compared strictly by age, the skin samples overall aligned with what would be expected. Older volunteers generally had thicker outer layers of skin and significantly thinner inner layers.”

However.

“They found that after age 40, the men and women who exercised frequently had markedly thinner, healthier stratum corneums and thicker dermis layers in their skin. Their skin was much closer in composition to that of the 20- and 30-year-olds than to that of others of their age, even if they were past age 65.”

But wait, you say. What about all the other factors that can affect a person’s skin – like genetics and diet?

Well in another study, scientists gathered sedentary volunteers 65 or older (with normal skin of their age,) and took skin samples from their buttocks before starting them off on an endurance training program.

The results: The outer and inner layers that looked very similar to those of 20- to 40-year-olds.

“I don’t want to over-hype the results, but, really, it was pretty remarkable to see,” said Dr. Tarnopolsky, himself a middle-aged exerciser, told the NYT. Under a microscope, the volunteers’ skin “looked like that of a much younger person, and all that they had done differently was exercise.”

Read the full article here: Younger Skin Through Exercise