7 Fitness Studies from 2018 for Exercise After 50 This round up of 2018 research and resources will help you age better, get stronger, and lose weight for good after menopause. Most of the studies were published, a couple were pilots presented at conferences and a bonus 8thresearch study from 2015 I throw in because of the significant results a sneaky little trick gives Flipping 50 students.  1 You may have thoughts about belly fat, cellulite, and weight gain in general… but it’s your heart that is … at the heart of it.  As you’re looking at the New Year and your exercise routine with fresh goals here’s something to consider. In a study published by the American Heart Association, supervised exercise 4-5 days a week had significant improvements in heart performance compared with a control group that did basic stretching and balance moves. Barre exercise? Not your best friend if you want to turn back the clock. Better than on the couch? Yes. Significantly better next year? No. Intensity? or Frequency?  It doesn’t have to be hard. It has to be done. Yoga and barre can have a place in your regular routine, they just can’t be the entire routine if you want to live longer most optimally.  2 A study looked at physical activity and sedentary time against cardiovascular disease biomarkers in 60 to 64 year olds. Greater time in light PA and moderate‐to‐vigorous intensity PA and less sedentary time were associated with more favorable biomarker levels. For C‐reactive protein, interleukin‐6, and leptin, these differences were greater among women than men.  These biomarkers are big news given C-reactive protein is a measure of inflammation – both important for disease risk and often a part in weight loss resistance -  and leptin, which will fail to signal you to stop eating when you’re full. That coupled with stress or lack of sleep and hormones that increase appetite will The big flip you want to make is that the two levels of activity that improve biomarkers – and hormones best -  are that N.E.A.T. – longer slower activities like golf and gardening, Stand Up Paddle Boarding, that you do all day along with higher intensity exercise like intervals one or two times a week are best. Skip the middle of the road “no benefits zone” unless you do lots of half marathon racing. Those hour long cardio sessions on cardio equipment are more likely to disrupt hormones that cause you to hold on to fat and just make you tired, not better. 3  Preliminary studies are those not yet published – and done on a small sample of subjects. One such study shows greater activity makes older adults feel younger. This was a pilot study Presented at APA  (American Psychological Association) Conference. Feeling old? Wish you could turn back the clock? Adults who have more physical activity feel younger. What happens when you feel younger? You act younger. You make plans, you start things, are more optimistic which all in turn make you even younger. 4 A five-year study on 70-77 year olds shows older adults choose walking most often, and social dancing next, and are willing to walk fast enough to make it intense without supervision. Women’s results were unique. The study found that women tend to choose lower intensity exercise than men and choose 60% of the time to exercise with others. For both men and women 2/3 of the exercise was done outdoors both summer and winter. Surround yourself with a community whether it’s from the neighborhood, a private Facebook group, or a form of accountability like Flipping 50’s Café, knowing someone knows, matters. If you often think, “I should be able to do this myself,”know that seeking support isn’t a sign of weakness, as my friend Joan Rosenberg points out, it’s a sign of humanness. The Generation 100 research, from Norwegian University of Science and Technology  includes 2 published studies. 5 Older adults who do the most exercise were twice as likely to be disease-free and fully functional – increasing their health span by 10 years