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研究显示锻炼帮助减缓衰老

Every morning, Tony Diamond goes to a local park for an hour of fast walking. Then he runs for another hour. He also goes to a gym two or three times a week for muscle training. The retired¹ navy captain won three medals at the 2015 National Senior Games in the road race and the race walk in his age group, 85 to 89.

每天早晨，托尼·戴蒙德都到当地公园快走一个小时，然后再跑步一个小时。他每星期还去健身房两三次，锻炼肌肉。这位退役海军上校在2015年全国老年运动会上拿下了85到89年龄组公路赛跑和竞走项目的三面金牌。

“My current age is 86 years old and my fitness age is 44," he says. “I think I have such a good number because I did a lot of exercise during my life. I've been exercising since I was a little boy.”

他说，“我的实际年龄是86岁，而‘健康年龄’是44岁。我觉得，我的数字这么好是因为我一辈子都积极锻炼。我还是小孩子的时候就开始锻炼了。”

Helen White, a versatile² athlete who won a silver medal in pickleball at the 2013 National Senior Games, plays basketball and also teaches the sport to senior groups.

海伦·怀特打篮球，还教老年人运动。这位才能多样的运动员在2013年全国老年运动会赢得了匹克球的银牌。

“I'm 62 years old and my fitness result showed that I was 32 years," she says. “It really wasn’t until I turned to 50 that I decided³ to become much more serious and focused about play, and just making sure it is daily part of my life.”

怀特说，“我的实际年龄是62岁，我的健康测试结果显示我是32岁。” 老年运动员怀特说，“我其实是到了50岁才决定更认真投入打球并把它作为我日常生活的一部分。”

White and Diamond are among some 5,000 competitors in the National Senior Games, a biennial⁴ competition for athletes over 50 that was recently held in Minnesota, who took part in the study on fitness age.

怀特和戴蒙德以及其他大约5000名老年运动会参赛者参加了“健康年龄”研究。

The research, led by Dr. Pamela Peeke of the University of Maryland in coordination⁵ with Dr. Ulrik Wisloff of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, who developed a fitness calculator, found that older athletes’ fitness age is more than 20 years younger than their chronological⁶ age.

马里兰大学助理教授帕米拉·皮克与制定了“健康年龄计算器”的挪威科技大学的乌尔丽克·威斯洛夫一道进行了这项研究。

“You simply input⁷ very straightforward⁸ data," said Peeke, explaining how the study was conducted. "We ask you questions: your age, height, weight, how much you work out, your waist size, heart rate, blood pressure, and it goes on. Then you press a button, you find out what your actual fitness age is.

皮克说，“你只需要输入简单明了的数据。我们的问题是：你的年龄、身高、体重、锻炼程度、腰围、心率、血压，等等。然后，你按个键，就能发现你实际的‘健康年龄’是多少。”

“This kind of testing, an assessment⁹ of fitness age, is actually very valid¹⁰ and it helps us understand the benefits of being fit and healthy,” she added, explaining that anyone can use the online calculator for free.

皮克在策划这项运动会的组织担任董事会成员。她说，很多参赛者是到了一定年纪时才开始锻炼的。任何人都能免费使用网上的计算器。

Peeke, a board member of the organization that runs the National Senior Games, says many of the competitors didn’t start training until later in life. Consisting of a variety of sports — from track and field to triathlon — the games' average competitor is 68, although their average fitness age is 43.

全国老年运动会是每两年举行的赛事，参加者年龄在50岁以上，从田径到铁人三项，包括多项运动。今年运动会的平均参赛年龄是68岁，平均“健康年龄”是43岁。

"It doesn’t matter how old you are," she said. "Twenty, 25, 30 ... who cares, all of us can lower our fitness age by staying right on top of it, taking good care of ourselves, especially physical activity."

皮克说，“无论你年纪如何，20岁、25岁、30岁，有什么关系？我们谁都可以降低自己的‘健康年龄’，方式是注意健康，照顾好自己，特别要保持体力活动。”

Peeke says it is never too early or too late to start reaping the benefits of exercise.皮克说，“这种测试，也就是对‘健康年龄’的评估，实际上非常有效，帮助我们理解身体健康带来的好处。”

皮克说，锻炼一定会有好处，什么时候开始都不会太早或太晚。