As we age, even if we’re healthy, the heart just isn’t as efficient in processing oxygen as it used to be. In most people the first signs show up in their 50s or early 60s. And among people who don’t exercise, the changes can start even sooner.
随着年龄的增长，即使我们很健康，心脏在处理氧气方面也不如过去那么有效。大多数人的最初症状出现在50多岁或60出头。对于那些不锻炼的人来说，这种变化可能会更早开始。
“Think of a rubber band. In the beginning, it is flexible, but put it in a drawer for 20 years and it will become dry and easily broken,” says Dr. Ben Levine, a heart specialist at the University of Texas. That’s what happens to the heart. Fortunately for those in midlife, Levine is finding that even if you haven’t been an enthusiastic exerciser, getting in shape now may help improve your aging heart.
得克萨斯大学心脏病专家本·列文博士说：“比如橡皮筋，一开始，很灵活，但放在抽屉里20年后，它就会变干，很容易断裂”，心脏也是这样。幸运的是，列文发现，对于那些中年人来说，即使你不是一个爱好锻炼的人，现在开始锻炼也可能有助于改善你衰老的心脏。
Levine and his research team selected volunteers aged between 45 and 64 who did not exercise much but were otherwise healthy. Participants were randomly divided into two groups. The first group participated in a program of nonaerobic exercise - balance training and weight training - three times a week. The second group did high-intensity aerobic exercise under the guidance of a trainer for four or more days a week.
After two years, the second group saw remarkable improvements in heart health.
列文和他的研究团队选择了年龄在45岁至64岁之间的志愿者，他们不怎么运动，但在其他方面都很健康。参与者被随机分为两组。第一组参加了一个无氧运动项目——平衡训练和负重训练，每周三次。第二组在教练的指导下每周进行四天或四天以上的高强度有氧运动。两年后，第二组患者的心脏健康状况显著改善。
“We took these 50-year-old hearts and turned the clock back to 30-or 35-year-old hearts,” says Levine. “And the reason they got so much stronger and fitter was that their hearts could now fill a lot better and pump a lot more blood during exercise.” But the hearts of those who participated in less intense exercise didn’t change, he says.
列文说：“我们将这些50岁的心脏，变成了30或35岁的心脏。他们变得如此强壮和健康的原因是他们的心脏现在可以更好地填充，在运动中可以输送更多的血液。”但他说，那些参加小强度运动的人的心脏并没有改变。
“The sweet spot in life to start exercising, if you haven’t already, is in late middle age when the heart still has flexibility,” Levine says. “We put healthy 70-year-olds through a yearlong exercise training program, and nothing happened to them at all.”
列文说：“如果你还没有开始锻炼，那么生活中开始锻炼的最佳时机是在中年晚期，那时心脏仍然有灵活性。我们让健康的70岁老人参加了为期一年的运动训练计划，但他们什么都没发生。”
Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, says Levine’s findings are a great start. But the study was small and needs to be repeated with far larger groups of people to determine exactly which aspects of an exercise routine make the biggest difference.
美国心脏协会发言人妮卡·戈德堡博士说，列文的发现是一个良好的开始。但这项研究规模较小，需要对更大的人群进行重复，以确定日常锻炼的哪些方面影响最大。
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