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Here’s a startling fact: About 3 in 4 American adults don’t get the recommended amount of physical activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even more sobering: Many adults don’t get any activity at all, aside from what they need to make it through the day. And as we age, more and more of us stop moving. Almost 23% of adults between age 18-44 are sedentary. For those 65 and older, it’s around 32%. While you likely know that long-term inactivity weakens your bones and muscles, you may not realize that it can damage your heart and brain, too. This, in turn, raises your odds of dementia and heart-disease, among other conditions. Research suggests that getting exercise can help keep these organs healthy and delay or prevent their decline. And if you regularly work up a sweat over a number of years? All the better. How exercise benefits the heart As you progress through middle age, your heart gradually begins to weaken. Its walls get thicker and less flexible, and your arteries become stiffer. This raises your risk for high blood pressure and other heart-problems, including heart attack and heart failure. And if you’re sedentary, that risk goes up even more. When you exercise, your heart beats faster, increasing blood flow and supplying your body with necessary oxygen. The more you work out, the stronger your heart gets and the more elastic your blood-vessels become. This helps you maintain a lower blood-pressure and decreases your chances of developing many cardiovascular-problems. How exercise benefits the brain What’s good for your heart is generally good for your mind—and research shows breaking a sweat on a regular basis can boost-brain health in several ways. First, exercise is tied to improved cognition, which includes better memory, attention and executive function—things like controlling emotions and completing tasks. It can enhance the speed with which you process and react to information, too, along with your capacity to draw from your past knowledge and experiences. Getting physical is also linked to slower age-related cognitive decline, where we gradually lose our thinking, focus and memory skills. If you like where you are, it’s a good idea to continue to exercise because that may at least help you retain your current cognitive-function. When can you start? No matter our age, pretty much all of us can gain from exercise. There is evidence to suggest that doing more vigorous exercise earlier in life is more beneficial. It’s never too late to start because everyone benefits from doing some sort of movement or physical activity. In addition to its rewards for the heart and brain, working out: • Boosts your mood and energy • Helps prevent injuries • Lowers your risk of other diseases associated with aging, like arthritis • Helps you remain independent. Whatever you do, you must decide if planting yourself on the sofa is worth your long-term brain and heart health: As emphasized to patients, A rolling stone gathers no moss.